Who Must Take the IFCE Insurance Foundations Exam? Deadline, Exemptions and CII W01

Last verified: 18 October 2026. Conditions can change, so check the exam page on the Financial Academy website and the regulations and circulars page on the Insurance Authority website before you decide. This site is independent and is not affiliated with the Financial Academy, the Insurance Authority or any government body.

For most staff of Saudi insurance companies the Insurance Foundations Certificate Exam is not optional: it is a mandatory requirement from the sector's regulator. This guide explains who must sit it and by when, who is exempt, who it suits if it is not compulsory for them, and how it relates to the CII W01 unit.

Who must pass the exam?

The exam page calls it a mandatory requirement from the Insurance Authority, and the details are in circular 210 of 8 February 2021, issued as a supplement to circular 1051 (the first mandate, from 2009). The exam is required for:

• Staff of insurers, reinsurers and insurance professional-services companies who have direct or indirect contact with customers, whether in technical, supervisory or support departments.
• Board members.
• Outsourced staff who deal with customers.
• At all job levels.

Who is exempt?

Support-department staff who have no contact at all with customers, such as HR and IT, are exempt. The exemption depends on having no customer contact, not on the department's name alone. If you are unsure of your position, ask your company's compliance or HR team; the final interpretation rests with the regulator.

The deadline and what the company must do

• The employee: must pass within one year of the hiring date.
• The company: must give the employee the chance to sit a first exam within the first three months of hiring.
• The Academy allows six attempts in 12 months (details in the registration guide) and each attempt costs SAR 1,000, so aim to pass within your first two attempts to keep some margin inside the one-year deadline.

No other certificate is accepted instead

The circular states that other certificates, whether international or local university ones, are not treated as equivalent to this exam. Even if you hold a university degree in insurance or an international qualification, you still need to pass this exam itself.

Where does the exam fit your career?

It suits each of these cases:

• A new hire at an insurer, reinsurer or insurance services firm: your deadline is one year from hiring. Nothing stops you starting early.
• A board member or external contractor dealing with the insurance sector: covered by the circular's wording.
• A job seeker aiming at the insurance sector: the exam has no qualification or training prerequisite and you can register with your personal account, so passing before you are hired saves you the one-year clock.
• A student or professional who wants to understand insurance basics: the syllabus covers risk and insurance, the legal principles of insurance contracts and the Saudi market's rules, a useful grounding even outside insurance companies.

Someone in HR or IT with no customer contact is not required to sit it, and it remains an option for anyone who wants to broaden their knowledge.

How it relates to CII W01

The Academy's preparation programme page says IFCE is equivalent to the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) W01 unit and to LOMA 280. When we compared the 2026/27 W01 syllabus (unit syllabus on the CII website) with the Saudi exam's, we found:

• W01 ("Award in General Insurance", non-UK) has five learning outcomes with 20, 22, 42, 14 and 2 questions, in a 100-question, two-hour exam.
• IFCE's first five outcomes correspond to them (the items under Outcome 3 are word for word identical), but the question counts differ: 18, 10, 36, 12 and 2.
• IFCE adds two outcomes W01 does not have: insurance process procedures and products and services, and replaces Lloyd's and similar with the Saudi market.

In short, IFCE is a Saudi localised version close to W01, not the same paper. And under the circular the Insurance Authority does not accept W01 in place of IFCE. If you have studied W01, you may benefit most in Outcomes 1 and 3, but you still need the Saudi regulations and Outcomes 6 and 7. Details in the syllabus guide.

Before you decide: cost and effort

• Fee: SAR 1,000 per attempt, paid by you or registered by your company through its account.
• Exam: 100 questions in two hours, 70% to pass.
• Fees are not refunded once paid unless the Academy cancels the exam. Details in the registration guide.

How this site helps you prepare

Try the free practice test: 10 free questions covering the main outcomes, no sign-up needed, with an explanation for every answer, then practise in the question bank. To go back to the exam page: IFCE Insurance Foundations Certificate Exam.

Last verified: 18 October 2026. This is an independent guide and does not replace checking with the Insurance Authority and the Financial Academy. This site has no link to either of them or to any government body.