However, as many as 24 per cent of FAR-listed advisers have yet to do so.

According to FASEA, overall, 88.5 per cent of advisers who have sat the exam have passed, or 16,850 in total.

To date, 2,226 unsuccessful candidates have re-sat the exam, with 66 per cent passing at a re-sit.

Over 1,500 advisers have booked for the November exam, to be held in metropolitan and regional locations and online from 11 to 16 November 2021.   

Analysis of the September exam data revealed areas advisers struggled with most included the real-world application of Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 and understanding the code of ethics.

Mental health struggles

Earlier this month, Lifespan Financial Planning head Eugene Ardino told ifa that advisers, particularly senior planners, have faced mental health struggles as a result of the exam.

“An exam that quite frankly, in many cases, doesn’t have a lot to do with giving advice; a lot of it’s very academic,” Mr Ardino said.

“And that creates a lot of self-doubt and is leading to a lot of advisers suffering mental health issues as a result.”

Similarly, adviser Tony Machin told the ifa in September that experience is mostly irrelevant when tackling the FASEA barrier, with low pass rates inflicting anxiety on most.

“The November exam last year, there were nine blokes my age or around my age, from 51 to 67. Minimum of 25 years’ experience in the industry, they all failed the November exams,” Mr Machin recalled. 

“But there was a 25-year-old, first-year adviser doing his first year, he passed. So, that proved to me that experience, what we would do, is irrelevant to passing the exam.”