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CFP Board Announces November 2025 CFP® Certification Exam Results

via Business Wire

Record-Breaking Number of Candidates Sit for CFP® Exam in 2025

CFP Board today announced the results of the November 2025 CFP® Certification Exam. The exam was administered during a November 3-12 testing window to 3,970 candidates. Following the largest ever July CFP® Certification Exam, this is the second largest number of people to ever sit for a CFP® Certification Exam in November. The pass rate for the November exam was 64%.

In record-setting 2025, a total of 11,037 people took the exam, a new high for the annual number of CFP® exam candidates.

“People seek out financial planners who demonstrate real competence, expertise and a commitment to serving clients well,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “These strong exam numbers show the value that CFP® certification delivers and why so many professionals are choosing this path to deepen their impact.”

According to the November 2025 post-exam survey, the main reason exam candidates seek CFP® certification is to demonstrate their expertise on the job (41%), followed by distinguishing themselves as a fiduciary (32%). More than three in five (64%) of November exam-takers say they received some level of financial support from their employers on their path to CFP® certification.

Of the candidates registered for the CFP® exam, 72% were under 40 years old, and 42% were under age 30. The 10 states with the most CFP® exam candidates were California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, New Jersey and Massachusetts, and exam candidates from those states made up 53% (2,115 individuals) of the total November 2025 candidate cohort.

Statistics from previous exams, including those from the November 2025 exam, are available on CFP Board’s exam statistics webpage.

March 2026 Exam

The CFP® exam is offered three times annually, in March, July and November. Registration for the March 2026 CFP® Certification Exam is now open. This exam will be administered from March 17-24, 2026. The registration deadline is March 3, and the Education Verification Deadline is February 24. Testing appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. We therefore encourage individuals to register for the exam at least 60 days in advance for the best date and site availability.

To begin the path to certification, CFP® certification candidates should create accounts on CFP.net. Here, they can access resources for all stages of their certification journey.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

CFP Board is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board consists of two affiliated organizations focused on advancing the financial planning profession for the public’s benefit. CFP Board of Standards sets and upholds standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certification — widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planners — so that the public has access to the benefits of competent and ethical financial planning. CFP® certification is held by more than 106,000 people in the U.S. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning addresses diversity and workforce development challenges and conducts and publishes research that adds to the financial planning profession’s body of knowledge.

“These strong exam numbers show the value that CFP® certification delivers and why so many professionals are choosing this path to deepen their impact,” said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE.

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