Free CISI Introduction to Securities & Investment mock exam
Sit the whole Introduction paper: 50 questions spread across all eleven syllabus elements, under a 60-minute clock. Free, no sign-up, with a weighted score, an element breakdown and a written explanation for every answer.
Sitting the International Introduction instead?What is on the CISI Introduction to Securities & Investment mock exam?
One full Introduction to Securities & Investment practice paper: 50 questions in 60 minutes, spread across all eleven syllabus elements in their real proportions. Score 35 out of 50 to meet the 70% practice threshold, then review every answer one at a time.
- Questions
- 50 original practice questions
- Time
- 60 minutes
- Practice threshold
- 70%, which is 35 of 50
- Access
- Free, with no account or card
How the paper is weighted
The Introduction paper is the broadest in the CISI catalogue and the most thinly spread. Eleven elements share 50 questions, so most elements are worth three to six marks and none of them is worth revising to death. This mock uses the same split.
| Element | Questions |
|---|---|
| 1. Introduction | 3 |
| 2. The Economic Environment | 3 |
| 3. Financial Assets and Markets | 5 |
| 4. Equities | 7 |
| 5. Bonds | 6 |
| 6. Derivatives | 4 |
| 7. Investment Funds | 6 |
| 8. Financial Services Regulation | 5 |
| 9. Taxation, Investment Wrappers & Trusts | 5 |
| 10. Other Financial Products | 3 |
| 11. Financial Advice | 3 |
| Total | 50 |
Equities is the largest element at seven questions, and Equities, Bonds, Investment Funds and Other Markets and Investments together decide 24 of the 50 marks. The tail matters more than it looks, though: Introduction, The Economic Environment, Other Financial Products and Financial Advice are three marks each, and skipping all four gives away 12 marks before you start.
For the cleanest rehearsal, set aside the full 60 minutes, avoid notes and answer every question. There is no negative marking on the real paper, so a guess is always better than a blank. The mock hides feedback until submission and warns you before handing in a paper with blanks.
Full practice paper
50 questions. 60 minutes. No sign-up.
Sit the paper in one go if you can. Answers and explanations stay hidden until you submit, so the score is a more useful rehearsal than an instant-feedback quiz.
The timer starts when you press the button. Reloading or leaving the page ends this sitting.
Sample Introduction to Securities & Investment questions, with answers
8 questions at the standard of the paper above, weighted towards the elements that carry the most marks. Pick an answer to see whether you were right and why. None of these appear in the timed mock, so working through them first costs you nothing when you sit it.
What does the Financial Conduct Authority provide so that firms can test fintech ideas on real customers?
Not quite. The answer is C.
The sandbox gives firms the opportunity to try fintech ideas on real customers within a controlled environment, and demand for it has been high enough for the scheme to keep growing. Nothing tried in it carries a permanent exemption from the rules, because the firm tests under conditions the regulator sets and only for the length of the trial. The Advice Unit is the dedicated team set up after the Financial Advice Market Review to help firms develop mass-market automated advice models, so it shapes the service a firm builds rather than supplying the place to try it out. The Green Fintech Challenge came later, as demand for controlled testing grew, and it steers support towards firms developing environmental products.
Who is normally responsible for repairs and insurance under a typical UK commercial lease?
Not quite. The answer is C.
Commercial property in the UK is usually let on full repairing and insuring terms, so the occupying business carries those costs and the rent reaches the owner largely intact. In residential letting the position is reversed and the landlord repairs. A lender takes security over the building without taking on its upkeep, and a managing agent arranges work but bills it back under the lease.
Upon what basis is the Dow Jones Industrial Average weighted?
Not quite. The answer is B.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is one of the earliest indices and its level reflects only the share prices of its constituents, so a movement in a high-priced share shifts the index further than the same movement in a low-priced one whatever the relative size of the two companies. Weighting by capitalisation, which the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite use, gives each constituent an influence in proportion to its market value, and the free-float refinement goes further by excluding the stakes held by governments and other large holders that are not available for trading. Equal weighting assumes the same amount invested in every constituent, so a given percentage move in any share moves the index by the same amount.
Which of the following statements regarding the preferred bonds issued by insurance companies is true? They:
Not quite. The answer is C.
Preferred bonds are usually undated or perpetual, and the issuer holds the right to call them within the first five to ten years of issue. Paying a benchmark rate plus a margin is what a floating-rate note does. Being offered to investors continually through an agent is the mark of a medium-term note. The right to exchange the holding for a set number of ordinary shares belongs to a convertible bond.
A fund pays 1% a year for protection on £5 million of bonds. If the issuer defaults after three years, what net amount does the fund recover?
Not quite. The answer is A.
On a credit event the protection seller makes the predetermined payment of the amount protected, £5,000,000, and the swap then terminates. Set against that, the fund has paid 1% of £5,000,000, or £50,000, in each of the three years, a total of £150,000. The net amount recovered is therefore £4,850,000. Taking off a single year of premiums gives £4,950,000, leaving the premiums out altogether gives £5,000,000, and adding them to the payment instead of deducting them gives £5,150,000.
The share price of an investment trust is set by:
Not quite. The answer is B.
Investment trust shares are bought and sold on the stock market, where supply and demand decide the price, and that is why the price can sit above or below net asset value. Units in an authorised unit trust are dealt with the authorised manager, and shares in an OEIC with the authorised corporate director, both at prices built from the value of the underlying investments. The directors run the company but take no part in the price at which its shares change hands.
Before granting authorisation, the regulator examines the applicant's management, financial strength and staff. What is the main purpose of this examination?
Not quite. The answer is C.
The regulator looks at an applicant's management, financial strength and staff to decide whether it is fit and proper and meets the threshold conditions, and admitting only fit and proper businesses is how the gateway protects consumers. Promoting competition is a separate statutory objective of the Financial Conduct Authority, pursued through its market work rather than through the vetting of applicants. Monitoring continuing solvency belongs to the supervision of businesses that already hold authorisation. No market participation licence exists; what the regulator grants is authorisation, carrying permissions for particular activities.
Profits made by a trade association are charged to:
Not quite. The answer is C.
Corporation tax is paid by limited companies and by other bodies, including clubs and associations, on their profits and gains. An individual in business as a sole trader falls outside it and is charged to income tax on those earnings instead. Stamp duty reserve tax arises on a purchase of shares settled electronically, and capital gains tax is the charge an individual meets on a gain made when an asset is disposed of.
Where the marks go on this paper
This exam is wide rather than deep, and that is what catches people out. Nothing on it is conceptually hard. All of it has to be precise: the difference between an ordinary share and a preference share, between a unit trust and an OEIC, between an ISA and a pension wrapper. Candidates who lean on general business knowledge tend to score well on the parts they already meet at work and badly everywhere else.
The second reliable leak is terminology that sounds interchangeable and is not. Nominal value against market value, coupon against yield, execution-only against advised. A question will offer four statements that differ by one word, and recognising the topic will not get you the mark.
The third is time. Fifty questions in sixty minutes is about seventy seconds each, which is comfortable if you know the material cold and impossible if you are reasoning each one out from first principles. That is the single best argument for sitting this under the clock rather than untimed.
How to use your result
Treat 70% as a practice threshold, not a readiness promise. A stronger signal is a run of timed scores above the threshold with no element repeatedly falling behind. Because the elements are small, a single weak element rarely fails you on its own; three weak elements will. Read the breakdown looking for a pattern of low scores across related topics rather than one bad number.
Use the answer review to understand each miss, then revisit the relevant part of the Introduction to Securities & Investment exam guide. To drill a single topic rather than sit a whole paper, start with the free Introduction practice questions.
Looking for official material? Introduction past papers: what actually exists explains what CISI actually publishes and how to combine it with question practice. For more full papers, see the paid plans, from £59.
Independent practice material: PasskeyPrep is not affiliated with, endorsed by or accredited by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment. These questions were written independently against the syllabus. They are not copied from a live CISI exam or official past paper.
Frequently asked questions
Is this Introduction to Securities & Investment mock exam really free?
Yes. All 50 questions are free to sit, with no account, email address or card. Submit the paper and you get your score, a breakdown across the eleven elements and an explanation for every answer.
Does this mock match the real CISI Introduction exam format?
It uses 50 questions, a 60-minute timer, a 70% practice threshold and the published weightings across all eleven syllabus elements. The questions are original PasskeyPrep practice material, not the CISI examination platform or official exam questions.
Is the Introduction exam the same as the International Introduction?
No. CISI runs a UK Introduction to Securities & Investment, listed in the exam shop as the Level 3 Award Introduction to Investment, and a separate International Introduction, often shortened to IISI. There is also a Level 2 award, Fundamentals of Financial Services. This mock is built against the UK Introduction syllabus, so check which paper you are booked for.
What score should I aim for?
The exam pass mark is 70%, so this mock marks 35 out of 50 as meeting the practice threshold. One result cannot predict or guarantee an exam result. Look for consistent scores across timed attempts, and treat any element you keep scoring under half on as the next thing to revise.
Turn the element breakdown into a study plan.
Unlock the full Introduction question bank, more timed mocks, study notes, flashcards and weak-spot tracking as part of a paid pass: £59 for this paper, or £89 for all fourteen.