United States
Hong KongHKSI Paper 1 results: when they arrive, what they tell you, and what to do next
Your Paper 1 result is issued by the HKSI Institute against a 70% pass mark, meaning 42 correct of 60. HKSI publishes the current release timing and method in its examination materials. A pass is a qualification, not a licence - the SFC application is a separate step you or your employer still have to make.
Waiting for a result is the least productive week of the whole process. There is nothing you can do to change the outcome, and there is quite a lot you can do to waste the time. This page covers what the result actually is, how to read it, and the two branches that follow.
What you are waiting for
A pass or a fail, measured against a fixed standard: 70% of the paper, which is 42 of the 60 questions. The mark is applied to the paper as a whole, not topic by topic, so there is no way to fail on a single weak topic if your overall score clears the bar.
- Pass mark
- 70%
- Questions needed
- 42 of 60
- Applied
- Across the whole paper, not per topic
- Issued by
- HKSI Institute
- Release timing and method
- Published by HKSI - check your admission details and the Examination Handbook
- Twelve-month mean pass rate
- 51.9%, to June 2026
HKSI sets and publishes the result release arrangements, and we have not found a figure we can source and stand behind. Rather than repeat something we cannot check, we will say plainly: the Institute is the authority on when your result lands, and your admission details are the first place to look.
What the result will not tell you
Do not expect a diagnostic. A licensing examination result is a competence decision, not a coaching report, and candidates who fail often find the feedback thinner than they hoped. That has a practical consequence: if you fail, you will need to work out why from your own preparation record rather than from the result.
Which is an argument for keeping that record while you study. Topic-level scores from timed mocks, sat before the exam, are the closest thing to a diagnostic you will ever have. Ours come out of the full 60-question mock, and any decent practice set will do the same.
If you passed
Good. Now do the boring part quickly, because momentum matters more than most people realise.
- Save the evidence. Download or file whatever confirmation HKSI issues, in a place that is not your work email.
- Check your second paper. Paper 1 is the common paper. Your regulated activity almost certainly needs another one, and the paper-to-activity mapping sets out which.
- Talk to your sponsor. The SFC application is made through a licensed corporation in most cases, and the firm's compliance team drives the timetable.
- Note the recognition period. Exam passes are not recognised indefinitely for licensing purposes, and the current period is published by HKSI and the SFC. Do not let a pass go stale while you wait for a job to start.
A pass is not a licence. Your name does not appear on the SFC public register because you cleared Paper 1, and no part of the exam process makes the application for you.
If you failed
You are in ordinary company. Roughly 48.1% of candidates did not pass over the twelve months to June 2026, and the monthly figures HKSI publishes swing widely - from 47.4% in March 2026 up to 61.84% in November 2025. A fail says something about your preparation, not about your ability to do the job.
Here is the opinion. Most people who fail Paper 1 rebook too fast and study the same way twice. That is the single most expensive mistake in this whole process, because the resit costs another HKD 1,800 and the second failure is far more demoralising than the first. Before you book anything, spend an evening working out which of these describes you:
| What went wrong | How you know | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| You ran out of time | Unanswered or rushed questions at the end | Timed full-length mocks, not more reading |
| You knew it but could not recall it | Answers felt familiar but you could not choose | Active recall and self-testing, close the book |
| You never covered a topic properly | Whole blocks of questions felt foreign | Go back to the syllabus and audit your coverage |
| You confused near-neighbour rules | Two options both looked right, every time | Build comparison tables: which body, which code, which Part |
| You did not study enough | You know this one already | Set a real schedule against a real date |
The retake rules and resit strategy page goes further into the mechanics. On difficulty, the pass rate analysis is worth reading precisely because it puts your result in context.
The week of waiting
Two useful things to do, and one to avoid. Useful: start on your second paper while the regulatory framework is still fresh, and write down everything you remember struggling with while you can still remember it. To avoid: reconstructing the paper from memory and grading yourself. Candidates are consistently bad at this. People who walk out convinced they failed pass all the time, and the reverse happens too.
The concession: this exam gives you a clean binary outcome against a published standard, which is more than a lot of professional assessments manage. There is no panel, no discretion, no interview. Forty-two of sixty, or not. That clarity is genuinely worth something when you are deciding what to do next.
Common questions
When do HKSI Paper 1 results come out?
HKSI sets the release arrangements and publishes them in its examination materials and on your admission details. We do not quote a turnaround because it is not a figure we can source reliably, and a stale number would send you looking in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What score do I need to pass HKSI Paper 1?
Seventy per cent, which is 42 correct answers out of 60. The mark is applied across the whole paper rather than topic by topic, so a weak topic can be carried by strong performance elsewhere as long as your total clears 42.
Will I see my score by topic?
Do not count on it. A licensing examination result is a competence decision rather than a study report, and feedback is typically limited. The practical answer is to generate your own topic-level data from timed mocks before you sit, while it can still change the outcome.
Does passing Paper 1 mean I am licensed?
No. A pass satisfies part of the SFC's competence requirement. You still need the remaining papers for your regulated activity, a sponsoring licensed corporation in most cases, and an approved application before your name appears on the SFC public register.
Can I appeal a Paper 1 result?
Any review or appeal process is HKSI's to define, and the current arrangements are published by the Institute. Given the exam is machine-marked multiple choice against a fixed 70% standard, the realistic path after a fail is preparation and a resit rather than a challenge.