Before your exam

The CISI has a variety of tools and information available to help you in the preparation for sitting your exam.

On the day

On the day of your exam there are a few things you need to remember. This section aims to highlight all of the key information that will enable you to be prepared on the day.

After your exam

So what next? In this section we will cover all the questions you may need answering after your exam, from receiving your results to taking further qualifications.
After your exam
So what next? In this section we will cover all the questions you may need answering after your exam, from receiving your results to taking further qualifications. If you have any questions or queries about the results process you can contact us.

Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) Exam Results

Provisional results are provided at the end of your exam and are accessible online within 48 hours, but remain provisional for five working days after the date on which you took your exam. These five days allow the CISI to conduct any investigation that may be necessary into any circumstances that may have affected your result. Following these five working days, if successful, candidates may print their own e-certificates, downloaded from the CISI website. A hard copy certificate may be obtained from the CISI, and an administration fee of £30.00 per certificate will apply. Certificates can be obtained by emailing qualops@cisi.org.

To access your results please check your Qualifications and Assessments Account Activity page in My CISI.

Narrative Exam Results

You will be notified of your result on the date published on our website, approximately nine weeks after the examination date. 

The pass mark is variable for each narrative exam and from session to session, but is never less than 50%. Candidates who receive a grade D, or marginal fail, are within 3% of the pass mark.

If successful, candidates may print their own e-certificates, downloaded from the CISI website. A hard copy certificate may be obtained from the CISI, and an administration fee of £30.00 per certificate will apply. Certificates can be obtained by emailing qualops@cisi.org.

Multiple-Choice Question (MCQ) Exams

If you are unsuccessful in your examination you can request a Performance Review. The Review provides information on your performance in different elements of the syllabus, indicating your strengths and weaknesses and how you managed your time, to help you focus your revision. Reviews are available at any time during the lifetime of the syllabus for your examination and for 2 months after the republication of that syllabus.

We do not offer a remark or review of multiple-choice examination results, as the questions are marked automatically by the system.

View an example Exam Performance Review 

Reviews will be sent to you, via email, within 48 hours. Please contact our customer support team to order (customerSupport@cisi.org or 020 7645 0777). Performance Reviews available for all MCQ examinations and are produced in the English language irrespective of the language in which the examination was sat.

They are a free benefit for Corporate Supporter firms. Other candidates will need to pay the fee detailed in our price list. You are entitled to a free performance review if you fail the same subject three times.

To request a Review, email performancereports@cisi.org providing details of the examination subject and date for which you require a Review.

Narrative Exams

All candidates may request a Marks Report free of charge. A marks report shows a candidate’s total mark awarded for a narrative examination, the marks achieved for each question attempted, and any marks awarded as a result of special consideration.

View an example Marks Report 
For narrative exams sat from 2021 onwards, unsuccessful candidates may request either:

  • a Clerical Check. This check ensures that marks have been correctly transcribed from the script, totalled, and recorded. Candidates will receive an email response either confirming their result or informing them of a revised result. They will also receive a Marks Report which details the marks awarded for each question.

    Clerical Checks are provided free of charge to candidates from Corporate Supporter firms who have failed their narrative exam. Other candidates will need to pay the fee detailed in our price list.

  • A Review of Marking. This is a check to ensure that the mark scheme has been correctly applied in the marking of your script and that marks have been correctly transcribed from the script, totalled, and recorded. Candidates will receive an email response either confirming their result or informing them of a revised result. They will also receive a Marks Report which details the marks awarded for each question.
Applications for both the Clerical Check and the Review of Marking must be made within 10 working days of results day. Therefore, you should not wait for the result of a Clerical Check before applying for a Review of Marking.

Full details of our post results policy and the application form can be found here.

Feedback and Complaints

We welcome feedback on any aspect of our customer service and products. We take all feedback seriously and we make every effort to resolve any issues raised via our feedback forms. We realise that sometimes we may not provide as efficient and effective a service as we would wish. Where this is the case, we aim to take all possible steps to rectify this.

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our service, please complete the relevant online feedback form in the first instance. If you have already completed a feedback form and remain dissatisfied with the service you have received, please email us at feedbacksandcomplaints@cisi.org

All feedback will be acknowledged within 48 hours and we will make every effort to provide a response within ten working days of receipt of your complaint (15 days for exams taken with remote invigilation). Where this is not possible, we will contact you to update you on our progress and provide a deadline by which we hope to be able to provide you with a full response.

Please refer to our Special Considerations Policy if you have experienced temporary illness, injury or some other circumstance beyond your control on your exam day.

We would be grateful if you could provide as much information as possible to enable us to investigate your complaint thoroughly.

Qualifications Pathway

The CISI's wide-ranging programme of qualifications for employees working in, or aspiring to work in, the financial services industry is structured into five areas, Wealth Management, Compliance and Risk, Operations, Capital Markets and Corporate Finance and Islamic Finance.
 
Find out more here

Membership Opportunities

Take the opportunity to join over 45,000 members in 110 countries who take advantage of CISI membership. As a member of a Chartered professional body you will benefit from an enhanced status in the financial services industry globally.

You will become a part of an organisation which holds the respect of governments and firms around the world, and can communicate with the public on an authoritative and clear level.

The CISI has five grades of membership depending on your level of qualification and industry experience – Affiliate, Associate, Member, Chartered Member and Chartered Fellow. Find out which is most suitable for you here.