Series 24 – Retaking Without Repeating Mistakes

🧾 Series 24 – What Happens If You Run Out of Time?
📘 Understanding the Consequences and Strategies for Managing Time on the Series 24 Exam

The Series 24 exam (General Securities Principal Exam) is designed to test a candidate’s knowledge of supervisory responsibilities in the securities industry. With 150 questions and a 3 hour and 45 minute time limit, time management is critical. So what happens if you run out of time before answering all the questions?

⏱️ 1. No Partial Credit for Incomplete Questions

If you run out of time, any unanswered questions are automatically marked incorrect. This can significantly impact your final score, especially if you leave a block of questions at the end unanswered.

📌 Pro Tip: Always guess if you’re running out of time. There’s no penalty for wrong answers, so leaving blanks is worse than an educated guess.

🧠 2. You Need a 70% to Pass

Out of 150 questions, only 135 are scored. You must get at least 94 correct answers to pass.

👉 If you leave 10 questions blank, even with a strong performance, it becomes much harder to hit the required 94. That’s why pacing yourself is key.

📊 3. Time Breakdown Per Question

You have 225 minutes for 150 questions: 225÷150=1.5 minutes per question=90 seconds per question225 \div 150 = 1.5 \text{ minutes per question} = 90 \text{ seconds per question}

Use this as a hard benchmark. If you’re spending more than 90 seconds on a question, move on and flag it to review later.

🚨 4. Most Common Timing Mistakes

• Spending too much time on complex regulatory scenario questions.
• Obsessing over one question instead of keeping pace.
• Failing to mark and move on tough questions to revisit at the end.

✅ 5. Timing Strategies to Prevent This

• Checkpoint pacing: Aim to complete ~50 questions every 75 minutes.
• Mark and move: Flag difficult questions, move forward, then return if time allows.
• Final 5-minute sweep: Use it to guess unanswered questions if time is tight.

🚀 6. Final Advice

If you’re nearing the end of the exam and time is tight:

• Guess immediately on remaining questions.
• Don’t overthink – go with first instincts.
• Answer everything, even if unsure.

🎓 Need more Series 24 prep help?
Explore timed practice exams, question pacing drills, and test-day strategy guides at
👉 https://finra-exam-mastery.com

Stay sharp. Manage the clock. Pass your Series 24 with confidence.