How to set up RE5 and RE1 training for your team: the FSP guide (2026)

Setting up RE5 training for your team takes three things: a list of every rep's DOFA date and the exam each one must write, a study plan with checkpoints, and a record of progress for your competence register. Plan on about 12 weeks of study, at two to three hours a week, before a new rep books a first exam; a supervised rep has 24 months from their DOFA date to pass. On PassPath Teams an RE5 seat costs R249 per rep (from 2 seats), and the Moonstone exam fee of R1 300 is paid separately.

This guide covers RE5 training for employees from the employer's side, step by step, including how to set up PassPath Teams to track your team's RE5 progress.

Who is this guide for?

It is for the person who has to get reps through the RE5 and prove it: compliance officers, Key Individuals, HR and L&D managers, and team leaders at insurers and call centres, brokerages, banks, funeral insurers, motor dealer F&I offices and medical scheme brokers. Whether you need an RE5 course for a team or RE5 training for call centre agents in an intake, the steps are the same. For the wider compliance picture, read the FSP compliance officer's guide to getting reps exam-ready.

Step 1: Who must write which exam, and by when?

List every person, the exam they need and their deadline.

• Representatives write the RE5. A rep who has not passed may only be appointed to work under supervision (Board Notice 194 of 2017, s26), and a supervised rep must pass within 2 years of their DOFA (FAIS Notice 86 of 2018, Condition 2(1)).
• Key Individuals write the RE1. There is no two-year window: the RE1 must be passed before the FSCA approves the person as a Key Individual (Board Notice 194 of 2017, s26(6)). Plan RE1 training for Key Individuals before the application.

The DOFA is "the date on which a person was first appointed as a representative" (Notice 86, paragraph 1). It is the first appointment anywhere, not the date the rep joined you. To find it, start with your own records and representative register. The FSCA also keeps a central representative register that your FSP updates (FAIS Act s13(5); FAIS Notice 29 of 2023, Form FSP 5). For a rep who worked elsewhere first, ask for their FSCA DOFA report (Masthead).

Then put the whole list through the free DOFA deadline calculator. Your RE5 deadline: how to work backwards from your DOFA explains the arithmetic.

Step 2: What must a new rep complete besides the RE5?

Onboarding new representatives means tracking all of these from day one:

Each line is explained in fit and proper requirements for representatives, supervision of representatives under FAIS, how to appoint a representative and what belongs in a representative competence register.

Step 3: How should your team prepare?

The routes are a workshop, an in-house programme or self-serve online practice. A workshop suits a cohort that needs a fixed date and a facilitator. Self-serve practice suits reps who start on different dates, work shifts or need to repeat weak tasks. Most FSPs combine them: a session for the concepts, then timed practice until each rep measures above the pass mark.

No rule says which RE5 training providers to use. Moonstone, which runs the exam under a mandate from the FSCA, says it has no agreements with any training provider (Moonstone). See RE5 training for companies compared for prices side by side, every RE5 study option compared for individuals, and RE5 training for staff for the trade-offs.

Step 4: How do you set up your team on PassPath Teams? (about 10 minutes)

1. Create the admin account. On PassPath Teams, choose Set up your team and create a PassPath account. Add your company name, a billing email for invoices and, optionally, your VAT number.
2. Buy seats by card or EFT. Choose RE5 or RE1 seats, from 2 on a first order. Pay by card through PayFast and the seats are ready at once, or pay by EFT against an emailed invoice, due in 7 days; seats are released once the transfer reflects, usually within one working day. No VAT is charged.
3. Invite your reps by email. Enter each rep's name, email and course. Invite links last 14 days. A seat's 180 days start the day the rep accepts, not the day you pay.
4. Let each rep accept. The rep first sees exactly what you will be able to see. The seat opens lessons, unlimited practice, review, timed mock exams and a readiness score. A rep who already has paid access keeps it, and the seat returns to your pool.
5. Read the dashboard. Each rep's row shows readiness score and band (ready, borderline or below), a 7-day trend, coverage of the qualifying criteria, last active and a countdown to their exam or DOFA deadline. Flags mark reps at risk (deadline under 45 days, not ready) and reps stalled for 7 days. A pass-mark line shows where borderline and ready begin, against the RE5 pass mark of 66% (33 of 50 correct). You never see a rep's individual answers.
6. Nudge, and read the weekly summary. Send a study nudge from a rep's row: an email and an in-app note, at most once every 3 days. Each admin gets a Monday summary of unassigned seats, reps not started, newly ready and at risk, and can turn it off.
7. Export the register. Download the study readiness register as a CSV or a PDF for your competence register file. It is a record of study activity on PassPath and of PassPath's own readiness estimates. It is not an FSCA certificate, not an official regulatory register, and not proof that anyone has passed a regulatory exam.
8. Reassign seats when someone leaves. If a rep leaves before answering their first question, reclaim the seat and invite someone else, who gets a fresh 180 days from their own acceptance. A seat a rep has started is spent.

The Teams dashboard with sample data: seats, readiness and at-risk cards above the members table.

The same dashboard on a phone, with sample data.

Reps on a free account can send their manager a quote themselves, from the Ask my employer to pay button in the app. A manager paying that quote can buy a single seat by card; the 2-seat minimum applies when you buy directly.

Step 5: What does a 12-week RE5 plan look like?

Twelve weeks at two to three hours a week fits around a full schedule. Book study time like a meeting.

Onboarding a new rep cohort sets out the same idea as a 90-day cohort plan, and how to study for the RE5 is the week-by-week study plan for each rep.

Step 6: How do you book the exams and keep the evidence?

Reps register for the exam with Moonstone. Moonstone advises registering at least 11 working days before the exam, and results can take up to 20 working days (Moonstone). So the last safe date to write is roughly a month before a rep's deadline, earlier if you want room for a rewrite. See how to book the RE5 exam.

Record each rep's exam status and training in the competence register within 15 days (BN 194, s30), keep the supervision agreement and supervisor's notes on file (Notice 86, Conditions 3 and 4), and file the result when it arrives. If a deadline is close, read what happens when a rep misses the RE5 deadline before it passes.

What changes with team size?

• 2 to 5 reps: buy a seat per rep, set each DOFA date on the dashboard, and let the weekly summary do the checking.
• 6 to 20 reps: name one owner for the dashboard, check monthly against the 12-week plan, and nudge stalled reps the same day.
• 20 or more (call centre cohorts): run each intake as a cohort with one start date, add a facilitator session in weeks 2 to 5, and buy seats per intake so none sit unused.

What does RE5 training cost per rep?

So one rep's RE5 preparation and first sitting comes to R1 549. Workshops and courses are priced in RE5 training for companies compared.

What mistakes do FSPs make?

1. Starting too late. Two years feels long until a fail and a rewrite eat most of a year.
2. No DOFA list. Without every rep's DOFA in one place, a deadline is found when it has already passed.
3. No evidence file. What is not recorded is hard to prove later.
4. Buying workshops for everyone. Reps who already measure as ready do not need one.
5. Letting seats sit unused. Invite reps as soon as you buy, and reclaim seats from people who leave before they start.

Sources

• FAIS Act 37 of 2002, s13 (qualifications of representatives and duties of FSPs)
• Board Notice 194 of 2017, s26 (regulatory examinations)
• Board Notice 194 of 2017 (full text, s29 class of business and product specific training)
• Board Notice 194 of 2017, s30 (record keeping)
• FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018, exemption of services under supervision (FSCA copy)
• FSCA FAIS Notice 29 of 2023, Form FSP 5 (representatives)
• Moonstone: Regulatory exam body (registration, results, no agreements with training providers)
• Moonstone: regulatory exams and national qualification levels (2012)
• INSETA: discretionary grant application window, 11 November to 7 December 2022 (PDF)
• BANKSETA: discretionary grants
• Masthead: supervising a representative, your FAQs answered

To check every rep's RE5 deadline at once, put their DOFA dates into the free DOFA deadline calculator.

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