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United Kingdom · Qualifications

CISI certification: every qualification by level

You earn a qualification by passing its set of unit exams. The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) offers them from Level 2 to Level 7 on the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF), the framework for regulated qualifications in England and Northern Ireland. Each CISI certification sits in a career pathway: wealth, financial planning, compliance and risk, operations, capital markets and corporate finance, or Islamic finance.

  • 6Career pathways CISI groups them into
  • Levels 2 to 7Range of CISI qualifications on the RQF
  • 81 to 609 hoursTotal qualification time, Level 2 to 7
Where to study

Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

Which CISI certification fits your job?

CISI groups its qualifications by the job they lead to, and its online Qualifications Navigator matches job roles to qualifications. As a rough map from CISI’s own pages: operations staff start with the Investment Operations Certificate (IOC), retail investment advisers take the Investment Advice Diploma (IAD), people in securities or derivatives take the Capital Markets Programme, and corporate finance staff take the Certificate in Corporate Finance.

The tables give total qualification time (TQT), CISI’s estimate of the hours a learner spends on training, study and exams, as listed on the register of the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual).

The Investment Operations Certificate →The Investment Advice Diploma →CFA or CISI: the FCA’s lists →

CISI Level 2 and Level 3 qualifications

QualificationHours
Level 2 Award in Fundamentals of Financial Services101
Level 3 Award for Introduction to Investment81
Level 3 Award in Technology in Investment Management81
Level 3 Award in Combating Financial Crime81
Level 3 Award in Global Financial Compliance102
Level 3 Award in Risk in Financial Services102
Level 3 Certificate in Islamic Finance (IFQ)132
Level 3 Certificate in Wealth & Investment Management154
Level 3 Certificate in Corporate Finance162
Level 3 Certificate in Combating Financial Crime162
Level 3 Certificate in Securities or in Derivatives183
Level 3 Certificate in Global Financial Compliance183
Level 3 Certificate in Risk in Financial Services183
Level 3 Certificate in Investment Operations (IOC)243
Level 3 Extended Certificate in Investment Operations (IOC+)324

The Award titles are a single unit. The Certificate in Combating Financial Crime, Global Financial Compliance or Risk in Financial Services adds a regulatory exam to that unit. The Level 3 Certificate in Securities or Derivatives is the Capital Markets Programme.

Introduction to Securities and Investment →The Capital Markets Programme →Risk in Financial Services →The Certificate in Corporate Finance →

CISI Level 4 qualifications

QualificationHours
Level 4 Award in Managing Operational Risk in Financial Institutions91
Level 4 Certificate in Managing Operational Risk in Financial Institutions142
Level 4 Certificate in Paraplanning263
Level 4 Certificate in Investment Management284
Level 4 Certificate in International Advanced Wealth Management284
Level 4 Diploma in Investment Advice (IAD)426
The Certificate in Investment Management →

CISI Level 6 and Level 7 qualifications

QualificationHours
Level 6 Certificate in Private Client Investment Advice & Management (PCIAM)203
Level 6 Certificate in Advanced Financial Planning203
Level 6 Diploma in Investment Compliance476
Level 6 Diploma in Corporate Finance537
Level 7 Diploma in Advanced Financial Planning413
Level 7 Diploma in Wealth Management (Chartered Wealth Manager)609

The Level 6 Certificate in Advanced Financial Planning and the Level 7 Diploma in Advanced Financial Planning are CISI’s route to CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER (CFP) certification.

CISI’s last sitting of the Global Operations Management exam, a unit of its Level 6 Diploma in Investment Operations, is the Winter 2026 session. Anyone who passes it, or has already passed it, has until 31 December 2027 to complete the diploma, which isn’t on Ofqual’s register and so isn’t in the table.

The Diploma in Investment Compliance →The Chartered Wealth Manager Qualification →

Exemptions from CISI units

You may be able to skip a unit if you already hold a matching qualification. You apply before you sit the first unit of the qualification, and CISI’s exemptions policy sets these limits:

  • the qualification you offer must have been gained within the last ten years
  • you can be exempt from only one unit of any qualification
  • exemptions can’t be backdated for an exam you’ve already sat
  • work experience doesn’t count, and nor does a qualification that needs gap-fill to reach the level
  • a qualification you got through an exemption can’t earn you another one

A unit passed in one CISI qualification can count towards the same or a similar unit in another, which you request by emailing exemptions@cisi.org. For other awarding bodies, CISI keeps a recognised exemptions table, and a postgraduate degree covering at least 70% of the Introduction to Securities and Investment or Financial Markets syllabus can be put forward too.

CISI exemption fees →
Sources: CISI · Ofqual and 4 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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