How to Book a CISI Exam: Enrolment, Test Centres and Results
Book a CISI exam in three steps: register, choose and pay for your paper, then select a live test-centre or remote-invigilation slot.
How do you book a CISI exam?
Register with CISI as a candidate, paying the one-off Qualification Registration Fee, then book and pay for your paper through the CISI online shop. You choose either a Prometric test centre or remote invigilation from home through ProProctor, and both cost the same. The exam fee includes a hard copy of the official workbook for that paper, and if you are sitting a Capital Markets Programme paper you must pass IntegrityMatters first.
- Where you book
- The CISI online shop, or through your employer or an Accredited Training Partner
- Registration fee
- A one-off Qualification Registration Fee, payable only on your first CISI qualification
- Included in the fee
- A hard copy of the official workbook for that paper
- How you can sit it
- A Prometric test centre, or remote invigilation via ProProctor at no extra charge
- To sit remotely
- Over 18, a private quiet space, and ProProctor installed after a system check, typically at least 48 hours ahead
- Prerequisite
- IntegrityMatters, before any Capital Markets Programme paper. The Introduction paper has none
- Your result
- A provisional result on screen as soon as you finish
- Resits
- Rebook and pay the exam fee again, but not the registration fee a second time
To book a CISI exam, register or sign in, choose and pay for your paper in the CISI online shop, then select an available test-centre or remote-invigilation slot. If an employer or Accredited Training Partner is paying, check whether they will book on your behalf before you purchase anything.
Looking for a CISI test centre? Use CISI's live test-centre finder and booking journey for current locations and slots, because centres can change. Your booking confirmation gives the exact venue. For ID, check-in and remote-room rules, see the CISI test-centre guide.
The first booking is still easy to get wrong: you may need the one-off registration fee, a required workbook or IntegrityMatters before a Capital Markets paper. This guide covers the full journey. If you are still choosing a paper, 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 through the CISI online shop. If you are going through an employer or Accredited Training Partner, they may book on your behalf. Exam fees vary by paper and membership status, so use CISI's current price list rather than an old quoted figure. A corresponding CISI workbook is required and is normally added to your basket automatically unless you obtained it through an Accredited Training Partner. CISI is moving to digital workbooks, with printed availability limited by title, so check the format and cost shown in your basket.
Test yourself on Intro to S&I (UK)
4 questions written to the current syllabus, in the format of the real paper. Pick an answer and the explanation appears. Nothing to sign up for.
Which of the following are features of professional business rather than retail business? I Deals are struck in institutional size II Terms are negotiated trade by trade III Business is done on the firm's published standard terms IV The client is assumed able to judge the risk unaided
Not quite. The answer is A.
Professional business is transacted in institutional size, on terms settled deal by deal, with counterparties taken to have the expertise to assess the risk for themselves, so statements I, II and IV all hold. Statement III is the giveaway: selling on the firm's published standard terms is how high-volume retail business is done, which is why any combination containing it is wrong. The remaining combinations are incomplete, because institutional size and presumed expertise are each features of professional business and neither can be dropped.
A country's income and transfer flows with the rest of the world are balanced, yet it has run a current account deficit for several years. Which of the following does that indicate?
Not quite. The answer is D.
The current account records trade in goods and services together with income and transfers, so a deficit means payments to the rest of the world exceed receipts from it, principally because imports exceed exports. Exports exceeding imports would produce a surplus. Spending exceeding revenue is the runner-up and the classic confusion: that is a budget deficit, a description of the government's finances rather than of the country's trade with the world.
Which term is used for the smallest standard price increment in most currency pairs?
Not quite. The answer is C.
In most pairs the rate is quoted to four decimal places and the last of those places is a pip, so a move from 1.0840 to 1.0865 is 25 pips. A basis point is a hundredth of one per cent and is used for interest rates, a tick is the minimum price movement on an exchange-traded contract, and par value belongs to bonds.
What happens to the dividend yield on a share when its market price rises sharply and the annual dividend per share is held at the same level?
Not quite. The answer is C.
Dividend yield is the annual dividend divided by the current market price, so with the dividend held steady a higher price produces a lower yield. A rising yield is the closest alternative and would follow only if the dividend were increased or the price fell. The yield is unchanged only where price and dividend move in step, which is not the case here.
That is 4 of more than 10,800 questions in the PasskeyPrep bank. Chapter 1 of every exam is free, with the study notes and flashcards that go with it, and every answer is marked and explained the way these were.
Step three: choose how you want to sit it
CISI exams are computer based, and you have two ways to take them.
At a CISI test centre. Use the live finder and booking journey to choose an available date, time and location, then follow the exact venue details in your confirmation. This route suits people who would rather use a controlled exam setup.
By remote invigilation, from home or work. Most CISI computer-based exams can be taken remotely where that option is available. You need a private, compliant room and suitable equipment, and you must complete the system checks and setup named in your confirmation. Follow that confirmation rather than an old provider guide, because delivery arrangements can change.
The exam and qualification are the same either way. Choose from the live options based on availability and whether you would rather travel to a prepared centre or manage the technical and room setup yourself.
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 CISI publishes your result in MyCISI within 24 working hours, so you are not waiting weeks. It stays provisional until five working days after the exam date, after which the certificate confirming it becomes available to view and print.
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. Repeated weighted, timed mock scores above the pass mark are one useful input when deciding whether to book, alongside your timetable and remaining weak areas.
Booked, or about to be? Try free questions for your paper, read how to pass your CISI exam, then compare full practice and mock access before you commit to a revision tool.
Frequently asked questions
How do I book a CISI exam?
Register or sign in, choose and pay for your paper through the CISI online shop, then select an available test-centre or remote-invigilation slot. A corresponding CISI workbook is required and is normally added to the basket unless you obtained it through an Accredited Training Partner.
Where can I find CISI test centres?
Use CISI's live test-centre finder and booking journey to see current locations and available slots. Centres can change, and your booking confirmation gives the exact venue you must attend.
Can I sit a CISI exam at home?
Most CISI computer-based exams can be sat through remote invigilation where that option is available. You need a private, compliant room and suitable equipment, and you must follow the provider setup and system checks named in your booking confirmation.
Do I have to pay the CISI registration fee every time?
No. The Qualification Registration Fee is a one-off payment against your name. Once it is paid you do not pay it again for future CISI exams or qualifications. You do pay the exam fee for each paper you sit.
Is the workbook included when I book?
A corresponding CISI workbook is required and is normally added to your basket automatically unless you obtained it through an Accredited Training Partner. CISI is moving to digital workbooks, while printed availability depends on the title, so check the format and cost shown in your basket.
What happens if I fail a CISI exam?
You can resit. You rebook and pay the exam fee again, though not the one-off registration fee. Strong mock results can reduce uncertainty but do not rule out a resit; use them alongside your timetable, confidence and remaining weak areas.