Checked 15 October 2026 against FINRA's SIE exam page and its July 2026 notice on retake waiting periods.
The passing score
FINRA lists the SIE passing score as 70. The exam is 75 multiple-choice questions and you have 1 hour 45 minutes. When you finish you get an immediate notice of whether you passed, and if you did not, you get performance feedback.
What FINRA does not say
The FINRA page gives the number 70 and nothing about how it is calculated. It does not say whether the score is scaled, whether some questions are unscored, or how many correct answers reach 70. You will see sites that say you need a particular number of correct answers. Those are estimates, and we are not going to repeat one as fact.
We also could not find a pass rate for the SIE on FINRA's pages. Be wary of pass rates quoted without a source.
How the exam is split by topic
FINRA's content outline splits the 75 questions into four sections: Knowledge of Capital Markets, 16% (12 questions); Understanding Products and Their Risks, 44% (33 questions); Understanding Trading, Customer Accounts and Prohibited Activities, 31% (23 questions); and Overview of the Regulatory Framework, 9% (7 questions). The biggest section is products and their risks, so that is where time spent studying counts for the most.
If you do not pass
FINRA's current rule is a wait of 30 days after a first or second failed attempt, and 180 days after a third or later failed attempt within two years. In a July 2026 notice FINRA said it has adopted shorter waits, 15 days and 60 days, but that they are not yet in effect for candidates and it will announce the date later. Until then the current waits apply, so confirm your date in FINRA's system before you rebook.
Practicing to the same weights
The CertQuestUSA SIE bank is built to those four section weights, with 300 original questions in four 75-question papers. They are practice questions, not questions from the real exam, and a good practice score does not guarantee a pass.
More on the fee: how much the SIE exam costs. All the exams in one place: securities exams.