The Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority (FASEA) has confirmed the remaining 2020 exam sittings, which will be held over five days each in August, October and November.
The exam would be offered across 327 separate sessions on those dates with the option of remote online proctoring or face-to-face examination, which would be subject to COVID-19 requirements and allowances in that jurisdiction.
FASEA had the ability to extend the number of days of each sitting if demand was high and would offer further sitting days in 2021, since the deadline was extended to 1 January, 2022.
August had sittings from 13-18 August, with 156 sessions in 8 metro and 14 regional locations.
October had sittings from 8-13 October, with 87 sessions in seven metro and eight regional locations.
November had sittings from 5-10 November, with 84 sessions in seven metro and seven regional locations.
Approximately 10,250 advisers had sat the exam, which had been held over six separate weekends, across 32 sitting days.
Approximately, 55% (around 12,450) of advisers registered on the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC’s) Financial Adviser Register had either sat the exam or registered to do so.
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Before potential exam sitters get too comfortable, just looking at the dates, the November dates are within the 90 exclusion period that exists e.g. if an advisers who sits the August exam isn't successful in that sitting, they won't be able to re-sit the exam until likely February 2021. i.e. they will be excluded from the October and November sittings. That's likely to be a 6 months gap! Despite he exam extension going through, it does seem unfair that FASEA have re-confirmed the November dates they released a few weeks ago. Given the current track record of approx. 20% of advisers failing each exam sitting, hundreds of advisers will be unfairly impacted by this. Potentially having this hanging over your head for 6 months is not good for anyone's mental health.
Good point and it wouldn't be a mistake either. FASEA would be privately seething over the extension. Remember they originally wanted a 3 strikes and you are out policy, but later dropped it after the consultation. Instead they went with no limit, but cleverly spaced out the sitting dates and added the 90 day rule. It gave them a similar outcome, but they didn't look as cruel. Watch them carefully manipulate the dates, notice periods and exam results release to reduce the number of opportunities. The best advice is to get in and do it as soon as possible. FASEA is not our friend.
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