FINRA Regulatory Changes - Unscored Question Reduction - SIE and Series 7

Effective October 27, 2025, FINRA announced a reduction in unscored questions on both the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) and the Series 7 Top-Off exams starting October 27, 2025. 

Official communication from FINRA's website:

Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) 

Effective Oct. 27, 2025, FINRA will reduce the number of unscored (pretest) questions delivered to candidates on the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE), Series 7 - General Securities Representative and Series 79 - Investment Banking Representative exams. Candidates who take these exams will receive five unscored questions instead of 10. The duration of these exams will not change. 

Series 7

Effective Oct. 27, 2025, FINRA will reduce the number of unscored (pretest) questions delivered to candidates on the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE), Series 7 - General Securities Representative and Series 79 - Investment Banking Representative exams. Candidates who take these exams will receive five unscored questions instead of 10. The duration of these exams will not change.

This change from FINRA reflects a reduction in unscored questions from 10 to 5 on each exam. Please note that the total exam time will remain unchanged.

Impact to ExamFX Courses

• SIE Exam: Standard Finals, Benchmark Final, and Random Finals will decrease from 85 to 80 questions.
• Series 7 Exam: Standard Finals, Benchmark Finals, and Random Finals will decrease from 135 to 130 questions.