Best Series 7 prep courses
General Securities Representative Qualification Examination (GS)
The core registered-representative exam. Passing it (together with the SIE and a state-law exam) qualifies a candidate to solicit and trade the full range of securities products at a broker-dealer.
Series 7 at a glance
| Administered by | FINRA |
|---|---|
| Exam fee | $395 |
| Questions | 125 |
| Time limit | 225 minutes |
| Passing score | 72 |
| Sponsorship | Firm sponsorship required |
Rankings
- #13.0/ 4
Kaplan
The establishment pick, with the question bank other providers' students end up buying anyway
- #22.9/ 4
Knopman Marks
White-glove exam prep from the firm that trains Wall Street's new hires
- #32.9/ 4
Achievable
Budget-priced, reading-first exam prep on a genuinely modern platform
- #42.9/ 4
Securities Training Corporation (STC)
The 50-year incumbent whose practice finals candidates treat as the readiness benchmark
- #52.8/ 4
Pass Perfect
The 30-year question-bank shop, rebuilt with Solomon Exam Prep under one roof
- #62.7/ 4
Securities Institute of America
The textbook house: published question counts, a simple guarantee, and self-study basics at fair prices
How to choose for the Series 7
The Series 7 is the hardest exam on this list, and the rubric priorities shift with it: question-bank depth and explanation quality (C3), simulation intensity (R4), and access to live help (C4) matter more than anywhere else. Access windows matter too, because most candidates take the 7 a few months after the SIE and some pair it with the 63 or 66.
The rankings above order providers by overall CHART score; the picks below map them to the situations we actually see for this exam.
Self-funded, wants the best bank
The reference question bank in this market, at the lowest Series 7 entry price we track.
Wants brutal practice finals
Its mocks are consistently reported harder than the real exam, and live review is included at every tier.
Firm-sponsored, support-first
Reachable faculty at every tier and the market's deepest live-class and 1-on-1 ladder.
Measuring against the firm standard
Securities Training Corporation (STC)
Its practice finals are the readiness benchmark candidates and firms calibrate against.
Series 7 FAQs
No. FINRA requires candidates to be associated with and sponsored by a member firm (filed via Form U4) before sitting for representative-level exams like the Series 7. The SIE is the exam you can take on your own first.
The SIE is a corequisite: you must pass both the SIE and the Series 7 for the General Securities registration to take effect. Most candidates pass the SIE first, but FINRA doesn't mandate the order.
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About the author
Brennan KolarSenior Financial Analyst · Founder & Lead Researcher
Brennan Kolar is a Senior Financial Analyst and the founder of the Atlas Index family of research sites, including Atlas CPA Index and Atlas Securities Index. He built the CHART methodology to make exam-prep comparisons transparent: every score traces to a published rubric, and every factual claim carries a source.
Full bio & editorial standards →