The Series 79 passing score is 73% or higher. You can find this on FINRA’s website and in your textbook. What is less clear however, is where you need to be in terms of your practice test scores in order to jump that hurdle.
In today’s post, we provide our recommendations on where to focus in order to get there.
Series 79 Passing Score
This 75 question exam requires the successful student to score 55 questions correctly. FINRA gives you 2 hours and 30 minutes to do this.
At Professional Exam Tutoring, feedback from our students indicate that time is rarely an issue. Most students have ample time to finish the exam.
However, the most common issue that we hear is around the analytical portion of the exam. Most students that we see after they have failed their first or second attempt, contribute their failing score to the analytical portion.
It’s not much of a secret then, that you should focus here.
Series 79 Exam: Analytical Questions
Out of the 75 questions on the Series 79 Exam, FINRA indicates on their website that about 49% (or 37 questions) will comprise of “Collection, Analysis, and Evaluation of Data.”
Although at first glance that statistic makes it sound like about half of the exam will involve analytical questions and calculations, that’s not exactly the case.
If you look at the exam breakdown, this 49% of questions includes a broad range. It encompasses understanding the due diligence process, certain rules and regulations, various SEC forms and documents, among other topics (including analytic topics).
Therefore, we estimate about one-third of the exam will involve analytical questions about the income statement, balance sheet, ratios, and valuations.
Despite our estimate, the section still causes headaches.
So, What Do I Study?
When it comes to specific textbooks, STC and Knopman are both great. Both of these resources tend to have the most success among our Series 79 students. Between these two, Knopman seems to be used most often by investment banking employers (with success!).
If you’re using either resource’s practice questions, we see the most successful students who consistently score in the mid-80% range before going into their exam.
Practice scores around 75% to 80% can still have a passing outcome. But, the probability of success seems to go down for scores below the low-to-mid 80s.
The best way to study for this exam, is to memorize as many formulas as you can. Next, make sure that you have a solid understanding of the various rules, definitions, regulations, and the investment banking process.
There are a lot of resources out there to help you get your practice scores over 80%. If you need more help, feel free to contact us. Good luck!