CFP® Exam: Practice Exam

Set yourself up for exam success with CFP Board's Practice Exams. 69% of those who passed the CFP® exam took a CFP Board Practice Exam during their preparation. There are two, full-length, 170-question Practice Exams made up of questions retired from previous CFP® exams, as well as some newer questions based on current content.

An Essential Part of Your Exam Prep

See what's included in your practice exam, and how it helps to set your expectations and create a study plan for taking the real CFP® exam.

170 Unique, Authentic CFP® Exam Questions

Most questions have appeared in previous exams, and are now retired for inclusion in the practice exam. The questions represent the full range of topic areas of the current CFP® exam.

Online Access

So you can access it at your convenience, whether studying night or day, on the road, at the office or at home. (The practice exam works best with Internet Explorer.)

Instant Feedback Upon Completion

You'll receive a result report upon completing your exam. The result report will provide your performance relative to the Principal Knowledge Domains.

Timed Clock for Realistic Practice

The clock for the practice exam is set for 3 hours per session, 6 hours total: the same amount of time that is allotted for the 170 questions on the real exam.

Highlighting & Marking Questions

To aid your study, you can highlight passages, strike out answer choices.

solutions

You can view the solution to each question on the practice exam by selecting the Solution button below the question text. Once the practice exam is submitted, the solutions are no longer available.

Practice Exam FAQs

Answers to frequently asked questions about the practice exam.

1. How to launch the practice exam?
  1. From your CFP Board account, click the access practice exam link under the exam tab.
  2. Click the get practice test button to retrieve your practice exam.
  3. The system will take 20 seconds to retrieve your practice exam eligibility.
  4. Once you retrieve your practice exam eligibility, you will have 24 hours to access the practice exam.
2. How to exit the exam and resume the practice exam later?
  1. Do not click the finish exam button.
  2. Instead, close the browser to exit the exam. This will stop the exam timer and allow you to resume the exam later without losing time.
3. What do you do if you receive an invalid key code message?
  1. Wait two minutes before trying to re-access practice exam. The system needs a few minutes to recognize that your previous practice exam session is no longer in use.
  2. Click the Resume button from the Access Your Practice Exam customer account screen. The system will prefill with the candidate’s name and access code.
4. Submit practice exam
  1. Click the finish test button.
5. Practice exam results
  1. Candidates will receive an email with a result report that shows percentage proficiency in each principal knowledge domain. Candidates will not receive an overall score.
  2. Candidates who submit the exam for scoring by clicking the finish exam button can no longer access the practice exam.
  3. The practice exam result will not be available in your CFP Board account.
6. How many questions are on the practice exam?

Each practice exam includes 170 unique, authentic CFP® exam questions.

7. Where do the practice exam questions come from?

Most of the questions have appeared in previous CFP® exams, and are now retired for inclusion in the practice exams. Although these actual questions will not appear on any future CFP® exam, they are typical of the types of questions asked and represent the full range of topic areas covered on the current CFP® exam.

8. How do I access the practice exam?

Practice exams are accessible online in your CFP Board Account Dashboard. Select “Access Your Practice Exam” under the Exam section. The practice exam works best with Internet Explorer.

9. How much does it cost to purchase the practice exam?

One 170-question practice exam, CFP Board Practice Exam I, (a $249 value) is complimentary with your CFP® exam registration. If you choose not to add the practice exam to your account at the time of the exam registration you can later purchase it for $249. A second full-length Practice Exam, CFP Board Practice Exam II, is available for purchase now in your online account for $249. Take the second version and see how far you’ve come!

10. Are there instructions on how to take the practice exam?

Once you access a practice exam, there are instructions available as well as a tutorial and a sample question to try before you start the actual practice exam.

11. Will I be able to re-take the practice exam more than once?

No. Although you can start and stop while you’re taking a practice exam, once you have completed the exam and submitted it for scoring by clicking “End”, you will not be able to take the exam again.

12. If I order the practice exam more than once, will I receive different questions each time?

No. There are two different CFP Board practice exams, CFP Board Practice Exam I and CFP Board Practice Exam II, for you to use during your preparation (total of 340 unique questions). Each practice exam contains the same 170 questions each time it is added to your account.

13. Will I receive feedback on the answers?

Yes. There is an option for you to select so that you may see the correct answers with explanations once you have marked your answers.

14. Can I review my answers before submitting my practice exam for scoring?

Yes. While taking the practice exam, you can go back to earlier questions that you have answered in each subsection. Similar to the live exam, once a subsection is complete, you are not able to return to the previous subsection. There is also a solutions button located below the tax tables and formulas that provides the rationale for the correct response for each exam question.

15. Will I be able to time myself taking the practice exam?

Yes. There is a clock in the upper right hand corner of the screen while you are taking the exam. The clock will stop if you pause or leave the exam for any reason. Once you start your exam again, the clock will restart at the point where you left off.

16. How much time will I have to complete the 170 questions?

The practice exam timer is set for 3 hours per session, 6 hours total, which is the same amount of time that is allotted for the 170 questions on the real exam.

17. What features are included in the practice exam?

The practice exam features the ability to highlight passages within a question, to strike out answer choices, and to mark questions to return to for later review. You can also review the solutions to the questions.

18. Is the practice exam only helpful for a specific exam test date?

No. The practice exam is designed to assist candidates in their preparation for any administration of the CFP® exam based on the current Job Task Domains and Principal Topic areas. Completing the practice exam provides first-hand experience with the computer-based exam format used for the CFP® exam, and can help identify the Principal Topic area(s) one needs to review further to improve proficiency.

19. When is the best time leading up to the exam to take the practice exam?

You can take the practice exam at any point leading up to an exam. However, taking the practice exam early in the preparation process can maximize the usefulness of the study tool by helping to identify which topic areas(s) you need to focus your study on.

A second full-length Practice Exam, CFP Board Practice Exam II, is also available. Take the second version and see how far you’ve come!

20. Will I have the ability to print out the exam questions?

The practice exam was not designed to be printed, and the online interface does not include a print option.