M9 exam 2026: how to pass CMFAS M9 in four weeks
The M9 exam is 100 questions in 2 hours with a 70% pass mark. The chapters that cost the most marks, the calculator rules, M9 vs CM-LIP and a four-week plan.
The M9 exam is 100 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, and you pass with 70 right. Most people who fail don't run out of knowledge; they run out of time on the calculation chapters, or drop easy marks on the law chapters at the back of the study text. So study those two clusters hardest. If M9A worries you, sit M9 on its own rather than inside CM-LIP, and give yourself four weeks.
The M9 exam at a glance
M9 is Life Insurance and Investment-Linked Policies, run by the Singapore College of Insurance (SCI). With RES 5, it's the paper you need to advise on or arrange life insurance.
| What | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 100 multiple choice |
| Time | 2 hours, 72 seconds a question |
| Pass mark | 70%, so 70 right and up to 30 wrong |
| Chapters | 17 |
| Calculator | Bring your own approved model |
| Study text | 7th Edition, Version 1.2, for exams from 22 September 2026 |
| Result | On screen when you finish, then a result slip |
A wrong or blank answer scores nothing and costs nothing extra, so never leave one empty. Passing earns 2 CPD hours, and there's no limit on resits.
SCI charges S$109.00 for a weekday sitting before 5pm and S$127.53 after 5pm if you register through an SCI or IBF member company, or S$130.80 and S$149.33 if you don't. The M9 booking guide walks through registering.
Bring the right calculator
SCI doesn't provide calculators or stationery, so you bring your own non-programmable one. SCI's M9 page lists these approved models:
- Casio FC 100, FC 100V, FC 200 or FC 200V
- HP 10b or 10b2
- Texas Instruments BA2+ or BA2+ Professional
- Sharp EL735, EL738 or EL738F
SCI's exam rules, version 2.5 from June 2026, are looser: any non-programmable calculator is acceptable as long as it has no graphic or word display. A model from the list meets both, so that's the safe buy. If your calculator has a cover, it can't hold any paper or notes. Buy and practise on the model you'll take in. Fumbling with unfamiliar keys costs the seconds the ILP questions need.
The 17 chapters, grouped by how they test you
| Chapters | What they cover | How they test you |
|---|---|---|
| 1, 3 to 6, 10 | Risk, product types, traditional policies, riders, participating policies, annuities | Definitions and features |
| 2, 7 to 9 | Premium setting and investment-linked policies, including the ILP computations | Sums under time pressure |
| 11 to 13 | Underwriting, policy services, claims | Process and rules |
| 14 to 17 | The insurance contract, agency, income tax, nominations, wills and trusts | Exact legal wording |
The first group is recall and seldom decides a result, while the other three are where M9 is won or lost.
The calculation chapters
Chapter 2 is how life premiums are set, and chapters 7 to 9 are investment-linked policies. Chapter 9, the computations, is the one people dread. Expect questions that hand you a unit's offer price and the bid-offer spread and ask for the bid price, or give you a premium and an allocation rate and ask how many units it buys.
You can't reason these out on the day. Either the method is automatic, or you lose two minutes and still guess. Work them on paper until each takes under a minute, then do them on your exam calculator. Our M9 sample questions include premium and law questions with worked answers.
The law chapters at the back
Chapters 14 to 17 read like a law course, and the wording is precise on purpose.
Chapter 15, the law of agency, asks you to tell actual authority, apparent authority and ratification apart. The question describes what an agent did and asks which one applies, so learn a one-line example of each.
Chapter 17 covers nominations, wills and trusts. Scenario questions give you a client's family and their nomination, then ask who receives the policy money. Know the difference between a trust nomination and a revocable nomination before you sit, because the answer flips on it.
Chapter 14 (the insurance contract) and chapter 16 (income tax) are shorter but easy to skim past. Don't.
M9 on its own, or CM-LIP?
CM-LIP puts M9 and M9A into one sitting: 150 questions in 3 hours, 100 from M9 and 50 from M9A. You need 70% in each part in the same sitting. Score 88% on the M9 part and miss on the M9A part, and the sitting is a fail.
It doesn't save money either. M9 and M9A cost S$109.00 each at the member weekday rate, while CM-LIP costs S$239.80.
M9A is the harder paper for most people. Its 6 chapters cover structured products and derivatives, a different kind of question from anything in M9. So if M9A worries you, book M9 first. Pass it, and that result is yours while you prepare for M9A. Our M9 or M9A first guide compares the two papers chapter by chapter.
A four-week M9 study plan
The aim is to spend reading time on the recall chapters and practice time on the chapters that punish you.
Week 1: products, chapters 1, 3 to 6 and 10
This week covers policy types, riders, participating policies and annuities. Read each chapter once, then answer questions on it the same day so the definitions stick. Don't linger here.
Week 2: process and law, chapters 11 to 17
Start with underwriting, policy services and claims, then move to the four law chapters, which are dense enough that rereading them does little. Work questions chapter by chapter until agency and nomination terms stop blurring together.
Week 3: the numbers, chapters 2 and 7 to 9
Close the text and calculate. Do every premium and ILP question you can find on paper, then on your calculator. When you get one wrong, find the exact step where it went off before you look at the answer.
Week 4: full timed papers
Sit at least three full papers of 100 questions in 2 hours. Aim to finish in about 1 hour 45 minutes, so you have time to revisit anything you weren't sure of. Book the exam once you're clearing 70 with room to spare.
Practise M9 against the clock
Our M9 practice gives you full 100-question mock exams on the real 2-hour clock, chapter practice across all 17 chapters and an explanation on every answer. After each mock, your results list up to three chapters where you scored below the pass mark, and a retest brings back the questions you got wrong. See what's covered on the M9 paper page, or start M9 as a single paper.
Sources
- SCI, M9 exam details, fees, calculator policy and registration policies, read 11 October 2026
- SCI, examination rules and regulations, version 2.5, read 11 October 2026
- SCI, CM-LIP exam details and fees, read 11 October 2026
- SCI, release of new versions of study texts for regulatory examinations, read 11 October 2026
Practise M9 now
550+ exam-style M9 questions with instant explanations.
Frequently asked questions
Unevenly. The product chapters are recall, but the calculation chapters (premiums and ILP computations) and the law chapters at the back (agency, nominations, wills and trusts) decide most results. Pacing matters more than the 70% pass mark.
70%, which is 70 of the 100 questions. You have 2 hours, and a wrong or blank answer scores nothing and costs nothing extra.
Yes, and SCI doesn't provide one. Bring your own non-programmable calculator. SCI's M9 page lists approved models such as the Casio FC 200V, HP 10b2, Texas Instruments BA2+ and Sharp EL738, and a model from that list meets SCI's exam rules too.
Alone, if M9A worries you. CM-LIP needs 70% in each part in one sitting, so a weak M9A part fails the whole sitting, and it costs more than M9 and M9A booked separately.
The 7th Edition, Version 1.2, for M9 exams from 22 September 2026.
