The most expensive mistake in NISM preparation is not studying too little. It is studying the wrong edition — putting in four weeks against a workbook that was superseded, and meeting questions in the exam drawn from material you never read.
NISM revises workbooks periodically and adds certifications as SEBI's requirements evolve. Neither arrives with a public announcement you are likely to see.
The newest certifications
Three certifications have been added relatively recently and are worth knowing about, because almost nobody has written about them and candidates are frequently unaware they exist.
| Series | Certification | Format |
|---|---|---|
| V-D | Mutual Fund – Specialized Investment Fund (SIF) Distributors | 180 min · 150 marks · 60% · 10% negative |
| XXV-A | Persons Associated with Research Services | 60 min · 50 marks · 50% · no negative marking |
| XXV-B | Persons Associated with Investment Advice | 60 min · 50 marks · 50% · no negative marking |
XXV-A and XXV-B are short papers aimed at people associated with research and advisory
functions rather than the principals themselves — a different obligation from Series XV or
X-A. If you are unsure which applies to your role, the answer comes from SEBI or your
compliance team, not from a comparison page.
We have written full guides for all three:
Series V-D,
Series XXV-A and
Series XXV-B.
How to confirm you have the current syllabus
This is the part that matters, and it takes two minutes.
- Download the workbook from nism.ac.in, not from a forum, a WhatsApp group or a PDF someone shared last year. The official download is free, which removes any reason to use a copy.
- Check the edition or revision date printed inside. Workbooks carry one. Note it.
- Re-check on the day you book your exam. If the edition has moved since you started, you are now preparing against the wrong book.
- Re-check once more in your final week. Rare, but it happens, and finding out afterwards is worse.
A workbook edition is not a detail. It is the difference between preparing for your exam and preparing for last year's.
What to do if the workbook changes mid-preparation
Do not start again. In practice a revision changes some chapters and leaves most of the book intact.
- Compare the contents pages of the old and new editions first. That alone usually shows you the scope of the change.
- Read the changed chapters properly, not by skimming for differences — a revised chapter often reorganises material as well as adding it.
- Treat regulatory chapters as highest risk. They change most often, because they track SEBI, and they are the most predictable source of exam questions.
- Re-take a full mock afterwards. If your practice questions were written against the older edition, your score will flatter you.
Where syllabus changes usually come from
Understanding the pattern helps you predict the risk for your own paper:
- Regulatory updates. SEBI amends a regulation; the workbook chapter covering it is revised. Compliance, adviser and research papers see this most.
- Market structure changes. New instruments, revised contract specifications or settlement changes flow into the derivatives papers.
- New certifications. When SEBI creates a requirement, NISM creates a paper for it — which is how V-D, XXV-A and XXV-B appeared.
- Routine refresh. Data, examples and figures are updated even when rules have not changed.
If your certification sits in a fast-moving regulatory area, assume the syllabus is a moving target and check more often.
What does not change
Some things are stable enough to plan around. The exam formats — 120 minutes against 100 marks, 180 against 150, 60 against 50 for the shorter papers — have been consistent, as have the 50% and 60% pass marks and the negative-marking bands. Our full exams table carries the current figures for all 34 certifications, verified against the official list.
So a syllabus revision usually changes what you are examined on, not how.
Practising against the current syllabus
Mock tests carry the same risk as workbooks: a question bank written against a superseded edition tests material that is no longer examinable, and — worse — gives you a score you cannot trust.
Ours are mapped to the current official workbooks for the certifications we cover, which is the only claim that matters when you are choosing where to practise. If you use any other source, ask when its questions were last reviewed.
One caution
This page is updated when NISM revises material, but the awarding body is the authority and
we are not. Always confirm the current edition on nism.ac.in before you commit
preparation time to it.
Practise against the current syllabus, not last year's. Our mock tests are mapped to the latest official workbooks, with explained answers and analytics showing which chapters are costing you marks. Free demo before you pay. Take a free mock test.
