CMFAS RES5 Exam Format & Pass Mark Explained

RES5 — full name Rules, Ethics & Skills for Financial Advisory Services — is the CMFAS module that sits under the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) competency framework and is administered by the Singapore College of Insurance (SCI). Most candidates arrive looking for three numbers: how many questions, how long, and what the pass mark is. SCI publishes all three, and the third one is the reason a lot of well-prepared people still fail.

RES5 exam format at a glance

The pass mark is two hurdles, not one

This is the single most misunderstood thing about RES5, and it is the detail that catches out candidates who came from the old M5 paper. There is no combined score. SCI requires at least 75% for Part I and at least 80% for Part II. A strong Part I cannot rescue a weak Part II — the two thresholds are assessed separately, and missing either one means the module is not passed.

Timing: 3 hours, 150 questions

Three hours across 150 questions works out to roughly 72 seconds a question if you spread the time evenly. That is comfortable for straight recall and tight for the applied Part II items that bury a rule inside a client scenario. Most candidates who run short do so because they over-invest early in look-alike Part I rules they were never going to resolve by staring harder.

• Bank the easy marks first.Answer what you know, flag what you don't, and come back — the exam is on screen, so revisiting is cheap.
• Never leave a blank. SCI states that one mark is awarded for each correct answer, and that no mark is awarded or deducted for any wrong or blank answer. There is no negative marking, so an unanswered question is a guaranteed zero where a guess is not.
• Protect Part II time. Given the 80% hurdle, arriving at the ethics-and-skills questions rushed is the most expensive mistake available to you.

What each part actually tests

Part I — Rules & Regulations (110 questions)

The regulatory backbone: the Financial Advisers Act (FAA)and its regulations, the MAS Notices, prevention of money laundering and terrorism financing, investment-linked policies, collective investment schemes, dealing in securities and market conduct, and CPF. It is heavy on precise rules, definitions and “who does what” — which is exactly where underprepared candidates lose marks.

Part II — Ethics & Skills (40 questions)

The applied, client-facing half: professional ethics and professionalism, conflicts of interest, fair dealing, ethical marketing, the client–representative relationship, fact-finding, financial analysis, developing a strategy, presenting recommendations and reviewing a portfolio. It rewards judgement rather than recall.

SCI publishes the full chapter-level syllabus for both parts on the RES5 exam page. For a fuller comparison of the two halves, see our Part I vs Part II guide.

How the exam is delivered

• Computer-screen examination (CSE) taken at the SCI examination centre — not a paper script.
• English medium, multiple choice throughout.
• Results on the spot. You get your outcome on completion and collect a printed result slip before you leave — see RES5 results and what happens next.

For what to bring and how admission works, see what to expect on exam day; for booking mechanics, the RES5 registration guide.

If you are looking for M5

RES5 replaced it. Under MAS Notice FAA-N26, which took effect on 1 April 2024, the CMFAS M5 module Rules and Regulations for Financial Advisory Services was renamed and restructured as RES5 Rules, Ethics and Skills for Financial Advisory Services. The paper grew from 100 questions in 120 minutes to 150 questions in 180 minutes, and the single combined pass mark was replaced by the two-part 75% / 80% requirement. Study notes and second-hand advice written for M5 understate both the length and the bar.

What the format means for your prep

Because the whole exam is multiple-choice against fixed thresholds, the most effective preparation is doing a high volume of exam-style questions and reviewing the explanation for everything you get wrong. Reading the study text cover-to-cover feels productive but rarely moves your score — active recall does. Two format-driven rules follow:

• Give Part I the hours, but give Part II the standard. Part I has more content to cover, so it takes more time. Part II needs a higher hit rate, so don't stop drilling it at “mostly right”.
• Judge readiness per part, not overall. An 85% aggregate mock score tells you nothing if the Part II component sits at 75%. Track the two separately.

Our mock exams mirror the two-part structure so practising feels like the real sitting, and grade each part against its own threshold. Try a free timed mock to see where you stand, drill weak areas on the practice-by-topic page, then read how to pass RES5 for the full study strategy and how hard RES5 really is for an honest read on the difficulty. Create a free account and start today — the first 15 questions in every topic are free.

Official sources

• SCI — RES5 exam details: question counts, duration, pass marks and syllabus
• SCI — Implementation of the new CMFAS examinations (M5 to RES5, format and pass-mark changes)
• MAS — Notice FAA-N26 on Competency Requirements for Representatives of Financial Advisers