Which CISI Exam Should You Take First?
A simple guide to choosing your first CISI exam: the foundation papers explained, the Capital Markets Programme, and a decision tree for graduates and new entrants.
Which CISI exam should you take first?
For most people it is the Introduction to Securities & Investment, a Level 3 award covering the whole industry across eleven syllabus elements, and the standard foundation for UK financial services. If you are completely new to the industry with no specific requirement, Fundamentals of Financial Services at Level 2 is a gentler start. If your employer has told you which paper to sit, sit that one.
- Usual first exam
- Introduction to Securities & Investment, a Level 3 Award and the standard UK foundation
- What it covers
- The whole industry across eleven syllabus elements
- Gentler alternative
- Fundamentals of Financial Services (Level 2), for people completely new to the industry or in a support role
- If your employer specifies a paper
- Sit that one. Most schemes specify the Introduction to Securities & Investment
- Watch the name
- CISI lists the qualification as the Level 3 Award 'Introduction to Investment' in its exam shop
- Not the same paper
- The International Introduction to Securities & Investment (IISI) is a separate paper for non-UK markets
- Next step up
- The Capital Markets Programme: UK Financial Regulation plus one technical unit, Securities or Derivatives
- Programme prerequisite
- IntegrityMatters, CISI's short online integrity test, must be passed before the Capital Markets Programme papers
For most people the answer is the Introduction to Securities & Investment, but it genuinely depends on your starting point and the role you are heading into. This guide maps the relevant qualifications and gives you a simple decision tree, so you start in the right place rather than the obvious one.
The foundation papers, briefly
A few CISI qualifications sit at the entry level, and it helps to know how they differ before you book.
Fundamentals of Financial Services (Level 2). The gentlest entry point, aimed at people completely new to the industry or in a support role. It is broad and introductory. If finance is entirely new to you and nobody has told you to sit a specific paper, this is the soft start.
Introduction to Securities & Investment (Level 3). The usual starting point and the one most graduates and new entrants mean by "the CISI exam". It covers the whole industry across eleven syllabus elements and is a recognised foundation for UK financial services. For most people reading this, this is the right first exam. We cover it in detail in how to pass the Introduction to Securities & Investment.
A note on the International version. CISI also runs an International Introduction to Securities & Investment, sometimes shortened to IISI, for non-UK markets. It is a different paper. Make sure you book and revise from the one that matches your role, which for UK candidates is the standard Introduction (CISI now lists this qualification as the Level 3 Award 'Introduction to Investment' in its exam shop).
The Capital Markets Programme
Once you are past the foundation, the Capital Markets Programme is the qualification major banks use to benchmark people working on the securities and derivatives side. It is completed with two exams: the regulatory unit, UK Financial Regulation, plus one technical unit, Securities or Derivatives, depending on your desk. There is a prerequisite, IntegrityMatters, CISI's short online integrity test, which you must pass before sitting the CMP papers. These are a clear step up from the foundation, so they are rarely the right place to begin unless your role demands it and you already have the grounding.
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.
Compared with a face-to-face adviser, the main advantage a robo-advice service offers a client is:
Not quite. The answer is C.
Automating the fact-find and the portfolio construction removes the cost of a human adviser, so the charge to the client is lower. A wider choice of funds is the runner-up but points the wrong way, because an automated service normally offers a short list of model portfolios built from index funds rather than the range an adviser can reach. The client still pays the annual charge on every fund the algorithm buys, and the service does not dispense with the fact-find either, since the questionnaire the investor completes at the outset is exactly that.
A government budget deficit arises when:
Not quite. The answer is C.
A budget deficit arises when government spending in the period is greater than the tax and other receipts collected, so the shortfall has to be borrowed. Revenue exceeding spending is the opposite position, a surplus. Imports exceeding exports is a trade deficit, which belongs to the balance of payments and is the classic confusion here: a country can run a budget surplus and a trade deficit at the same time.
Which term is used for the first currency named in a pair such as EUR/USD?
Not quite. The answer is A.
The first currency named is the base: it is the unit being priced, and the rate says how much of the second currency one unit of it buys. The quote currency is the nearest rival and is that second currency, the other half of the same pair. The settlement currency is whichever currency is actually delivered on the value date, and a reserve currency is one that central banks hold in their official reserves.
For which of the following purposes is a stock market index NOT used?
Not quite. The answer is B.
A stock market index measures the price movement of a defined group of shares and says nothing about any constituent's ability to meet its debts, which is a matter for the credit rating agencies. Showing how the share prices of the largest companies are moving is exactly what an index is for. Setting the level a fund manager is judged against is a standard use as well, since the index is the yardstick for the return achieved, and index futures settle against the level of the index itself, so that is a genuine use too.
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.
A simple decision tree
Work down this list and stop at the first one that fits.
Has your employer told you which paper to sit? Then sit that one. The decision is made; your job is to pass it efficiently. Most schemes specify the Introduction to Securities & Investment.
Are you completely new to financial services, with no specific requirement? Consider starting with Fundamentals of Financial Services to build confidence, then the Introduction. If you have a degree or some exposure, you can usually skip straight to the Introduction.
Are you a graduate or new entrant heading into a markets, operations, compliance or advice role? Start with the Introduction to Securities & Investment. It is the standard foundation and it sets you up for everything that follows.
Are you already working in capital markets and need the benchmark qualification? You may go straight into the Capital Markets Programme: UK Financial Regulation plus the technical unit your desk uses, Securities or Derivatives. Make sure IntegrityMatters is done first.
For almost everyone who is not already in a specialist seat, the path is the Introduction first, then the Capital Markets Programme if your role calls for it.
Before you decide, sanity-check whether you need it at all
It is worth a moment to confirm the qualification fits your goal, especially if no employer is requiring it. Our honest take on whether the CISI is worth it covers who it helps and who it does not, so you are sure you are sitting the right exam for the right reason.
Test the water first. The free Introduction diagnostic runs you through foundation-level questions and gives you a short snapshot across nine of the 11 Introduction syllabus elements, which is the quickest way to tell whether to start with the Introduction or build up to it. No payment, no commitment.
Once you have chosen, the complete guide to passing your CISI exams covers the method that works across every paper, and when you are ready to sit it, here is how to book a CISI exam.
Working out which qualification rather than which paper? Compare the Investment Advice Diploma, the Investment Operations Certificate and the risk and compliance awards.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first CISI exam most people take?
The Introduction to Securities & Investment, a Level 3 Award. It is the standard foundation for UK financial services and the usual requirement on graduate schemes.
Should I take Fundamentals of Financial Services or the Introduction?
If you are completely new to the industry and have no specific requirement, Fundamentals (Level 2) is a gentler start. If you have a degree or some exposure, or your employer asks for it, go straight to the Introduction (Level 3).
Can I start with the Capital Markets Programme?
You can if your role requires it and you have the grounding, but it is a clear step up from the foundation. You also need to pass IntegrityMatters first. Most people sit the Introduction before the Programme.
Do I have to take the CISI exams in a set order?
Not formally for the foundation papers, but it makes sense to build up: foundation first, then the Capital Markets Programme. Within the Programme you sit UK Financial Regulation plus one technical unit.