SIE Requirements 2026: Who Can Sit the Exam and What It Costs
Before you can book a seat you have to clear FINRA’s eligibility gates. Here is exactly what they check, in the order they check it.
- 80Questions, 75 scored
- 105 minTime limit
- $100Exam fee from
Table of Contents
What the SIE credential is
FINRA SIE - Securities Industry Essentials is awarded by FINRA. It is an exam, not a licence on its own: passing it does not register you or let you do securities business. It is the general-knowledge half of every representative registration, and a pass stays valid for four years. Unlike the representative exams, you can sit it before any firm hires you.
The eligibility gates, in order
There are only three, and none of them involves a transcript, a licence or a work history. Check them before you pay the fee.
Gate 1
You must be at least 18 years old
Gate 2
No association with a member firm is required - this is the one FINRA exam you can sit without a sponsoring employer
Gate 3
Open to students and career changers wanting to show baseline industry knowledge before applying for jobs
The SIE is a corequisite for the representative-level exams. On its own it does not qualify you to transact business; it is half of a pair, and the other half needs a sponsoring firm.
What it costs
The published fee is $100. Budget past that number: most candidates also pay for a review course or a question bank, and each retake costs another $100. The cheapest way to sit this exam once is to over-prepare for the first attempt.
What the exam itself looks like
| Questions | 80 (75 scored, 5 unscored pretest) |
| Time limit | 105 minutes |
| Passing standard | A score of 70 or higher on a 0-100 scale passes |
| Fee | $100 |
How long the process takes
The SIE has one clock that matters. You enrol yourself through FINRA and pay the fee; there is no transcript, licence or experience check to wait for. Your window to schedule opens the day after you enrol, and the enrolment is valid for 120 calendar days, so enrol when you are ready to book a date inside that window, not months early.
Plan backwards from the date you want to sit, not forwards from the day you enrol. If you are already associated with a firm, ask it first: the firm may need to request the exam for you on Form U4.
Why applications get sent back
For the SIE they mostly are not, because there is no eligibility evidence to reject. What goes wrong is timing and route. Candidates enrol, let the 120-day window run out and have to enrol again, or enrol themselves when the firm they have just joined needed to request the exam on Form U4. Check which route applies to you before you pay.
Once you are enrolled, the work is question volume. Practise SIE questions free and find out where you actually stand before you book a date.
FAQ
Who is eligible to sit the SIE exam?
You must be at least 18 years old No association with a member firm is required - this is the one FINRA exam you can sit without a sponsoring employer Open to students and career changers wanting to show baseline industry knowledge before applying for jobs
How much does the SIE exam cost?
$100
How many questions are on the SIE exam?
80 questions: 75 scored and 5 unscored pretest items you cannot identify.
How long does SIE approval take?
There is no review to wait for. You enrol yourself through FINRA and pay the $100 fee, and your window to schedule opens the day after you enrol. The enrolment is valid for 120 calendar days; if it lapses unused, you have to enrol again.
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the certifying body, not from a third-party summary:
- https://www.finra.org/registration-exams-ce/qualification-exams/securities-industry-essentials-exam
- https://www.finra.org/registration-exams-ce/qualification-exams/sie-and-exam-restructuring-faq
- https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/2025-10/SIE_Content_Outline.pdf
- https://www.finra.org/registration-exams-ce/qualification-exams/enroll
- https://www.finra.org/registration-exams-ce/qualification-exams/securities-industry-essentials-exam/tess-faq
Checked October 9, 2026. Fees and eligibility rules change; confirm against FINRA before you pay anything.