SIE Exam Day: What to Expect From Check-In to Results
A walkthrough of SIE exam day: Prometric check-in, online proctoring, 80 questions in 1 hour 45 minutes, break rules, and how your result reaches you.
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You take the SIE at a Prometric test center or at home with a remote proctor watching through your webcam. The exam is the same either way. You get 80 questions and 1 hour 45 minutes.
Most of exam day is check-in and waiting. The test itself runs under two hours. Knowing the order of events keeps the day boring, and boring is what you want on exam day.
This page covers arrival, the rules inside the room, how to pace 80 questions, and what happens after you finish. For the exam basics in one place, see our SIE exam overview.
What sits in front of you
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions on screen | 80 |
| Questions that count | 75 |
| Unscored pretest questions | 5 |
| Time limit | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| Answer choices | 4 per question |
| Penalty for guessing | None |
| Passing score | 70, as an equated score |
Five of the 80 questions are unscored pretest items. You cannot tell them apart from the scored ones, and you should not try. Answer all 80 the same way.
The passing score of 70 is an equated score. FINRA does not publish a percent-correct equivalent, so do not aim at "70% right". Aim to be steady across all four sections instead. Our post on the SIE exam pass rate explains what that score does and does not tell you.
Check-in at a Prometric test center
Your appointment confirmation gives the address and the time you should arrive. Follow that time rather than your own guess about traffic.
The name on your ID must match the name on your appointment. Check the spelling now, not on the morning. If it is wrong, fix it well ahead of the day. Our guide on how to register for the SIE exam covers the booking side.
Most test centers store personal items in a locker before you enter the testing room. Expect to hand over items such as:
- Your phone
- Your watch, including a smart watch
- Your bag and coat
- Any notes, books or printouts
- Food and drink
Your appointment confirmation lists the exact rules for your center, so check it in the week before. Expect an ID check and a short security screen before staff seat you at a workstation. Read every instruction screen carefully once you sit down. Raise your hand if anything on the machine looks wrong, and tell staff before you leave the room for any reason.
Taking the SIE online with a remote proctor
The exam is identical online. The difference is that you supply the room, the computer and the internet connection, so the setup is your job.
Run the system check the test provider sends you several days ahead. Run it on the exact computer and network you plan to use, not a different one.
You need a private room with a door. Nobody else may enter while you test, so arrange that with the people you live with in advance. Clear your desk down to the machine itself.
Expect the proctor to check the room and the desk on camera. Expect an ID check on camera too, right before the exam starts.
A dropped connection is the one risk that home testing adds. A wired connection beats wifi. Close every other program before you begin. If something breaks mid-exam, the proctor is your first point of contact.
What you can bring to the desk
Treat the SIE as closed book. Plan on no notes, no textbook, no phone and no personal calculator at the workstation. Your appointment confirmation lists what the test provider allows, and those rules govern the room. Read that list in the week before, not at the door.
Everything you need on exam day has to be in your head already. That is what practice is for. Sit at least one full timed mock exam before the real thing. That way, the format feels familiar by the time it counts.
Breaks
Break rules come from the test provider, and they can differ between a test center and an online session. Do not assume you get one. Check the rules in your appointment confirmation and on FINRA's SIE exam page before exam day.
Plan the exam as a single sitting of 1 hour 45 minutes. Eat before you arrive. Use the restroom before you check in. If a break turns out to be allowed, treat it as a bonus rather than part of your plan.
How to pace 80 questions
You have 105 minutes for 80 questions. That is about 1 minute 19 seconds each. The time is enough, but only if you keep moving.
Use a simple rule: answer, flag, move on. If a question is still open after roughly 90 seconds, pick your best option, flag it, and go. Return to the flagged ones with whatever time is left.
| Questions done | Time gone |
|---|---|
| 20 | about 26 minutes |
| 40 | about 53 minutes |
| 60 | about 79 minutes |
| 80 | 105 minutes |
If you are behind at question 40, speed up on the short factual items rather than abandoning the long ones. There is no penalty for guessing, so never leave a question blank. A flagged answer beats an empty one you meant to come back to.
Practice under the clock until that pace feels normal. Our free practice test runs the same format and timing. The wider practice question bank lets you drill one section at a time.
When and how your result arrives
You find out whether you passed. FINRA scores the exam against a passing score of 70, reported as an equated score rather than a percent correct.
For exactly when and how your result reaches you, read your appointment confirmation and FINRA's SIE exam page. Those details sit with FINRA and the test provider, and they can change. Check them in the week before your exam so nothing on the day surprises you.
After the result
A passed SIE stays valid for 4 years. It does not register or license you by itself. Registration needs a firm to sponsor you plus a top-off exam, such as the Series 6 or the Series 7. See SIE license and SIE vs Series 7 for how the two fit together.
If you do not pass, you wait 30 days after a first or a second failed attempt. After a third or later failed attempt within two years, the wait is 180 days. FINRA has approved shorter waits and will announce a start date, so plan around the current waits until then. Our post on what happens if you fail the SIE covers the rebuild.
The week before
- Confirm your appointment time, your location or online link, and the ID you need.
- Sit one full timed mock exam end to end, with no pausing.
- Review your weakest area. Products and risks carries 44% of the scored questions, so a gap there costs the most. The free course and the SIE study guide both work through it.
- Redo the questions you got wrong, not the ones you got right. See how to study for the SIE exam for a schedule that fits around work.
- Sleep properly the night before. A tired brain misreads questions, and misreading is what turns a known answer into a wrong one.
- Stop studying the evening before. Nothing you learn at that point will move your score.