RE5 study material: what to use and how to study it

The Danley team · 12 min read · Updated 7 November 2026

The RE5 tests one thing: whether you understand the rules that govern financial advice and intermediary services in South Africa. Good study material teaches those rules in words you can remember, then makes you practise them until the questions feel familiar.

Where the content comes from

The FSCA publishes the exam's scope: the tasks and knowledge areas the questions are drawn from. Every serious course is built on that. It covers the FAIS Act and its rules, the General Code of Conduct, the fit-and-proper requirements, and the anti-money-laundering duties under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.

Reading the law itself is slow and easy to forget. The material that works turns each area into short, plain explanations with real examples, then tests you on it straight away.

What good RE5 study material includes

• Plain-language notes for every area of the exam, not pages of legal text.
• Short videos for the hard topics, so you can study on a taxi or in a break.
• A quiz after every section, with an explanation for each answer.
• Timed mock exams of 50 questions, so the real exam feels normal.
• A way to see which areas you are weak in, so you do not waste time on what you already know.

How to study it in six weeks

1. Week 1–2: work through the FAIS Act basics and the General Code of Conduct. These carry a lot of the marks.
2. Week 3: fit and proper, and what a representative may and may not do.
3. Week 4: money laundering and your reporting duties.
4. Week 5: timed mock exams. Review every wrong answer the same day.
5. Week 6: re-do your weakest areas, then book once you are scoring comfortably above 65%.

A few focused hours a week is enough. The candidates who struggle are usually the ones who read once and never test themselves.

Free and paid study material compared

You can pass the RE5 using only free material, but it takes longer and you have to organise it yourself. Paid courses earn their money by doing the organising for you and by giving you far more practice than free sources do.

• Free: the FSCA's published exam scope and the legislation itself. Accurate, but dense and not written for learning.
• Free: articles, videos and a handful of sample questions online. Useful for a first look, rarely complete.
• Paid: a full course with plain-language lessons, quizzes, timed mock exams and a way to track your weak areas.

Whatever you use, check it covers every area of the exam scope. A common reason people fail is that their material skipped a topic that came up on the day.

What the exam actually tests

The RE5 does not ask you to recite sections of the law. It asks you to apply the rules: what a representative must tell a client, when something counts as advice, what records must be kept, and when a transaction must be reported. Good study material teaches you to recognise those situations.

• The FAIS Act: what counts as advice and as an intermediary service, and who must be authorised.
• The General Code of Conduct: disclosures, suitability, records and conflicts of interest.
• Fit and proper: honesty and integrity, competence, the regulatory exams and continuing development.
• The Financial Intelligence Centre Act: knowing your client, record-keeping and reporting suspicious transactions.

How to make study material stick

1. Read one short lesson, then close it and explain the main rule in your own words.
2. Do the quiz straight away and read the explanation for every answer, including the ones you got right.
3. Revisit the questions you got wrong after a few days, and again a week later.
4. Once a week, sit a full 50-question timed mock so the real exam feels normal.

Studying on your phone

Most candidates study around a job, so material that works on a phone matters. Short videos of about two minutes and lessons you can finish in ten minutes fit into a lunch break or a commute. Choose material that is light on data, so studying does not eat your airtime.

Signs your material is working

Your quiz scores climb week by week, the same mistakes stop coming back, and your timed mock scores sit comfortably above 65%. If your scores are flat after two weeks, change how you study rather than reading the same notes again.

How to choose an RE5 course

If you decide to pay for preparation, a few questions separate a course that gets you through from one that only looks good.

• Does it cover every area of the FSCA's exam scope, or only the popular topics?
• Is every practice question explained, so you learn why an answer is right?
• Are there full 50-question timed mock exams, not just short quizzes?
• Does it show your score per area, so you know where to spend your time?
• How long does your access last, and does it cover a rewrite if you need one?
• Does it work properly on a phone, without using much data?

Be wary of any provider claiming to be approved by the FSCA. The FSCA does not approve exam-preparation providers, so that claim cannot be true.

Common mistakes with study material

• Highlighting and re-reading instead of testing yourself. It feels productive but sticks poorly.
• Collecting several sets of notes and finishing none of them.
• Leaving the dry areas, such as record-keeping and reporting duties, for the last week.
• Practising only with questions you have seen before, so your score looks better than your understanding.

A study routine for people with a job

Most candidates are already working or job-hunting. A routine that fits a full day is more realistic than long weekend sessions.

1. Weekdays: one short lesson and its quiz, about 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Two evenings a week: re-do the questions you got wrong that week.
3. Weekend: one timed mock exam from week four onwards, then review it.
4. Every Sunday: look at your scores per area and choose next week's focus.

Keeping it small and daily is what gets people through. Missing one day is fine; missing a week is where momentum is lost.

Danley is exam preparation only. You register for and write the RE5 through the FSCA's examination body. Check current exam rules and fees when you book.