United States
Hong KongThe CFP exam format, session by session
Two three-hour sessions of 85 questions each, computer-based at a Prometric center, closed book, with a scheduled break between them. The mix is stand-alone questions, short scenarios and multi-question case studies.
- Questions
- 170, all scored
- Sessions
- Two, 85 questions each
- Session length
- 180 minutes
- Total
- Six hours plus a break
- Delivery
- Computer-based, Prometric test center
- Materials
- Closed book. An approved calculator is permitted
- Windows
- March, July and November
- Results
- Pass or fail, by secure email within four weeks of the window closing
Three question shapes, and they take very different times
- Stand-alone. One fact, one answer. The fastest, and the ones that have to fund the rest.
- Short scenario. A few lines of client situation, then a question depending on them.
- Case study. A fuller client picture - assets, family, goals, constraints - supporting several questions and usually pulling in three knowledge domains at once.
Two minutes a question is the average across all three. It is not the budget for any of them, and treating it as one is the most common pacing failure on this exam.
Spend a steady two minutes on the stand-alone items and you arrive at a case study with exactly two minutes for something that needs five. The fast questions are meant to be fast - bank the time deliberately.
What the two sessions mean in practice
They are not two independent exams. The break is scheduled and the second session begins whether or not you feel ready for it.
What that produces is a stamina problem disguised as a knowledge problem. Candidates commonly find their accuracy holds through the first session and slips in the second - not because the questions are harder, but because sustained close reading of dense client scenarios is genuinely tiring and most people have never practiced doing it for six hours.
Which is why the advice everywhere on this site is to sit at least two full-length papers in one day before the exam, not four half-papers on separate evenings.
What you can take in
The exam is closed book. An approved calculator is permitted, and knowing your own calculator well enough to run time-value-of-money problems without thinking is worth more preparation time than it usually gets - fumbling the keystrokes costs minutes you priced into case studies.
Prometric's own center rules govern what else you may bring and what happens to your possessions. Read them on the confirmation rather than discovering them at the door.
How results come
Pass or fail, by secure email, within four weeks of the whole window closing - not four weeks from your own sitting. Sit early in a window and you wait longer.
No score is given to anyone. Candidates who do not pass receive diagnostic information about relative performance across the knowledge domains, which is the most useful thing available from a failed attempt and the right place to start a retake plan.
CFP® is a registered mark of Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, CFP Board. Confirm format details against cfp.net before your sitting.
Common questions
What is the CFP exam format?
Two three-hour sessions of 85 questions each, 170 in total and all scored, delivered computer-based at a Prometric test center. It is closed book with an approved calculator permitted, and there is a scheduled break between sessions.
Is the CFP exam open book?
No. It is closed book. An approved calculator is permitted, and being fluent with it is worth practicing - fumbling time-value-of-money keystrokes costs minutes you will want for the case studies.
How long is the CFP exam?
Six hours of testing, split into two three-hour sessions with a scheduled break. The break is fixed rather than taken at your discretion, so the second session starts whether or not you feel ready.
Can I take the two sessions on different days?
No. Both sessions are sat on the same day, which is why stamina matters as much as knowledge and why practicing full-length papers in one sitting is worth doing at least twice.
When do results arrive?
Pass or fail by secure email within four weeks of the testing window closing - measured from the window's end, not your sitting date. Sitting early in a window means waiting longer for the result.