United States
Hong KongWhich HKSI Paper 1 syllabus version applies to your sitting?
The current HKSI Paper 1 syllabus is v3.5, covering nine topics across 66 second-level headings. Check the version number on the PDF you are studying from before you do anything else, because study material bought second-hand is often a version or two behind.
Nobody checks the version number. They download a syllabus somebody sent them, or buy a used manual from a colleague who passed last year, and start reading. Most of the time it does not matter much. The times it does matter, it matters a great deal, and you find out in the exam room.
The current version
- Current syllabus
- v3.5
- In force from
- 1 January 2026
- Topics
- 9
- Second-level headings
- 66
- Published by
- HKSI Institute
- Cost
- Free - it is a public PDF
- Where the version number is
- On the syllabus document itself
The syllabus is free. That is worth saying twice, because a surprising number of candidates buy material before they have read the document that defines what the exam covers. Read it first. It takes under an hour and it is the only authoritative statement of scope.
How to check which version governs your sitting
- Open the syllabus PDF on the HKSI site, not the copy in your downloads folder from six months ago.
- Find the version number and effective date on the document. A version in force from a date before your sitting is the one that applies.
- Compare it to whatever you are studying from. If your manual or course predates the current effective date, find out what changed.
- Check again a few weeks before the exam if you booked a long way out. Effective dates are published in advance, and a version change between booking and sitting is the case that catches people.
What actually changes between versions
Usually not the architecture. The nine topics have a stable logic to them: the regulatory landscape, the legal foundations, the Ordinance, licensing and subsidiary legislation, conduct, operations, the exchanges, capital raising, and market misconduct. That structure reflects how Hong Kong regulation is organised and it does not get rearranged casually.
What moves is underneath. A new SFC code, a revised guideline, an amendment to the Ordinance, a change in scope for a regulated activity. Those land as new or reworded second-level headings, and they are the questions most likely to appear because they are the ones the examiner has just written.
| Type of change | How likely | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| A new or revised SFC code appears in the syllabus | Common | Study the current code text, not last year's summary |
| An amendment to the Ordinance is reflected | Common | Read the current text on e-Legislation |
| A heading is reworded | Common | Usually cosmetic. Read the wording anyway |
| A heading is removed | Occasional | Do not spend time on material outside the current scope |
| The topic structure changes | Rare | Rebuild your notes around the new structure |
The second-hand materials problem
Someone in your team passed last year and offers you their manual. It is a kind gesture and it may well be fine. Before you accept it, check the version it was written against and compare that to the syllabus governing your sitting.
Here is the opinion, and it is not the one a study provider is expected to give: a slightly out-of-date manual is usually still worth reading. The overwhelming majority of Paper 1 content is stable regulatory architecture that does not change year to year, and a candidate who works hard through a version-old manual will beat one who buys the current edition and skims it. What you must not do is study an old manual and never look at the current syllabus, because the syllabus is where the delta lives.
The concession: for the codes in Topic 5 and the operational material in Topic 6, currency matters more than elsewhere. Those are the areas where the SFC actually issues and revises documents. If your material is old, treat those two topics as the ones to re-source from the current codes.
Even a current syllabus points at documents that are themselves being amended. The Ordinance on e-Legislation and the SFC codes and guidelines are the primary texts, they are free, and they are always more current than any manual. When something matters, read it there.
Does a version change make the exam harder?
There is no evidence for that, and we would be making it up if we said otherwise. HKSI publishes pass rates for the Licensing Examination but not a breakdown that would let anybody attribute a movement to a syllabus change. The twelve-month mean to June 2026 was 51.9%, and the monthly figures swing between 47.4% and 61.84% for reasons nobody outside the Institute can identify.
What is fair to say is that new material tends to be tested, because it is fresh in the examiner's mind and it is what the version change was for. If a heading is new in your syllabus version, spend a little longer on it than its size suggests.
What to do with the syllabus once you have the right one
Use it as a checklist rather than a table of contents. All 66 headings, in a document you own, with a mark against each one when you can explain it without looking. That single habit converts the syllabus from a scoping document into a study system, and it is how you find the coverage gap before the exam does. Our topic-by-topic overview is organised the same way, and the study plan sequences it against a date.
If you are still deciding whether to buy the official manual at all, we take a position on that in do you need the HKSI study manual.
Common questions
Which HKSI Paper 1 syllabus is current?
Version 3.5. It sets out nine topics across 66 second-level headings and is published free by the HKSI Institute. Check the version number on the document itself rather than trusting a downloaded copy.
How do I know which syllabus version applies to my sitting?
The version in force on your exam date governs your paper, and effective dates are published on the syllabus document. If you booked a long way ahead, check again a few weeks before the sitting in case a new version has taken effect.
Can I use a study manual written for an older syllabus?
Often yes, with a caveat. Most Paper 1 content is stable regulatory architecture. The risk sits in the SFC codes and the operational material, where documents are actively revised. Use the old manual, but read the current syllabus and re-source those areas.
What changes when the syllabus version increments?
Usually the detail rather than the structure. New or revised SFC codes, amendments to the Ordinance, changes in the scope of regulated activities, and rewordings. The nine-topic architecture reflects how Hong Kong regulation is organised and rarely moves.
Is a new syllabus version harder to pass?
There is no published evidence either way. HKSI releases pass rates but nothing that would let anyone attribute a movement to a syllabus change. What is reasonable is to give new headings a little more study time than their size suggests, because fresh material tends to be tested.