Effective October 27, 2025, FINRA reduced the number of unscored pretest questions on three exams: the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE), Series 7 (General Securities Representative), and Series 79 (Investment Banking Representative). Each exam now includes 5 unscored questions instead of 10. The scored questions, passing scores, and exam time limits are unchanged. No other FINRA exams were affected.
What Changed
The only change is the number of unscored pretest items on each exam. That means fewer total questions overall, but the same number of scored questions that count toward your pass/fail result.
| Detail | SIE | Series 7 | Series 79 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scored questions | 75 | 125 | 75 |
| Unscored questions (before) | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Unscored questions (after) | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Total questions (before) | 85 | 135 | 85 |
| Total questions (after) | 80 | 130 | 80 |
| Time limit | 1 hr 45 min | 3 hr 45 min | 2 hr 30 min |
| Passing score | 70 | 72 | 73 |
What Are Unscored Pretest Questions?
Every FINRA exam includes a small number of pretest items mixed in with the scored questions. These do not count toward your score. You will not know which questions are pretest and which are scored. They look the same as every other question on the exam.
FINRA uses pretest items to evaluate new questions before adding them to the scored question pool. According to the official Series 7 Content Outline, these are "additional, unidentified pretest items that do not contribute toward the candidate's score" and are "randomly distributed throughout the exam." The same applies to the SIE and Series 79.
This is standard practice in high-stakes testing. It allows FINRA to collect data on how new questions perform before they affect anyone's results.
What This Means for Candidates
Your study plan does not need to change. The content covered on each exam is the same. The passing scores are the same. The time limits are the same.
The practical effect is small but worth knowing. With 5 fewer total questions and the same amount of time, you have slightly more time per question than before. On the Series 7, for example, you now have about 1 minute and 44 seconds per item instead of 1 minute and 40 seconds. On the SIE, you move from about 1 minute and 14 seconds per item to about 1 minute and 19 seconds.
You should still treat every question as if it counts, because you cannot tell which ones are pretest. Answer all items and manage your time the same way you would have before this change.
Official Sources
For the full exam details, refer to the official FINRA content outlines. These are updated periodically and hosted directly on finra.org.
- SIE Content Outline (October 2025)
- Series 7 Content Outline (October 2025)
- Series 79 Content Outline (October 2025)
- FINRA Qualification Exams Overview
The Bottom Line
This is a minor structural change, not a content change. FINRA cut 5 pretest questions from the SIE, Series 7, and Series 79. The material you need to study has not changed. If you are preparing for one of these exams, stay focused on the scored content outlined in the official FINRA content outlines linked above.
