What You Need to Know About CFP® Practice Exams

Taking CFP® practice exams gives candidates a chance to assess their readiness for exam day, test their understanding of financial planning concepts and identify knowledge gaps.
Practice tests are designed to simulate the exam experience, with questions covering each core subject area. You may complete one or more practice exams, along with shorter quizzes or standalone sample CFP® exam questions as part of your study prep.

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What a CFP® Practice Exam Covers

Practice exams generally cover all of the topics found on the CFP® exam. The CFP® exam consists of 170 multiple-choice questions spanning:

• Professional conduct and regulation
• General principles of financial planning
• Risk management and insurance
• Investment planning
• Tax planning
• Retirement savings and income planning
• Estate planning
• Psychology of financial planning

The exact mix of questions included on a practice exam may vary by provider, but typically, the format is the same. You’ll be given 170 multiple-choice questions to complete, split into two sessions. Timed practice exams mirror the amount of time you have to complete the actual exam: two three-hour sessions, with a break in-between.

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CFP Board CFP® Practice Exam

The CFP Board, which issues the Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP®) credential, offers two full practice exams online. You can complete practice exams when you choose, and most of the questions are drawn from previous exams. The exams are timed and you’ll receive a result report right after you finish.

Practice exams provide solutions to questions after you answer them. Redditors who took practice exams as part of their study prep recommend taking screenshots of solutions if you’d like to revisit them later for questions you answered incorrectly. Once you submit your practice exam, the solutions are no longer viewable.

You’ll need to create a CFP Board account to access practice exams. Once you add a practice exam to your account, you’ll have 160 days to complete it. You can start your exam and save your progress if you need to finish it later, but you’ll need to be within the 160-day window.  

Your first CFP® practice exam through the CFP Board is free; the second requires a $225 fee. The CFP Board generally recommends taking Practice Exam I early on in your study process to gauge where your biggest learning gaps lie. You can take Practice Exam II closer to your test date to assess how much your skills have improved, and where you may need to focus extra study time.

Note that these practice exams are optional; you’re not required to complete them. However, there’s an advantage to doing so; according to the CFP Board, 69% of candidates who pass the exam took one of the Board’s practice exams first. ¹ Also, be aware that CFP Board practice exams are copyrighted so you can’t share them with anyone else.

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Other CFP® Practice Exam Options

If you’ve completed both CFP Board practice exams but feel more practice is necessary, you can find practice tests offered through CFP® study prep providers. Dalton and Kaplan are two examples of companies that offer exam prep for CFP® candidates.

Exams may be offered as part of a comprehensive exam prep package, or as a stand-alone purchase. If you’re taking practice exams beyond those offered by the CFP Board, consider timing yourself if the exams aren’t timed. If you have the option to review solutions as you go, or at the end of the test, take time to understand why a particular answer is correct.

You can substitute quizzes or individual sample questions if you don’t have time to complete a practice exam. Several websites offer CFP® sample questions and quizzes that offer a taste of what’s included on the standard test. Keep in mind that quizzes and sample questions may cover a much smaller area of knowledge and aren’t a replacement for a full mock exam.

CFP® Practice Exam Best Practices

If you plan to spend several hours taking a practice exam as part of your study plans, it’s important to make the most of that time. First, allow a full three hours of uninterrupted time for each session, leaving room in the middle for a short break. While you can save your progress and come back to the test, it’s typically better to duplicate the actual test day experience as closely as possible.

Next, consider when you want to complete a practice exam. Waiting too close to the exam date could leave you unprepared if you find that there are some substantial holes in your knowledge. Taking a practice exam at the outset of your studies, on the other hand, could hurt your confidence if you don’t do as well as expected.

Consider taking a practice exam when you’re halfway through your exam prep, then again in the two weeks before your exam date. Spacing sessions out gives you time to accumulate some knowledge and build on it ahead of test day.

Carefully review solutions and make note of questions or topics you seem to struggle with more than others. Try to understand the concepts behind each question, rather than simply memorizing answers. And most importantly, don’t allow a low score on a practice exam to discourage you. Instead, commit yourself to improving your score with each practice test or quiz you complete.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Bottom Line

Taking a CFP® practice exam, whether it’s through the CFP Board or another provider, is a chance to see how much you really know about financial planning. Practice tests can also help reduce anxiety ahead of exam day, since you’re simulating the experience in a safe, low-pressure environment.

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• Professional certifications can raise your credibility with prospective and current clients. The services you offer and the clients you serve can determine which type of credential is most appropriate. For example, if you’re primarily interested in portfolio management, you might become a Chartered Portfolio Manager (CPM). On the other hand, if you’re hoping to get more estate planning clients, you may consider an Accredited Estate Planner (AEP) designation instead. Reviewing what different credentials enable you to do, and the requirements to earn them, can help you decide which ones to pursue.

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