Our Question Methodology

This page explains how the 3,251 practice questions on SIE Exam Practice Test were written, which sources they rely on, how they were checked and what that checking does not cover. It applies to every question in our practice exams, quick sets, topic quizzes, printable practice exam and samples.

1. The short version

• Every question is original. None is a real, recalled or leaked FINRA exam question.
• Every question maps to one part of FINRA's SIE content outline.
• Every answer links to a primary source and quotes the passage that supports it.
• Questions were drafted and reviewed with AI tools: an author, an independent reviewer, a revision where needed and a second review, with automated checks at each stage.
• No human subject-matter expert has reviewed the bank yet. If you think a question is wrong, please tell us.

2. Coverage: FINRA's SIE content outline

FINRA's SIE content outline splits the exam into four sections and says how many of the 75 scored questions come from each. We used the outline as the plan for the bank. Each question carries the section and topic it tests, and the bank is sized roughly in proportion to the exam.

The full practice exam draws questions from each section in the exam's proportions. Topic quizzes draw from one part of the outline.

We stopped adding questions to a topic when the remaining ideas would have repeated a question already in the bank or gone deeper than the SIE tests.

3. Sources

Questions are written from primary sources: the rules, regulator pages and official guides that the SIE outline is built on. Before a question was written, the text of its source was saved, so authors and reviewers worked from the same passage.

These are the source sites cited most often, counted across the bank on November 8, 2026. In total the bank cites 614 different pages on 41 sites.

4. What every question contains

• A question and four answer choices, with one best answer. Each wrong choice is meant to reflect a real misunderstanding of the topic.
• An explanation of two to four sentences that says why the answer is right and why the most tempting wrong choice fails.
• A source link to the page the answer is based on.
• An evidence quote: a short passage, under 300 characters, copied word for word from that source, which supports the answer.
• A difficulty label (easy, medium or hard). In the bank today there are 911 easy, 1,778 medium and 562 hard questions. The labels are our own editorial judgment.

5. How a question is written and reviewed

The bank was built in batches, each covering one topic. Every batch went through the same steps:

1. Author. An AI author wrote the questions from the saved source passages, recorded which source and passage supports each answer, and checked any calculation twice.
2. Answer balance. The correct answers were spread across positions A to D, so the position of an answer gives no hint. In every section of the bank each position is the correct one for close to a quarter of the questions.
3. Independent review. A separate AI reviewer, which did not write the batch, read every question with the full source passage. It checked that the key is the one best answer under the facts the question states, that each wrong choice is plausible and answers the same question, that the explanation is supported, that dates and rule versions were current, that the question is at SIE depth and that it does not repeat a question already in the bank. It recomputed every calculation.
4. Revision. Questions marked for revision went back to an author with the reviewer's findings.
5. Second review. A reviewer checked each revised question again before it could be accepted.
6. Merge checks. Automated checks ran before any batch joined the bank (section 6).

6. Automated checks

• Evidence match. The quote must appear word for word in the saved source and be under 300 characters.
• Answer balance. The spread of correct positions in each section must stay even.
• Wording cues. A script flags questions where three wrong choices share an opening or ending that the correct answer lacks, so the odd one out does not give the answer away. Reviewers also look for a correct answer that is noticeably longer than the others or repeats words from the question.
• Format. Each question must have four choices, one key, an explanation, a source and a quote.
• Duplicates. Exact repeats are rejected, and reviewers compare each question with related questions already in the bank.

7. Dates and rule changes

The bank was written against the rules in force in early November 2026. Where a rule has been adopted but does not take effect until later, questions use the rule in force today. For example, outside activity questions use FINRA Rules 3270 and 3280 until Rule 3290 replaces them on October 25, 2027. Questions about tax figures state the tax year, and questions about gift limits name the regulator and the date the limit took effect.

Rule changes we are tracking, with dates, are listed on Corrections and Rule Updates.

8. How scores work on this site

Your score is the percentage of questions you answered correctly, overall and by section. FINRA reports the real SIE as a scaled score, with 70 needed to pass, and it includes 5 unscored questions that are not marked as such. We use 70 percent correct as a practice benchmark. It is not a conversion of FINRA's scaled score, and a result here does not predict your result on the real exam.

9. What this process does not cover

• No human expert review yet. All authoring and review so far was done with AI tools under the steps above. AI tools can misread a rule, miss a newer version of a source or write a question that has two defensible answers. If we add review by a human subject-matter expert, this page will say so and give the date.
• Practice questions are not the exam. FINRA writes and chooses the real questions. Ours cover the same outline but will not match the wording or mix of any real exam.
• Sources change. Regulators update pages and rules. We check the rule changes we know about, but a source can change before we notice.

10. Corrections

When a question is reported, or a rule changes, we check the question against its source. If it is wrong, we fix or remove it and record the change on Corrections and Rule Updates. To report a question, email [email protected] with the first few words of the question, the test it was in and what you think is wrong.

11. Related pages

• About This SIE Practice Site
• Corrections and Rule Updates
• SIE Practice Disclaimer