RE1 Pass Mark: 52 of 80 Correct, Which Is 65%

The RE1 pass mark is 65%, which is 52 of the 80 multiple-choice questions correct. You have 2 hours 30 minutes to answer them, so the bar is 52 right answers in 150 minutes.

RE1 pass mark versus RE5 pass mark

Both papers use the FSCA's single pass mark of 65%. What differs is the arithmetic. On the RE1's 80 questions, 65% lands exactly on 52. On the RE5's 50 questions it is 32.5, and there is no half mark, so the RE5 bar is 66% (33 of 50 correct).

Put another way, the RE1 lets you get 28 questions wrong and the RE5 allows 17. The RE5 pass mark page explains the rounding in full, and RE1 vs RE5 covers which paper your role needs.

Is there negative marking on the RE1?

No. The RE1 has no negative marking, and Moonstone's preparation guide says so directly. Each question has four options and exactly one correct answer, and a wrong answer scores the same as a blank: nothing.

So answer every question, even one you have to guess. A blank can never earn the mark and a guess sometimes does. One practical catch: the answer sheet is marked electronically and reads one option per question, so a scratched-out answer next to a new one is marked wrong. Rub out cleanly.

What the RE1 pass rate is

Neither the FSCA nor Moonstone publishes a current RE1 pass rate. The only official figures date from the exams' roll-out in 2012 to 2014, and they covered existing Key Individuals who had to pass by a deadline, counting rewrites as well as first attempts. They do not reflect a first sitting today.

So treat your own practice results as the only pass rate that matters. A score you can repeat above 52 of 80 tells you more about your chances than any published average could.

What is published is why the RE1 is treated as the harder paper:

• A wider syllabus. The RE1 has 16 tasks against the RE5's 8. Its tasks are close to a superset of the RE5's, because a Key Individual has to understand the representative's work in order to oversee it.
• A harder question mix. Moonstone's guide puts 27 of the RE1's 80 questions (34%) at its two highest levels of difficulty, against 15 of the RE5's 50 (30%).
• Accountability. The questions test what a Key Individual is held responsible for in managing and overseeing an FSP: the licence, the compliance function, record keeping and the representatives they appoint. Key individual requirements sets out what the role asks of you.

How to know you are at the pass mark before you book

The only reliable way is to sit practice questions under exam conditions and count the result. Feeling ready is not evidence. A run of scores above the line is.

• Time yourself. The RE1 gives you 150 minutes for 80 questions, a little under 2 minutes each. For a 20-question set, allow about 38 minutes.
• Mark against 52 of 80. On a 20-question set the same 65% standard is 13 of 20.
• Look for consistency. One score above the line can be luck. Several sittings in a row above it, on different questions and across all 16 tasks, is a reasonable signal to book.
• Review every wrong answer against the qualifying criteria. Find the criterion the question tests and the section of law behind it, and note why your option was wrong.

PassPath's free RE1 practice exam is 20 questions marked against that 13 of 20 standard, with the law behind every answer. It has no timer, so set your own clock.

What happens if you fail the RE1

You rewrite it. There is no limit on the number of attempts and no published waiting period between them, but you pay the full R1 300 fee again for each attempt and rebook through faisexam.co.za. Registration closes 11 working days before each sitting, and results arrive by email within 20 working days of the exam.

The rewrite process is the same as for the RE5, and how to pass the RE5 rewrite walks through it. Two things differ on the RE1. Sittings run in the morning only, so seats at popular venues go first. And there is no supervision window: until you pass, the FSCA will not approve you as a Key Individual, so every month between attempts is a month your appointment waits.

PassPath is an independent study platform. The RE1 is written through Moonstone; PassPath is not affiliated with Moonstone or the FSCA.