CISI International Intro to Securities & Investment (IISI) Course

 

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The CISI International Introduction to Securities & Investment (IISI) exam is 50 multiple-choice questions in one hour, and it is an asset-class paper before it is anything else. Equities, Bonds, Other Markets and Investments, Derivatives and Investment Funds — Elements 3 to 7 — carry 31 of the 50 marks between them. Equities alone carries 9, the largest single element on the paper. This course covers all ten elements while concentrating your study time where the marks are.

Work through the syllabus at your own pace alongside the official CISI workbook, then use the practice questions to find the elements you are still losing marks on before you book the exam.

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The CISI examination is booked and paid for separately, directly with the CISI. The price on this page covers the Tadawul Academy preparation course only. Current CISI fees are set out below.

Who this IISI course is for

This is the entry point to the CISI pathway, written to give everyone in a firm the same baseline rather than to train a single desk:

• New entrants taking their first financial services qualification
• Operations, settlement, custody and fund administration staff
• Client services, sales support, finance, IT and HR staff inside a bank, broker or asset manager
• Graduates and career changers who need a recognised qualification before applying for investment roles
• Anyone starting a higher CISI qualification, since the later units assume the vocabulary this one teaches

There are no entry requirements. CISI advises English to CEFR B2 level, since the questions test close reading as well as recall.

What passing the IISI exam awards you

CISI lists it among its Qualifying Level 3 qualifications, and the single exam completes it. It stands alone and also counts toward the Investment Operations Certificate (IOC) — but passing IISI does not award the IOC, which needs the relevant combination of units. Passing makes you eligible to apply for CISI Affiliate membership, and you hold free Student membership while you study.

It meets the ESMA appropriate-qualification requirements for information givers. Hold on to that distinction: it qualifies you to give information, not to advise. Advising is what the higher units cover, and this is the exam most candidates pass first.

What the CISI IISI exam covers

The current specification is version 18, effective from 10 September 2025. Ten elements, with the number of questions each contributes:

Element	Questions	What to prepare for
1. Introduction	3	Who does what: banks, pension funds, insurers, fund managers, brokers, custodians and platforms. Distribution channels, fintech and robo-advice, and ESG.
2. Economic Environment	4	Types of economy, the economic cycle, fiscal and monetary policy, the major central banks, and reading GDP, deficits, unemployment, exchange rates and inflation.
3. Equities/Stocks	9	Ordinary and preference shares, dividend yield, corporate actions, rights and bonus issues, depositary receipts, indices, how shares trade, and settlement.
4. Bonds	7	Coupon, redemption, nominal value and yields; government bonds; eurobonds, asset-backed and covered bonds, zeros, convertibles and floating rate notes; flat yield; credit ratings.
5. Other Markets and Investments	5	Deposits, cryptocurrencies against fiat, Treasury bills, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, money market funds, property and foreign exchange.
6. Derivatives	4	What futures, options and swaps are used for, calls and puts, the long, short, holder, writer, premium, covered and naked vocabulary, and credit default swaps.
7. Investment Funds	6	Active against passive, open-ended funds, closed-ended companies with their discounts, premiums and gearing, REITs, ETFs, hedge funds and private equity.
8. Financial Services Regulation	5	Why firms are authorised, the CISI Code of Conduct, the stages of money laundering, fraud, cybercrime, terrorist financing and market abuse.
9. Other Financial Products	4	Pensions, defined benefit against defined contribution, loans and card borrowing, the effective annual rate, mortgage types including the Islamic finance alternatives, and life assurance.
10. Financial Advice	3	The areas of advice and the advice process, plus the legal concepts behind it: wills, intestacy, trustees, contract, agency, powers of attorney and scams.

Any element can shift slightly between papers, but the shape holds: Elements 3 to 7 are 31 of the 50 marks, and Elements 3 and 4 alone are 16. Treat that as an instruction. The other five elements are 19 marks of largely recallable material you can secure in less time.

This paper is not pure recall. The syllabus sets six calculations across four elements: the share dividend yield and the theoretical ex-rights and ex-bonus prices in Element 3, the flat yield of a bond in Element 4, a forward exchange rate from the interest rate parity formula in Element 5, and the effective annual rate of borrowing in Element 9. Six calculations in a 50-question paper is a serious share of the marks, and they are what candidates leave until the last week. Practise them until they are automatic.

Version 18 carries material that older study copies do not: fintech and robo-advice, ESG, cryptocurrencies against fiat, and Islamic finance mortgages. Element 10 is on the current specification, and some older summaries stop at Element 9.

View the official CISI qualification page or download the official version 18 syllabus. CISI publishes amendments in its Candidate Update area between editions, so check it before you sit.

What is included

• Recorded video lectures covering every element of the syllabus, chapter by chapter
• Chapter summary slides and study notes for revision
• Multiple-choice practice questions designed around the CISI examination format, organised by chapter
• Worked examples for the six calculations set in Elements 3, 4, 5 and 9
• An Ask the Trainer section for questions on the material
• Access options of two weeks, one month or three months
• Three months access to the Tadawul Academy job board

The practice questions are written by Tadawul Academy. They are not official CISI examination questions, and no training provider has access to those.

IISI exam format

Questions	50 multiple choice
Duration	1 hour
Pass mark	70% — 35 correct out of 50 scored questions
Recommended study	80 hours, CISI’s own figure for this exam
Delivery	Computer-based test, on demand
Where	CISI’s global test-centre network, or online by remote invigilation
Languages	English, Arabic and French
Trial questions	Up to 10% extra unscored questions may appear. They are not identified and you are given proportionately more time.
Results	In MyCISI within 24 working hours, provisional for five working days
Resits	Up to six attempts at the same subject in any rolling 12-month period. After three attempts within a 12-month period, a six-week rest period applies, counted from the date of the third sitting.

That rule runs on a rolling 12 months from each sitting, not a calendar year. An employer can apply to CISI to waive the six-week pause once, for a fourth attempt.

What the CISI IISI exam costs

CISI’s own fees, separate from the price of this course. From the CISI price list covering 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, checked 4 August 2026. What you pay depends on where you book.

Booking in the UK

• Exam: £155
• Workbook, mandatory with the booking: £105
• Exam, workbook and Revision Express together: £275

Compare those before you check out. Exam and workbook separately come to £260, against £275 for the package — and that £15 adds Revision Express, which costs £45 on its own.

Booking internationally

• First sitting: £275, including the workbook and Revision Express access where available
• Resit within the same syllabus version: £155
• Some countries add a local invigilation fee

Other CISI fees

• Qualification Registration Fee: £68, paid once, on your first CISI qualification
• Revision Express bought on its own: £45
• Performance Review after a failed attempt: £40, and free once you have failed the same subject three times

The Performance Review breaks your score down element by element. Across ten elements, that is the difference between revising all of it again and revising the two that cost you the pass. Fees are reviewed annually, so confirm on the current CISI price list before booking.

How to plan your IISI study

CISI recommends 80 hours for this exam: eight weeks at 10 hours, ten weeks at 8, or twelve at 6 to 7. These are our suggestions, not CISI rules. Order the material by weight rather than by chapter number:

1. First. Element 1 quickly — 3 marks, but it names the firms and roles the other nine elements keep referring to. Then Element 3, at 9 marks the largest single element.
2. Second. Elements 4 and 7, bonds and funds, 13 marks together and both building on Element 3.
3. Third. Elements 5 and 6, 9 marks. The interest rate parity calculation lives here and needs repetition rather than reading.
4. Fourth. Elements 2, 8, 9 and 10 — 16 marks, mostly recall, the fastest on the paper to secure. Then mixed practice, and back to any element scoring below 70%.

Start the practice questions at the halfway point rather than the end — they show where your recall is weak while there is time to fix it. Book after repeated mixed-set scores around 80%, not after touching the 70% pass mark once.

Using this course with the CISI workbook

The CISI workbook is the definitive examination text. Tadawul Academy adds explanations, revision slides, practice questions and trainer support so you can work through it systematically.

1. Watch the lecture for the chapter.
2. Read the matching workbook section.
3. Review the summary slides.
4. Answer that chapter’s practice questions.
5. Revisit anything you answered incorrectly or guessed.

At Level 3 you are expected to apply what the workbook explains to situations it does not spell out, and an answer can draw on more than one part of the book: a question about a fund trading below net asset value turns on Element 7 and Element 3 at once. That is why practice questions matter more than re-reading.

Before you enrol

• We do not run classroom training or live online sessions. This is a self-paced e-learning package of recorded video lectures, study notes and practice exams.
• You can create a free account on our e-learning portal and try two chapters before buying.
• After you order, we activate your account and email confirmation within a few hours. Please check your email address is correct when you place the order.
• When your access expires, place a new order here to extend it.
• You need the current CISI workbook for this exam. We are not permitted to supply it. UK candidates purchase it with the exam booking; outside the UK the current digital workbook is included in the international first-sitting fee. Confirm the arrangement with CISI when you book.

Book the IISI examination with CISI

Frequently asked questions

Do I need the CISI workbook as well as this course?

Yes. The workbook is the examination text and CISI requires it with your exam booking. This course adds lectures on the harder parts, worked calculations, revision slides and practice questions to test whether the reading has stuck.

How much does the CISI IISI exam cost?

Booking in the UK, £155 for the exam plus £105 for the mandatory workbook, or £275 for both together with Revision Express. Internationally, £275 for a first sitting with the workbook included, and £155 for a resit within the same syllabus version. Add a one-off £68 registration fee if this is your first CISI qualification, and check whether a local invigilation fee applies where you sit. Figures from the CISI price list for 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027.

Are there mock exams and practice questions?

Yes — multiple-choice practice questions written around the CISI examination format, organised by chapter, plus mixed sets once you have covered the syllabus. They are our own questions; no provider has access to CISI’s live exam questions.

Are there past papers or a PDF of the real IISI exam questions?

No. CISI does not publish past papers, and any PDF of “real” IISI questions circulating online is not official — several come from syllabus editions that expired years ago. CISI does publish the syllabus, listing every learning objective the paper can test, and sample papers through MyStudy. Prepare from those, under time pressure.

Is IISI the same as the International Introduction to Investment?

Yes. CISI’s qualification page uses that title, the price list uses International Introduction to Securities and Investment, and the syllabus is headed Introduction to Securities & Investment (International). One exam, one workbook, one syllabus — do not book twice.

What level is IISI, and what does passing award?

CISI lists it among its Qualifying Level 3 qualifications, and the single exam completes it. It stands alone and also counts toward the Investment Operations Certificate — but one exam does not award that certificate, which needs the relevant combination of units. Passing makes you eligible for CISI Affiliate membership and meets the ESMA requirements for information givers.

How long does IISI preparation take?

CISI recommends 80 hours. Eight weeks at 10 hours a week, or twelve at 7, both get you there. Your own timing depends on how much of Elements 3 to 7 you already meet at work, since those five are 31 of the 50 marks.

Does this course include live classes?

No. Everything is recorded and self-paced. For questions on the material, use the Ask the Trainer section and you will get a written answer.

How quickly is my account activated?

Within a few hours of your order, and we email to confirm. The most common cause of delay is a mistyped email address at checkout.

Is the job board really included?

Yes, at no extra cost, for three months from activation. It lists current vacancies in operations, settlement, custody, client services, compliance and investment across the UK, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and India.

What happens if I fail, and how many resits am I allowed?

Up to six attempts at the same subject in any rolling 12-month period, with a six-week rest after the third attempt in that period. A resit within the same syllabus version costs £155 booked internationally. Fail the same subject three times and CISI provides a Performance Review free of charge, showing your score element by element.

Can I sit the IISI exam from home?

Yes. CISI offers this exam by remote invigilation as well as at its global test centres, on demand rather than on fixed dates. Confirm remote delivery is available in your country, and run CISI’s system check on the computer you intend to use, before you book.

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