If you fail the SIE, you must wait 30 days before retaking it. The same 30-day wait applies for the second retake (third attempt). For a fourth attempt and beyond, the wait jumps to 180 days. Each retake costs another $80, and there is no lifetime cap on how many times you can take the exam.
How many times can you take the SIE exam?
There is no lifetime limit on how many times you can take the SIE. FINRA’s policy is built around mandatory waiting periods between attempts, not a hard cap. If you keep paying the $80 and waiting through the required intervals, you can keep retaking.
That said, the policy is designed to make repeated failures slow and costly enough that candidates are nudged toward serious preparation rather than rapid-fire attempts.
What is the FINRA retake waiting period?
The waiting period scales with how many times you have already failed:
| Attempt | Required wait if you failed |
|---|---|
| 2nd attempt (after 1 fail) | 30 days |
| 3rd attempt (after 2 fails) | 30 days |
| 4th attempt and beyond | 180 days |
The 30-day clock starts the day you take the failed exam. You can re-enroll on FINRA’s portal during the waiting period, but Prometric will not let you schedule an appointment that falls before your eligibility date.
The jump from 30 to 180 days at the fourth attempt is intentional. FINRA wants candidates who have failed three times to step back, rebuild their study foundation, and not just keep cycling through attempts.
When can I take the SIE again if I failed?
The shortest answer: 30 days from the day you failed, assuming this is your first or second fail.
A practical timeline:
- Day 0: Fail the exam
- Day 0 to 30: Mandatory waiting period; you cannot test
- Day 30: Earliest possible retake date
- Day 30 to 60: Re-study weak sections, do practice questions, take new full-length exams
- Day 30+: Schedule and take retake when ready
In practice, most candidates do not retake on day 30. They take 6 to 8 weeks to genuinely fix the weaknesses that caused the first fail before paying another $80. Rushing back on day 30 with the same level of preparation usually produces the same result.
How much does each retake cost?
$80 per attempt. The fee is paid the same way as your initial enrollment, through FINRA’s candidate portal. There is no discount for repeat candidates, and FINRA does not offer a “pass guarantee.”
If you are sponsored by a firm, retake fees are sometimes covered, but firms are typically less generous on retakes than on first attempts. Check your firm’s licensing policy before assuming.
Some prep companies advertise pass guarantees that cover retake fees if you fail after using their material. These almost always require you to complete a minimum percentage of the course and hit a target score on their internal practice exams to qualify, and many have small print that restricts when and how you can claim. Read the terms before you assume the guarantee covers your situation.
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Choose Your PathHow do I reschedule the SIE exam?
Rescheduling is separate from a retake. If you want to move your existing appointment to a later date, you handle it through Prometric’s site at prometric.com/finra.
Reschedule fees depend on how much notice you give Prometric:
| When you reschedule | Fee |
|---|---|
| 30+ calendar days before test | $0 |
| 10 to 29 calendar days before test | $80 |
| Less than 10 calendar days before test | Forfeit $80, must re-enroll |
| No-show on test day | Forfeit $80, must re-enroll |
If you are sick or have a documented emergency, contact Prometric immediately. Some emergencies are accommodated, but there is no guaranteed policy and you should not count on it.
What is the difference between a retake and a reschedule?
This trips up first-time candidates:
- Reschedule: You moved your appointment to a different date. You have not yet sat for the exam. The original $80 enrollment usually still counts.
- Retake: You sat for the exam, failed, and want to try again. You will pay another $80 and wait 30 days.
- No-show: You did not show up for your scheduled appointment. You forfeit the $80 and have to re-enroll, but this is not technically a “fail” and does not trigger the 30-day waiting period.
Does failing the SIE go on any record?
No public record. The SIE is not reported on any background check, BrokerCheck profile, or licensing database for unsponsored candidates. Future employers cannot see that you failed unless you tell them.
If you are sponsored by a firm during your attempts, the firm’s CRD record will show your attempts and results. Firms expect this; it is rare for a retake to affect employment outcomes unless the pattern of failures is extreme.
How long do I have to take the SIE after enrolling?
When you pay the $80 enrollment fee, you have a 120-day window to schedule and take the exam. If 120 days pass without a completed attempt, your enrollment expires and you must pay another $80 to re-enroll.
For retakes, the same 120-day window applies once you re-enroll for the next attempt. The 30-day waiting period eats into the 120 days, but you still have plenty of time.
What should I do differently after failing?
If you failed once, the worst thing you can do is retake quickly with the same preparation. The patterns that cause first-time fails are almost always one of:
- Not enough hours invested (under 30 to 50 total)
- Heavy reading and light practice questions
- Skipped wrong-answer review
- Underprepared on options
- Tested too soon
The 30-day waiting period is your chance to fix whatever caused the fail. Use the section-by-section breakdown from your score report to identify the two weakest sections, and spend 70% of your re-study time there. Take at least three full-length practice exams before re-scheduling, and do not book the retake until you are consistently scoring 75% or higher.
Your fail report shows performance in each of the four content sections. The section where you scored lowest is almost always the right place to start re-studying. Generic re-reading of the whole textbook is usually a poor use of the 30-day window.
What if I fail three times?
After three fails, the waiting period jumps from 30 days to 180 days. This is a major shift and a signal from FINRA that something needs to change in your approach.
Candidates who fail three times typically share one or more of these patterns:
- They have not changed their study method between attempts
- They are guessing on a quarter or more of the questions
- They are testing without consistent 75%+ practice exam scores
- They are missing structural concepts (yields, risk types, regulatory framework) that show up across multiple sections
Six months is enough time to genuinely rebuild from the foundation. If you are at three fails, consider switching prep tools entirely, working with a tutor, or sitting in on a structured course. Repeating the same approach a fourth time at 180-day intervals burns years.
The bottom line
The SIE retake policy is designed to be permissive in attempts but slow in waiting periods. You can retake as many times as you want, but each fail costs $80 and at least a month of waiting (six months after the third fail). Most candidates who fail once pass the second attempt with better preparation: real practice questions, honest wrong-answer review, and a fixed weakness in their lowest-scoring section.
If you are reading this because you just failed: it happens to about a quarter of first-time test-takers. The 30-day wait is plenty of time to fix what went wrong. Use it well.