Series 22 Cheat Sheet.
The night-before summary, built like the exam.

The numbers to remember

• 50 scored questions, multiple choice, four answer choices each.
• 55 total items administered — 50 scored plus 5 unidentified, unscored pretest items mixed in.
• 90 minutes (1 hour 30 minutes) total time on the clock.
• Passing score: 70%.
• Exam fee: $100 USD.
• SIE exam is a required corequisite — you must pass both the Series 22 and the SIE to be fully qualified.
• Standard retake wait: 15 calendar days after any failed attempt.
• After 3+ failures within a two-year period: 60 calendar days wait before your next attempt.
• Series 22 has been an active FINRA qualification exam since 08/1980.
• Purpose: assesses competency of entry-level Direct Participation Programs Representatives — expect fundamentals, not specialist-level material.

Content domains and weights

• Function 3 — Customer info, recommendations, asset transfers, records: 54% (27 questions). The single biggest domain — study here first and hardest.
• Function 1 — Seeks business from customers/prospects: 34% (17 questions). Second priority.
• Function 2 — Opens accounts, evaluates financial profile/objectives: 8% (4 questions).
• Function 4 — Verifies purchase instructions, processes transactions: 4% (2 questions).
• Functions 1 and 3 combined make up 88% of the scored exam.

High-yield review areas

• Suitability: matching a specific direct participation program to a customer's stated objectives, risk tolerance, and overall financial profile.
• How DPPs differ from more liquid securities — illiquidity, pooled structure, and the risks unique to that structure, since Function 3 tests this heavily.
• Recordkeeping obligations tied to recommendations, disclosures, and account activity.
• The account-opening steps and exactly what information must be gathered and evaluated before an account can be opened.
• Transaction processing mechanics — verifying purchase instructions and confirming completed transactions accurately.
• Prospecting and business-development practices covered under Function 1, since it's still over a third of the exam.

Top traps

• Assuming you can spot the 5 unscored pretest items — you can't, so answer every single question with full effort.
• Under-studying Functions 2 and 4 because they're small (8% and 4%) — easy points are still points; don't skip them entirely.
• Over-indexing on Function 1 (prospecting) at the expense of Function 3, which carries 20 more percentage points of the exam.
• Forgetting the SIE corequisite — passing the Series 22 alone does not complete your registration requirement.
• Misjudging the retake timeline — a 60-day wait after repeated failures can meaningfully delay a career start, so front-load your prep instead of planning to retake casually.
• Treating the $100 fee as a reason to under-prepare and "just try it" — the retake waiting periods make a rushed first attempt costly in time, not just money.