Private Securities Offerings Representative Exam Certification Cost

Updated on 19 September 2026. What’s new: exam time corrected to 90 minutes, with FINRA's current question count, fee and passing score of 70.

To pass the FINRA Series 82 exam on your first attempt, you need exact command of private placement rules, above all Regulation D, plus timed practice on scenario questions. The exam has 50 questions in 90 minutes, costs USD $100 and needs a passing score of 70. Half of it tests how you seek business for private offerings, so study that area first and hardest.

The Series 82, FINRA's Private Securities Offerings Representative Exam, qualifies a representative to solicit and sell private placement securities as part of a primary offering. It is shorter and narrower than the Series 7, and that is exactly why many candidates underestimate it. The questions go deep into a small body of rules: exemptions from registration, accredited investor status, placement agent duties, suitability and the records a firm must keep.

This guide explains what the exam covers, how hard it really is, how long to study, the details most candidates miss, what to do on test day and what to do if you have already failed once. Every exam figure below comes from FINRA's published exam details.