An independent, unofficial guide to five securities exams in the FINRA/NASAA licensing family — not affiliated with or endorsed by FINRA, NASAA, or the SEC.
SIE — No sponsorship requiredSeries 65 — No sponsorship required Series 7 — Sponsorship requiredSeries 63 — Sponsorship requiredSeries 66 — Sponsorship required
| Exam | Administered by | Sponsorship | Pass line | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SIE — Securities Industry Essentials | FINRA | Not required | 70% | Broad, entry-level knowledge of markets, products, trading, and regulation. A co-requisite paired with a representative exam later, not a standalone license. |
| Series 65 — Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam | NASAA | Not required | 72% | Investment adviser law, ethics, portfolio management, and quantitative concepts — the standard path to becoming an investment adviser representative. |
| Series 7 — General Securities Representative | FINRA | Required | 72% | Product knowledge and, above all, applying the suitability standard to specific customer scenarios. The core registered-rep license. |
| Series 63 — Uniform Securities Agent State Law | NASAA | Required | 70% | State-level agent registration, ethical practices, and the Uniform Securities Act — usually paired with Series 7. |
| Series 66 — Uniform Combined State Law | NASAA | Required | 73% | Combines Series 63 + Series 65's state-law content into one exam, for candidates who already hold Series 7. |
The real exams run anywhere from 65 questions (Series 63) to 135 questions (Series 7) delivered, over 75 to 225 minutes. This platform's mock exams are focused 10-question testlets across all five — enough to check pacing and concept recall without pretending to replicate a multi-hour sitting.
Unlike some professional exams, FINRA and NASAA don't publish a proprietary scaled-score curve for any of these five — each is reported as a straightforward percent-correct against a stated pass line (70–73% depending on the exam). This platform mirrors that directly rather than inventing a curve.