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FINRA SIE 30-Day Study Plan (2026)
Taking the FINRA SIE exam next month? Days 1–14 read the 4 content areas in the order the exam weights them, starting with Understanding Products and Their Risks at 44%. Days 15–21 are timed topic drills against 470 free practice questions. Days 22–28 are three full 75-question, 105-minute mocks with a repair day after each. Days 29 and 30 are a skim and a rest.
Every chapter, drill and mock below is free on PrepPass. Nothing on this page is an official exam fact — the weights are the ones our study chapters carry, and the 70% figure we use in week 4 is our own readiness bar for this question bank, not a passing score published by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
What the FINRA SIE exam weights
The plan spends reading days in proportion to these weights, so the schedule below is specific to this exam, not a generic 30-day template.
| Content area | Weight | Free questions | Reading days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Understanding Products and Their Risks | 44% | 204 | 5 |
| Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities | 31% | 147 | 4 |
| Knowledge of Capital Markets | 16% | 76 | 3 |
| The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct | 9% | 43 | 2 |
Weeks 1–2 · Days 1–14
Read every content area once, heaviest first. Understanding Products and Their Risks is 44% of the exam, so it gets 5 of the 14 reading days, while The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct at 9% gets 2.
- Day 1
Read: Understanding Products and Their Risks (part 1 of 5)
Equity Securities · Debt Securities. Understanding Products and Their Risks is 44% of the exam — the largest block on the blueprint. Finish with the Understanding Products and Their Risks practice set — 204 free questions.
- Day 2
Read: Understanding Products and Their Risks (part 2 of 5)
Yield and Price Relationship. Carry on where day 1 stopped. Finish with the Understanding Products and Their Risks practice set — 204 free questions.
- Day 3
Read: Understanding Products and Their Risks (part 3 of 5)
Packaged Products. Carry on where day 2 stopped. Finish with the Understanding Products and Their Risks practice set — 204 free questions.
- Day 4
Read: Understanding Products and Their Risks (part 4 of 5)
Options Basics. Carry on where day 3 stopped. Finish with the Understanding Products and Their Risks practice set — 204 free questions.
- Day 5
Read: Understanding Products and Their Risks (part 5 of 5)
Types of Investment Risk. Carry on where day 4 stopped. Finish with the Understanding Products and Their Risks practice set — 204 free questions.
- Day 6
Read: Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities (part 1 of 4)
How Trades Happen: Orders, Quotes, and Market Roles · Market Makers, Agency, and Principal Transactions. Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities is 31% of the exam — the 2nd-largest block on the blueprint. Finish with the Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities practice set — 147 free questions.
- Day 7
Read: Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities (part 2 of 4)
Settlement, Clearing, and Corporate Actions · Types of Customer Accounts. Carry on where day 6 stopped. Finish with the Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities practice set — 147 free questions.
- Day 8
Read: Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities (part 3 of 4)
Prohibited Activities and Conduct Violations. Carry on where day 7 stopped. Finish with the Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities practice set — 147 free questions.
- Day 9
Read: Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities (part 4 of 4)
Anti-Money-Laundering: BSA, CIP, and Reporting. Carry on where day 8 stopped. Finish with the Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities practice set — 147 free questions.
- Day 10
Read: Knowledge of Capital Markets (part 1 of 3)
Primary vs. Secondary Markets · Underwriting and the Prospectus. Knowledge of Capital Markets is 16% of the exam — the 3rd-largest block on the blueprint. Finish with the Knowledge of Capital Markets practice set — 76 free questions.
- Day 11
Read: Knowledge of Capital Markets (part 2 of 3)
Exempt Offerings: Reg D and Reg A · The Regulators. Carry on where day 10 stopped. Finish with the Knowledge of Capital Markets practice set — 76 free questions.
- Day 12
Read: Knowledge of Capital Markets (part 3 of 3)
The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy · Economic Factors and the Business Cycle. Carry on where day 11 stopped. Finish with the Knowledge of Capital Markets practice set — 76 free questions.
- Day 13
Read: The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct (part 1 of 2)
The SEC and Self-Regulatory Organizations · Registering a Firm and Its People · The SIE and Top-Off Qualification Exams. The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct is 9% of the exam — the 4th-largest block on the blueprint. Finish with the The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct practice set — 43 free questions.
- Day 14
Read: The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct (part 2 of 2)
Continuing Education: Regulatory and Firm Element · Conduct Rules: Outside Activities, Private Transactions, and Gifts. Carry on where day 13 stopped. Finish with the The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct practice set — 43 free questions.
Week 3 · Days 15–21
Stop reading, start retrieving. One timed drill per day, still in blueprint-weight order, so the heaviest areas get a second pass inside the week.
- Day 15
Drill: Understanding Products and Their Risks
Work the Understanding Products and Their Risks set straight through — 204 free questions, 44% of the exam. Read the explanation on every miss before moving on.
- Day 16
Drill: Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities
Work the Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities set straight through — 147 free questions, 31% of the exam. Read the explanation on every miss before moving on.
- Day 17
Drill: Knowledge of Capital Markets
Work the Knowledge of Capital Markets set straight through — 76 free questions, 16% of the exam. Read the explanation on every miss before moving on.
- Day 18
Drill: The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct
Work the The Regulatory Framework: Overseers, Registration, and Conduct set straight through — 43 free questions, 9% of the exam. Read the explanation on every miss before moving on.
- Day 19
Second pass: Understanding Products and Their Risks
Understanding Products and Their Risks is 44% of the exam, so it earns a second pass. Redo only what you got wrong the first time, then re-read the chapter sections behind those misses.
- Day 20
Second pass: Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities
Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities is 31% of the exam, so it earns a second pass. Redo only what you got wrong the first time, then re-read the chapter sections behind those misses.
- Day 21
Second pass: Knowledge of Capital Markets
Knowledge of Capital Markets is 16% of the exam, so it earns a second pass. Redo only what you got wrong the first time, then re-read the chapter sections behind those misses.
Week 4 · Days 22–28
Three full timed mocks (75 questions, 105 minutes each) with a repair day after each one. Score movement between them is the only signal that matters this week.
- Day 22
Full timed mock #1
75 questions in 105 minutes, one sitting, no notes. Whatever you score, this is your baseline — write it down.
- Day 23
Review mock #1
No new material. Re-read the explanation for every question you missed, then re-drill the two content areas you scored lowest on.
- Day 24
Full timed mock #2
75 questions in 105 minutes, one sitting, no notes. Compare it against your day-22 baseline, area by area.
- Day 25
Rebuild: Understanding Products and Their Risks
Understanding Products and Their Risks is 44% of the exam — more marks than any other area, so it is worth a full day on its own. Re-read the chapter, then redo its 204-question set.
- Day 26
Weak-area day
Still no new material. Re-drill only the questions you have missed so far — the practice engine can serve you exactly those.
- Day 27
Full timed mock #3
75 questions in 105 minutes, one sitting, no notes. We call you practice-ready at 70% or better on a full timed mock. That is PrepPass's bar for our own question bank, not the exam's passing score.
- Day 28
Review mock #3 · Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities
Review every miss from mock #3, then re-read Trading, Settlement, Customer Accounts, and Prohibited Activities (31% of the exam) — the second-heaviest area is where a near-miss score is usually decided.
Final 2 days · Days 29–30
Consolidate and stop. Nothing new goes in.
- Day 29
Skim everything
One pass over all 4 content areas — headings and rules only. Nothing new goes in today.
- Day 30
Rest and logistics
No studying. Confirm your test center, your ID, and your start time, then sleep.
Practice stays free. The full FINRA SIE (Securities Industry Essentials) study guide is the material itself, taught start to finish — a downloadable PDF + EPUB you keep.
Start day 1 now
Understanding Products and Their Risks is the heaviest area on the blueprint at 44%, and 204 of our free questions cover it. Read the chapter, then drill it.
A study aid, not a substitute for the official material — always confirm current requirements with Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The 70% target in week 4 is PrepPass's own practice-readiness bar on our question bank; it is not an official passing score. Last verified: September 2026.