How to Book a CISI Exam: Enrolment, Test Centres and Results

Booking a CISI exam is straightforward once you know the order of operations, but the first time round it is easy to miss a step, like the one-off registration fee or the need to clear IntegrityMatters before a Capital Markets paper. This guide walks through the whole thing, from registering with CISI to sitting the exam and getting your result. If you are still deciding which paper to take, start with which CISI exam to take first.

Step one: register with CISI

Before you can sit any CISI exam you have to be registered with the CISI as a candidate. There is a one-off Qualification Registration Fee payable when you register for your first CISI qualification. The useful part is that it is genuinely one-off: once it is paid against your name, you do not pay it again no matter how many CISI exams or qualifications you go on to take. Registration also comes with student membership for twelve months from your booking date.

Step two: book and pay through the CISI online shop

Individual candidates book and pay for the exam through the CISI online shop on the CISI website. If you are going through an employer or an Accredited Training Partner, they may book on your behalf, but the route for most people is to do it themselves online. Exam fees are set by CISI, vary by paper and membership status, and are listed in CISI's price list, so check there for the current figure. One thing worth knowing: the exam price includes a hard copy of the official workbook for that paper, so you are not paying for that separately.

Step three: choose how you want to sit it

CISI exams are computer based, and you have two ways to take them.

At a Prometric test centre. You book a date, time and a centre near you and sit the exam there under invigilation. This is the traditional route and suits people who would rather be out of the house and in a controlled room.

By remote invigilation, from home or work. CISI offers remote invigilation through Prometric's ProProctor system, available to candidates globally at no extra charge. You sit the exam in a suitable, private location on your own equipment, monitored online. There are a few requirements: you need to be over 18, have a quiet space and a working setup, and download the ProProctor software ahead of time, typically at least 48 hours before, after completing a system check. Your confirmation email spells out exactly what to do.

Both routes cost the same and lead to the same qualification, so it comes down to whether you would rather travel to a centre or sit at your own desk.

A note for Capital Markets Programme candidates

If you are booking one of the three Capital Markets Programme papers, UK Financial Regulation, Securities or Derivatives, remember that you must have passed IntegrityMatters, CISI's short online integrity test, before you can sit them. Get that out of the way early so it does not hold up your booking. The foundation paper, the Introduction to Securities & Investment, has no such prerequisite.

On the day and your result

Bring valid identification, as you will need it to be admitted, whether at a centre or for remote invigilation. The exams are multiple choice with no negative marking, so you answer every question. For these computer-based multiple-choice papers you usually get a provisional result on screen as soon as you finish, which means you walk away knowing where you stand rather than waiting weeks.

If you do not pass

You can resit. You rebook and pay the exam fee again, but you do not pay the one-off registration fee a second time. The better outcome, of course, is to not need a resit, which is entirely down to how you prepare. A weighted, timed mock score above the pass mark, consistently, is the signal that you are ready to book with confidence rather than hope.