Published May 2026 · 6 min read
It is one of the first questions candidates ask, and the honest answer is: it depends — but probably fewer hours than the official guidance suggests, if those hours are spent the right way.
The CISI recommends approximately 100 hours of study per unit. For many candidates, particularly those with a finance or regulatory background, this may be more than necessary. The caveat is that the quality of those hours matters enormously. 100 hours of passive reading is worth less than 40 hours of active practice with proper explanations.
The biggest mistake candidates make is spending too many of their preparation hours reading and not enough testing. A rough split that works: spend the first third of your preparation time reading and understanding the material, and the remaining two thirds on practice questions. In the final week, switch almost entirely to timed mock exams. For a full week-by-week structure, see the four-week study plan.
Key allocation:
Chapter 2 (COBS and CASS) deserves roughly half your total preparation time. It carries approximately 35 of the 75 exam questions. Allocate accordingly from the start.
If you are asking how many hours you need, the better question is how many hours of the right kind of preparation you need. If you are resitting, the figure is lower — see how to approach the resit differently for why fewer but better-directed hours change the outcome.
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