Exam at a glance
| Duration | 120 minutes |
|---|---|
| Maximum marks | 100 |
| Pass mark | 60% |
| Negative marking | 25% |
| Fee | ₹1,500 |
| Renewal paper | Series XV-B — 60 min, 50 marks, 50%, no negative marking, ₹2,500 |
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The difficulty is breadth, not depth
Series XV is not a hard exam. It is four moderate exams stitched together, and candidates prepare deeply in the one area they already work in.
The paper moves between accounting, valuation, economics and regulation. An equity analyst walks in strong on valuation and loses marks on regulation. A compliance professional does the reverse. Both are surprised, and both diagnosed it as "the exam being tricky" when it was simply uneven preparation.
This is the paper where sitting full-length mocks matters most, because the fix is almost always to redistribute revision rather than to work harder — and a whole paper is the only thing that shows you where to redistribute it.
What the paper covers
From the official workbook — a free download from nism.ac.in, and the authoritative syllabus:
- Introduction to securities markets and the terminology of research
- Financial statement fundamentals — reading and analysing accounts
- Valuation approaches and their application
- Micro and macroeconomic analysis, industry and competitive frameworks
- Company and business model analysis
- The research report — structure, disclosure, quality
- SEBI Research Analyst regulations, ethics and conflicts of interest
Where the marks sit
| Area | Difficulty | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation and ethics | Low | The most predictable marks on the paper, and the most commonly underprepared |
| Financial statements | Moderate | Worked, not recognised. Practise numerically |
| Valuation | Moderate–high | Recognising a method is not applying it under time pressure |
| Economics and industry | ModerateModerate | Broad but shallow. Do not over-invest |
Do not skip the regulations chapters. They are precise, testable without ambiguity, and revise well in a final week — the best marks-per-hour on the paper. Candidates leave them because they are dry, then lose the exam by four marks.
A four-week plan
Alongside a job:
- Week 1 — read the workbook end to end without stopping to memorise.
- Start of week 2 — take a full-length timed mock. It will show you which of the four areas is weakest, and it is rarely the one you expect.
- Weeks 2–3 — work that area properly, then the next weakest. Numericals by hand, not by elimination.
- Week 4 — two more timed papers, plus the regulation chapters as consolidation. Read the explanation for every question you guessed correctly, not only the ones you got wrong.
Our Series XV mock test uses the same interface and timing as the real paper, scoring the whole paper rather than the sections you already enjoy — which on this exam is the whole point.
Negative marking, and what it means here
Series XV deducts 25% for a wrong answer, so a blind guess across four options loses marks on average. Attempt when you can eliminate one or two; leave when you cannot. The full picture across all papers is in our post on passing marks and negative marking.
After you pass
Series XV is valid three years. Renewal is via the Series XV-B paper — 60 minutes, 50 marks, 50% to pass, no negative marking, ₹2,500 — or through the CPE route. Note that the renewal costs more than the original ₹1,500; see validity and renewal.
Whether the certification is required for your specific role comes from SEBI, not from us — the regulations are role-dependent, so confirm your obligation rather than inferring it.
Find your weakest of the four areas before the exam does. Our Series XV mock tests mirror the real interface and timing, with explained answers and a score for every attempt. Free demo before you pay. Try the Series XV mock test.
