Specialist Course Exam

FPSB Ltd. will have a total of four certification exams in India (assessing the competencies of the three specialist courses and the culminating CFP certification marks), leading to CFP certification in India. Exam registration is open in myFPSBLearning for students who have completed the Investment Planning Specialist and/or Retirement and Tax Planning Specialist course and/or Risk and Estate Planning Specialist course. The exams can be taken either at the Mettle platform or at NSE test centres.

Please note, due to the integrity of our exam on Mettle platform, FPSB must use a Secure Lock Down Browser. In order to use this browser, both Windows and iOS is allowed. The secure browser does not allow the student to navigate to other tabs,   Spreadsheet is now available in Scratchpad in the Mettle Exams.   Candidates are responsible for the integrity of the computer used during the exam, misuse could result in a canceled exam or other sanctions. Please refer to our exam procedures and exam prep course work for more information. 

Each Specialist exam is 2-hours, 75 multiple-choice question, and available on computer to be taken remotely either on the Mettle platform or at NSE test centres. It is based on a specification developed from the

  • FPSB® Investment Planning Specialist Competency profile (see the FPSB® Investment Planning Specialist Exam Blueprint for more information).
  • FPSB® Retirement and Tax Planning Specialist Competency profile (see the FPSB® Retirement and Tax Planning Specialist Exam Blueprint for more information).
  • FPSB® Risk and Estate Planning Specialist Competency profile (see the FPSB® Risk and Estate Planning Specialist Exam Blueprint for more information).

Each exam assesses the level of knowledge for that specialist, skill and ability needed to earn that FPSB Specialist credential, including the functions of collection, analysis, and synthesis. Each question on the exam focuses primarily on a specific element of competency from that FPSB Specialist Competency Profile, with each question being equally weighted.

 

Specialist Course Exam Details

  • 75 multiple-choice questions (4 possible answer choices)
  • Computer-based testing format
  • Duration – two hours
  • Financial calculators permitted (data must be erased)
  • Spreadsheet is now available in Scratchpad for exams taken on Mettle platform. For exams taken at NSE test centres, students get access to Openoffice.
  • There will be two possible marks: correct, with points allotted; or incorrect, for zero points. Students will not have points deducted (referred to as ‘negative marking’).

Students have three years from date of enrollment with FPSB Ltd. to complete the education course and pass the exam.

The student must be registered with FPSB Ltd. for 30 days and complete the education requirement to be eligible to take the exam.

Upon successful completion of the education requirement for a Specialist course, whether through an FPSB instructor-led or self-paced education course or through recognition of prior learning, students will be able to sit for the FPSB Specialist exam.

 
 

CFP Exam

After receiving all the three Specialist Certifications, candidates will be able to register for the Integrated Financial Planning course, and after the assessment of their submitted financial plan, they would be eligible to sit for the final CFP exam.

The exam assesses the level of knowledge, skill and ability needed to earn the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® credential, including the functions of collection, analysis and synthesis (detailed further below). Each question on the exam focuses primarily on a specific element of competency for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professionals Competency profile (as per Appendix A) including integration across several competencies.

 

CFP Exam Details

  • The exam is 3 hours long
  • The exam consists of two sections
  • The exam is a multiple-choice format; each question has four possible answer choices, one of which is clearly the best choice
  • Computer-based testing format available on Mettle and at NSE test centres
  • Spreadsheets with financial functions shall be available apart from Financial calculators (once data is erased)