United States
Hong KongHow many questions are on the CFP exam?
170 questions, all scored, split across two three-hour sessions of 85 each. The mix is stand-alone questions, short scenarios and longer case studies that draw on several knowledge domains at once.
170, all of them scored, over six hours.
| Total questions | 170 |
| Sessions | Two |
| Per session | 85 questions in 180 minutes |
| Total time | Six hours |
| Format | Multiple choice, computer-based, closed book |
Roughly two minutes a question. That sounds comfortable, right up until you meet the case studies.
The 170 are not all the same kind of question
Three shapes appear on the paper:
- Stand-alone questions - one fact, one answer. The quickest.
- Short scenarios - a few lines of client situation, then a question that depends on them.
- Case studies - a fuller client picture supporting several questions, usually pulling in rules from three knowledge domains at once.
The averaging catches people. Two minutes is a mean across all three shapes, so the stand-alone items have to be quick enough to fund the case studies. Work at a uniform pace and you run short at exactly the wrong moment.
Accuracy in the second session is a different thing from accuracy in the first. Sit at least two complete six-hour mocks before the day - people who have only practiced in short blocks find that out live.
How they spread across the domains
CFP Board publishes eight Principal Knowledge Domains with percentage weightings, and those weightings sum to 100%. It does not publish how many of the 170 questions each domain gets - so any per-domain count you see, including ours, is a derivation rather than an official figure.
The two largest are Retirement Savings and Income Planning at 18% and Investment Planning at 17%. About 60 questions between them.
Common questions
How many questions are on the CFP exam?
170, all scored, split across two three-hour sessions of 85 questions each. The paper mixes stand-alone questions, short scenarios and longer case studies drawing on several knowledge domains at once.
How long is the CFP exam?
Six hours in total - two sessions of three hours, with a break between them. That works out at roughly two minutes a question, averaged across question types that take very different amounts of time.
How many questions do I need to answer correctly?
CFP Board does not publish a pass mark, in any form - no scaled cut and no raw one. It publishes the pass rate, around 64%, which is the share of candidates who passed and not the score you need.
Are there unscored questions on the CFP exam?
CFP Board describes the exam as 170 questions and we have not seen a published figure for pretest items, so we do not quote one. Plan on all 170 counting.
What is the hardest part of the format?
The case studies, and the pacing they force. Because the two-minute average spans quick stand-alone items and long multi-domain scenarios, working at a uniform pace leaves you short exactly where the questions take longest.