“To give effect to this, the Corporations (Relevant Providers Exam Standard) Determination 2019 will be amended to provide relief from the three-month registration requirement,” FASEA said.

“This amendment will provide financial advisers with two opportunities to sit the exam before the end of the current transition period (being either July and November sittings or September and November sittings).

“This amendment will allow all candidates who have been unsuccessful at any prior sitting to sit the November exam which will be offered via Remote Proctoring and at exam venues, subject to COVID protocols.”

FASEA said it will also consult with stakeholders on this proposed amendment to the legislative instrument commencing 14 July 2021.

This amendment will also provide those impacted by the NSW lockdown with additional future exam options if required. ACER will contact the impacted July candidates to provide alternative options for their July sitting.

FASEA, with the support of the exam administrator (ACER), has successfully offered 12 exam sittings to date on more than 60 exam days and 858 exam sessions. Since June 2019, exams have been offered in capital cities and in 23 regional locations across Australia (with the April and June 2020 exams being remote0only exams due to COVID-19 restrictions).

This comes as FASEA had recently released its May exam results. To date, over 14,850 advisers have passed the adviser exams, representing 74 per cent of advisers on ASIC’s Financial Adviser Register (FAR). Overall, 89 per cent of advisers who have sat the exam have passed and 1,918 have been unsuccessful. Also, 1,516 candidates have re-sat the exam, with 65 per cent passing at a re-sit.