The Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) has released exam results for the latest financial adviser exam held in October, revealing a significant drop in the pass rate compared to previous exams.
The authority said just 76 per cent of advisers passed the most recent exam compared to an average pass rate of 83 per cent across all exams.
Of the advisers sitting the exam for the first time in October, 80.6 per cent passed compared to an average of 85.8 per cent across all exams.
In addition, of the candidates who were resitting the exam in October, 60 per cent passed on their second attempt compared to 57 per cent across all exams.
FASEA chief executive Stephen Glenfield said: “FASEA congratulates successful candidates on completing an important component of their education requirements under the Corporations Act during the current extraordinary circumstances.
“The overall pass rate of 76 per cent may be attributed to several factors. Firstly, the October exam attracted a much smaller cohort of advisers in general, combined with a higher than usual proportion of resitters.
“Over 11,690 advisers have sat the exam with nine in 10 demonstrating they have the skills to apply their knowledge of advice construction, ethics and legal requirements to the practical scenarios tested in the exam.”
The authority highlighted exam questions covering financial advice regulatory and legal requirements and applied ethical and professional reasoning and communication as the key areas for improvement among unsuccessful candidates.
In September, figures released by FASEA revealed more advisers resitting the mandatory financial adviser exam had passed on their second attempt during its August sitting compared to previous exams.
