RE5 study material in 2026: what to buy, what to skip, and whether free is enough

RE5 study material in 2026 comes down to two things: the FSCA's published qualifying criteria for the RE5, which is the syllabus the exam is written against, and a way to practice exam-style questions under time pressure. Everything else is packaging. Paid preparation runs from roughly R150 to about R4 010 in 2026, and free material can genuinely be enough for some candidates.

This is the decision framework, not the price list. The RE5 study options compared page is the maintained source for 2026 prices across ten providers plus PassPath. This page answers the harder question: which format fits you.

What study material do you actually need for the RE5?

You need the published FSCA qualifying criteria for the RE5, and a way to practice questions under time pressure. That is the whole requirement.

The criteria matter because the exam is written against them, so the list doubles as your syllabus. The practice matters because the RE5 is a 2 hour paper needing 33 of 50 correct, and most candidates who fail did not misunderstand the FAIS Act. They ran out of time or misread qualifiers, as why representatives fail the RE5 sets out.

Is there an official RE5 manual or study guide?

There is no single official RE5 manual. The exam is written against the FSCA's published qualifying criteria and the underlying legislation, principally the FAIS Act, both public and free. Third parties sell guides built from those documents, the criteria restructured into readable chapters. Useful work, but not official, and no provider is endorsed by the FSCA. Moonstone, which administers the exam, publishes a free preparation guide covering both papers. Read it first.

Is the RE5 a course, or an exam?

The RE5 is an examination, not a course. You pay Moonstone R1 300 per attempt, VAT inclusive, sit a 2 hour multiple-choice paper, and either reach the pass mark or rebook. It is published as 65% and means 33 of 50 correct, which is 66%. No course certificate substitutes for the exam result.

Courses are optional tuition, and buying one registers you for nothing, as what the RE5 exam actually is explains. Results for "RE5 course" are a shopping aisle, not an official pathway.

The four formats, and who each one actually suits

PDF packs and printed study guides

Cheap, offline, and better ordered than the source documents. Single PDFs start around R150 and RE Exam Buddy's pack is R375. The weakness: a PDF cannot tell you whether anything stuck, and reading feels productive long after it stops being so.

Choose this if you read well on your own and will pair it with timed practice questions rather than use it instead of them.

Question-bank apps and readiness software

These exist for measurement. Sitting questions under a clock is the closest rehearsal for the real paper, and a decent bank shows which topics are weak. Bundled question sets start around R375, and readiness software is R369 once off at PassPath. The weakness, stated plainly about our own category: a bank will not teach a topic from zero, and nobody notices if you stop logging in.

Choose this if you have already covered the material and need to know whether it stuck, or you are rewriting after a fail.

Video and self-paced online courses

Structure without a timetable, and you can rewatch what did not land. Skillfully's 18-lesson course at R1 390 including VAT sits here, and RE5 Online spans R150 to R2 500. The weakness is passive consumption: watching someone reason through a scenario is not doing it yourself.

Choose this if you learn by listening and want the syllabus taught in order, without a fixed weekly timetable.

Facilitated and classroom courses

A class puts the time in your diary and gives you a facilitator to ask. This is the expensive band: R2 000 plus VAT for Growth In Motion's two days, R2 850 including VAT at Moonstone Business School, up to R4 010 at Milpark. The weakness is rigidity: you attend when the course runs, not when you are ready.

Choose this if your real problem is that unsupervised study never happens, and you need a booked date and someone expecting you.

Can you pass the RE5 with free resources only?

Yes, in principle. The criteria and the legislation are public and free, Moonstone publishes a free preparation guide, and nothing in the exam needs paywalled content. Anyone telling you that you must buy a course is selling one.

The cost of the free route is not money, it is self-direction and blindness. You build your own structure from documents written for regulators, not learners, and nothing tells you where you stand until you have paid R1 300 and sat down.

It works for candidates with a legal or compliance background, and anyone with the time and discipline to use it. It works badly for first-timers with no legislative reading experience, and for rewriters: if unaided study did not work once, repeating it harder is a poor plan. Pair it with a realistic study plan.

The free RE5 starter kit

Four documents, all free, and the only ones you strictly need:

• The qualifying criteria. RE 5: Regulatory Examination: Representatives in all Categories of FSPs, the task-by-task table pairing every criterion with the legislation it points to. This is your syllabus.
• The legislation. The FSCA lists every act and board notice the exam draws on, principally the FAIS Act, the General Code of Conduct and FICA, on its preparation material page for the RE5.
• The official preparation guide. Moonstone's free Preparation Guide for Regulatory Examinations (RE 1 and RE 5), version 1 of 17 January 2026, covers the format and pass marks and repeats the criteria map in Appendix A.
• A free measurement. PassPath's free readiness check is ours, so weigh it accordingly: free, no card, scored against every qualifying criterion.

What to skip

Anything not dated 2026 or later. Legislation and criteria move, and undated material teaches answers that are no longer correct.

Anything promising the actual exam questions. Live exam content is not lawfully available, so a product claiming otherwise is selling recollections, often wrong ones.

Anything sold on a guaranteed pass. No legitimate provider can promise a pass, because none controls the paper you sit. The fine print usually means a free course repeat, not your R1 300 back.

A second course bought before you know why the first attempt failed. Diagnose which topics let you down first, as failed the RE5, how to pass the rewrite sets out.

How much should you spend on RE5 exam preparation?

Each attempt costs R1 300, VAT inclusive, with no discount on a rewrite, more than most preparation products cost. Under-spending is usually the expensive choice: one avoidable failure costs more than anything in the R150 to R1 390 range, plus weeks off your DOFA deadline.

A sensible envelope for most self-funding candidates is R300 to R1 500, weighted towards the format that matches how you work rather than the cheapest. Above R2 000 you are buying facilitation and scheduled time. Check 2026 prices on the maintained study options page, not on any provider's own page, ours included.

Study material for the RE1

RE1 material has to be RE1 specific. The RE1 is 80 questions rather than 50, sat over 2 hours 30 minutes, needing 52 correct for its 65% pass mark, and its syllabus covers the Key Individual function: oversight and governance of the FSP. An RE5 guide leaves gaps you cannot see, so check the scope in the RE1 exam guide first.

Where to start this week

One: download the four documents above. Two: measure where you stand. Three: pick the format that matches your real constraint: knowledge, time, measurement or accountability. Four: book the date, because an unbooked exam slides. Five: re-measure two weeks out.

Step two is where PassPath's free readiness check helps whether or not you buy from us. It is 15 minutes, needs no card, and scores you against every criterion. Mostly green, and a R2 500 course buys reassurance. Mostly red across half the syllabus, and a question bank alone will not carry you. Am I ready for the RE5? explains the result.

PassPath is an independent study platform. The RE1 and RE5 are written through Moonstone; PassPath is not affiliated with Moonstone or the FSCA.