CME-1A Study Plan: Chapter Order and Common Mistakes

Last verified: 31 October 2026. Exam details can change, so check the CME-1A exam page on the Financial Academy website before you book. This is an independent guide, not affiliated with the Financial Academy, the Capital Market Authority, CISI or any government body.

CME-1A has 50 questions in 60 minutes, and you need 35 correct answers. The ten chapters are not equal: three of them (equities, bonds and investment funds) carry 22 questions. This plan orders your revision by question count and flags the mistakes that keep coming back in the same chapters. Each chapter is explained in the exam syllabus guide, and the booking steps are in the registration guide.

Numbers to build your plan on

Order the chapters by question count

Equities, bonds and funds are 22 questions out of 50, or 44%. Add other markets and financial services regulation and the total is 32 questions. Start with these five, and do not leave equities and bonds to the last week, because they contain calculations that need time. Remember that the five small chapters carry 18 questions, and neglecting them uses up your 15 allowed mistakes quickly.

Revision plan

4 weeks before

1. Take the free practice test (10 free questions, no sign-up) to find your score today and your weakest chapters.
2. Week 1: equities (9 questions) and corporate action calculations, then the economic environment.
3. Week 2: bonds (7 questions) and yield calculations, then other markets and investments.
4. Week 3: investment funds (6 questions), derivatives and other financial products.
5. Week 4: financial services regulation, financial advice and the introduction to the sector, then a short test on each chapter to measure what changed.

2 weeks before

• Practise chapter by chapter in the practice area, starting with your weakest.
• For every question you got wrong, read the explanation and the syllabus item it relies on, then add it to your mistakes notebook.
• Write the formulas on one sheet (dividend yield, theoretical ex-rights price, flat yield, effective annual rate) and solve one example of each with the on-screen calculator.

The final week

• Sit a timed full mock exam of 50 questions in 60 minutes with the pass mark at 35, and see your score in each chapter.
• Review the mistakes notebook, then redo the chapter where your score fell below the others.
• The day before: go over the formulas and the look-alike definitions, and do not start a new chapter.

If you only have two weeks, merge the stages: a free test on day one, the five big chapters in week one, and the remaining chapters with the full mock exam in week two. If you have one week, take the free test, revise your three weakest chapters, and sit the full mock two days before the exam.

Mistakes that keep coming back in CME-1A questions

• Corporate actions. A rights issue is paid for and the rights can be sold, a bonus issue costs nothing, and an open offer entitlement cannot be sold. On ratios, 1:4 in Europe and Asia means one new share for every four held and is written 5:4 in the US, so 10,000 shares become 12,500. The theoretical ex-rights price is a weighted average of the market price and the subscription price.
• Nominal value and price. Buying a bond with 10,000 nominal at a price of 96.18 costs 9,618, but interest and repayment are calculated on 10,000. Flat yield ignores the capital gain at maturity and yield to maturity includes it, so below par the yield to maturity is higher than the flat yield.
• The effective annual rate. Interest of 6% charged quarterly equals about 6.14% a year. Divide the rate by 4, raise (1 + rate) to the power 4, and do not forget to subtract 1 at the end. The effective rate leaves out the lender's fees, while the annual percentage rate (APR) includes them.
• Forward versus future. A forward is off-exchange and tailored to the two parties, while a future is standardised, exchange-traded and backed by margin and a central counterparty. In options the buyer holds the right and pays the premium, while the writer is obliged to perform and keeps it. A put holder gains when the price falls and a call holder when it rises. The loss on a naked call is theoretically unlimited.
• Funds. The price of a closed-ended company is set by supply and demand and is usually below net asset value (a discount); above it is a premium. In a unit trust the trustee is the legal owner and in an OEIC the depositary is, so in both cases the investors are not the legal owners.
• Laundering stages and inside information. The order is placement, then layering, then integration. Insider dealing means using unpublished information about particular securities or a particular issuer, not about the market in general, while market manipulation means giving misleading signals about supply, demand or price.
• Murabaha and ijara. Murabaha is a sale at a higher price paid in instalments, and ijara is a lease with a promise to transfer title. Neither is a loan with interest. An Islamic savings account pays a share of profits, and the advertised rate is expected, not guaranteed.

What this site adds to your plan

• The free practice test: 10 free questions covering the main chapters, with each answer explained and your score against the pass mark of 35 out of 50, no sign-up.
• The practice area: practise chapter by chapter, with every option explained, the syllabus item it relies on, your weakest chapters and a mistakes notebook.
• The full mock exam of 50 questions in 60 minutes with the pass mark at 35. The remaining questions and the full mock exam need a paid pass. Details are on the exam page.

This is an independent exam preparation website, not affiliated with the Financial Academy, the Capital Market Authority, CISI or any government body.