As a follow-up to our last Series 86 post, we wanted to share that FINRA has announced that the Series 86 Exam is officially changing. In a recent notice, FINRA confirmed the changes. In today’s post, we will share what we know so far about the changes to the exam.
Series 86 Exam is Officially Changing
First, the date is set: May 15, 2023.
For Series 86 Exams taken on, or after May 15, 2023, the proposed changes by FINRA will take effect. There will be some changes to the Series 87 Exam as well, although the exam length won’t change.
One major change with the Series 86 is the number of questions. FINRA will lower the number of scored questions. Currently the Series 86 Exam includes 100 scored questions, plus 10 experimental, non-scored questions. The new exam will include 85 scores questions.
Regarding content, a brief scan through the content outline provided by FINRA on their website, shows that there is still significant overlap between the current exam content and the one expected on May 15.
For those of you looking for a completely new, and potentially easier exam, you may be disappointed.
Our Take
While our opinion is not necessarily worth much more than anyone else’s on the subject, given what we’ve seen in the past, and from what FINRA has proposed/outlined for the new Series 86, we find it unlikely that the questions are bound to change much in difficulty level.
In fact, FINRA has mentioned that they believe the updated number of questions is still sufficient to test the required knowledge domain of the analyst taking it. We believe this translates to: Same exam, fewer questions.
Similar to what we saw when FINRA updated the investment banking Series 79 Exam – fewer questions, but not much change in difficulty – we expect that this new exam will still require a significant amount of studying.
However, the silver lining is that FINRA has decided to keep the exam length of 4.5 hours. This is the same as the current 100 scored-question exam. One reason this is important is that, anecdotally speaking, a little less than half of our students report not having enough time on the Series 86 Exam. Fewer questions in the same amount of time will be an added bonus for those taking the exam after May 15.
Overall, shortening the exam was a long time coming, in our view. FINRA mentions having consulted with people in the industry regarding the exam – from whom we imagine they heard many complaints. Despite taken by very intelligent individuals, the exam has a high failure rate relative to other FINRA exams.
We will keep you posted on whether there are any significant adjustments needed to your studying when the new exam is released. For now, we recommend you prepare as if the exam will not change very much. If you need any help, feel free to reach out. Good luck!