United States
Hong KongWhich HKSI paper should you take first?
Paper 1, Fundamentals of Securities and Futures Regulation, in almost every case. It is the common regulatory component of nearly every licensing route, it supplies vocabulary the other papers assume, and at a 70% pass mark with a 51.9% mean pass rate it deserves your freshest effort.
There is a short answer and it is Paper 1. What follows is why, plus the three situations where the short answer is wrong, because a rule with no exceptions is usually a rule nobody checked.
- Default first paper
- Paper 1, Fundamentals of Securities and Futures Regulation
- Questions
- 60 multiple choice
- Time
- 90 minutes, 1.5 minutes a question
- Pass mark
- 70% - 42 of 60
- Fee
- HKD 1,800 per attempt
- Published mean pass rate
- 51.9% for the twelve months to June 2026
- Syllabus in force
- v3.5, from 1 January 2026
- Sittings
- Monthly, at HKSI Institute examination centres in Hong Kong
Why Paper 1 goes first
Four reasons, and they compound.
It is the shared component. Whatever regulated activity you end up on, the framework paper is the piece nearly every route includes, so it is the qualification least likely to be wasted if your plans change between now and next spring. Dealing, advising, asset management: the industry papers differ and this one usually does not.
It builds the vocabulary. The industry papers assume you already know what a licensed corporation is, what the Code of Conduct governs, and where the licensing perimeter sits. Sitting them first means learning that vocabulary twice, badly.
It is the most likely to need a second attempt. The published mean over the twelve months to June 2026 was 51.9%, so about 48.1% of candidates did not pass, and a resit costs another HKD 1,800 plus a month. Discovering that in month one is far better than discovering it in month four with a start date closing in.
And it is the one your employer will ask about. Compliance teams track the framework paper because it is what blocks a licence application, not because they have a view on which subject is more interesting.
What comes after Paper 1?
Whatever your regulated activity requires, and that is genuinely activity-specific rather than a matter of preference. The structure is a regulatory paper plus industry papers matched to the work, with a further activity-specific regulatory paper if you are heading for a responsible officer role.
We are not going to print a table of which paper number attaches to which activity type, because the mapping is set by the SFC's competence requirements and changes, and getting it wrong would cost you a fee and a month. Which HKSI papers you need works through it properly, and the SFC's own competence requirements are the binding version.
| Your position | Sit first | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| New to the industry, no offer yet | Paper 1 | Portable across every route, and it is the credible signal that you are serious |
| Offer in hand, licence conditional | Paper 1 | It is the blocking item on the licence application |
| Already licensed, adding an activity | The new industry paper | You have the framework paper. Do not re-sit what you hold |
| Moving towards responsible officer | Paper 1 if you do not hold it, then the activity regulation paper | The deeper paper assumes the framework |
| Employer has booked you onto something | Whatever they booked | Arguing about sequence with a sponsoring firm is a poor use of energy |
| Only one sitting left before a deadline | The paper with an available slot | A pass in hand beats a tidy sequence |
The situations where Paper 1 should not be first
- You already hold it, or hold a recognised equivalent. Exemptions exist under the SFC competence requirements. Check before you pay for anything you may not need.
- A deadline forces the other order. If the industry paper has a sitting next month and Paper 1 does not fit your calendar, take the sitting. Sequence is an optimisation, not a rule.
- Your employer is sponsoring a specific paper on a specific date. Take it. You can be strategically correct and still unemployed.
How long to leave between papers
Enough that you get a result before you commit to the next one. Sitting two live papers while holding down a job is how people end up with two mediocre preparations and one pass, and the pass is rarely the one they needed.
Sittings for Paper 1 run monthly at HKSI examination centres in Hong Kong, so the wait is not long in absolute terms. Use it. The week after an exam is the cheapest week to start the next one, because your study habit is still intact and rebuilding it from cold in six weeks' time is much harder than continuing.
The opinion, and what it costs us to say it
Most candidates should sit fewer papers than they plan to. There is a habit in Hong Kong of collecting licensing examinations as if they were certifications, and they are not: they are permissions attached to specific activities, and an unused permission does nothing for you. Sit Paper 1, sit the papers your actual role requires, and stop.
The concession is that this ignores optionality. If you genuinely expect to move from a dealing desk to asset management inside two years, front-loading the extra paper while you have study momentum is defensible, and a few people we would take seriously do exactly that. We just think most people who say it are describing a wish rather than a plan.
Whichever order you settle on, the honest way to size the first paper is to test yourself before you book. What the pass rate actually tells you covers why half of candidates get this wrong, and the exam format page covers what you are walking into.
Common questions
Can I take HKSI papers in any order?
Yes. Each paper is enrolled for separately and there is no prescribed sequence. Order is a strategy question rather than a rule, and for most candidates the strategy is Paper 1 first because it is the common regulatory component of nearly every licensing route.
How many HKSI papers do I need?
It depends entirely on the regulated activity and whether you are applying as a representative or a responsible officer. The structure is a regulatory paper plus industry papers matched to the work. Confirm the combination against the SFC competence requirements before enrolling.
Should I sit two papers at once?
Usually not, if you have a job. Two live papers means two thin preparations, and the framework paper is the one that suffers because it is the least interesting. Sittings run monthly, so staggering costs you weeks rather than months.
Is Paper 1 the hardest of the HKSI papers?
It is the one most often underestimated, which is not the same thing. The material is not conceptually difficult, but there are nine topics, the pass mark is 70%, and the published mean pass rate over the twelve months to June 2026 was 51.9%.
What happens if I fail the first paper I sit?
You re-enrol and pay again, at HKD 1,800 for Paper 1. Sittings run monthly in Hong Kong, so the delay is usually weeks rather than a season. Check the current retake rules in the HKSI examination handbook before you rebook.