FRM Part 1 Mock Exam November 2025: How Many to Take and When to Start (+ Score Interpretation)

Kateryna Myrko
Oct 25
5 min read

FRM Part 1 Mock Exam Guide: How Many to Take and When to Start (+ Score Interpretation) — FRM Part 1 Mock Exam November 2025: How Many to Take and When to Start (+ Score Interpretation)

With the November window only weeks away, mock exams are the highest-ROI tool you have. Done right, they sharpen timing, expose blind spots, and—crucially—teach you how to convert partial understanding into points. Here’s a practical, exam-aligned plan for how many mocks to take, when to start, how to analyze your results, and what scores actually mean.

FRM Part 1 Mock Exam November 2025: How many mocks do you really need?

Ideal range: 3–5 full-length FRM Part 1 mocks before exam day. This gives you enough repetition to stabilize pacing and decision-making without burning out.
If you’re short on time: Do 2–3 full mocks plus two targeted mini-mocks (40–60 questions) focused on your weakest topic areas. Quality review beats sheer volume.
Mix your sources: Include at least one official-style practice exam and one third-party mock to diversify item style and difficulty. Use mixed-topic sets to replicate the real exam’s randomness.

When to start (final-weeks timeline)

Assuming you have ~3 weeks left, use this structure:

T-21 to T-15: Mock #1 (full length) under exam conditions. Spend the next two days on deep review and targeted drills that fix only the issues you uncovered.
T-14 to T-10: Mock #2. Again, two days of “autopsy + repair.” Layer in mini-mocks (40–60 Q) that concentrate on the topics you missed most.
T-9 to T-6: Mock #3. Shift your review to exam mechanics (question triage, educated elimination, answer recording).
T-5 to T-3: Optional Mock #4 if you’re not consistently at target. Otherwise, run two 60–90 minute section sprints (e.g., VRM + FMP) to tighten speed on high-weight areas.
T-2: Light mixed set (30–40 Q) at exam pace. Brief formula refresh only.
T-1: No full mock. Sleep, logistics, and a quick look at your “errors I used to make” list.

Timing and pacing (what to simulate)

Replicate the real thing: Two long sessions add fatigue. Sit each mock in one continuous block to practice mental endurance.
Target pace: Treat the exam as roughly ~2–2.5 minutes per question. Use 25/50/75% checkpoints to confirm you’re on schedule.
Two-pass method: (1) Sweep for quick/medium items; mark the time sinks. (2) Return for the heavy math and long setups. Always record a best answer before moving on—no blanks.

How to analyze a mock (the “autopsy”)

Your post-mock review is where score gains happen. Use this structured breakdown:

Tag every miss by cause (choose one):
- Concept gap (didn’t know it),
- Formula gap (knew idea, not the math),
- Application gap (multi-step setup tripped you),
- Careless (reading or calculator slip),
- Time management (ran out of time / over-invested).
Create a “fix” for each tag:
- Concept → 10-minute micro-review + 5 fresh questions.
- Formula → write the formula from memory + 5 drills (e.g., DV01/duration, forward price, swap fixed rate, VaR scaling, put-call parity).
- Application → re-work the full solution path and summarize it in three bullets.
- Careless → add a checklist (units, sign, rounding, last keystroke).
- Time → define a hard stop rule (e.g., if not 70% set up by 60 seconds, mark and move).
Re-do your wrong set 48 hours later. Spaced repetition locks in the correction.
Maintain an error log. Keep it short, punchy, and formula-heavy; this becomes your T-2 and T-1 skim.

What scores mean (realistic targets)

There is no published passing score. The exam uses a minimum passing standard that isn’t disclosed. Because of that, you need practical, conservative benchmarks.
Mock targets that travel well:
- 65–70%+ on mixed full-length mocks, consistently, is generally a competitive place to be.
- 70–75%+ on your final two mocks suggests you’ve built the buffer you need for exam-day variance.
- Scores <60% on multiple recent mocks mean you should narrow scope and go hard on highest-yield topics and formula drills rather than widening your study.
Trend > one-off. An upward trend across two or three mocks is a better signal than a single high (or low) score.

Prioritize high-yield topics in your mock review

FRM Part 1 concentrates on four domains: Foundations of Risk Management, Quantitative Analysis, Financial Markets & Products, and Valuation & Risk Models. In the last stretch, bias your review toward items that turn into clean calculations or clear-cut decisions:

Valuation & Risk Models (VRM): variance–covariance VaR, historical/MC intuition, ES vs. VaR, backtesting, portfolio σ with correlations, stress/scenario logic.
Financial Markets & Products (FMP): forwards/futures/swaps pricing, cost-of-carry, put-call parity, option payoffs/greeks (conceptually), fixed-income price/yield, duration/convexity approximations.
Quantitative Analysis (QA): distributions (normal/lognormal), expectation/variance, Bayes basics, sampling & hypothesis tests (Z/t), regression interpretation and common pitfalls.
Foundations: ERM, risk governance (three lines), risk appetite vs. tolerance, model risk, and risk-adjusted performance measures.

In mocks, tag every question that hits these “core math + core judgment” areas. Those drive the majority of scorable, repeatable points.

Make your mocks more “real”

Use your exam calculator only (e.g., BA II Plus or HP 12C) and practice keystrokes for NPV/IRR, amort, date math, and cash-flow work.
No open tabs, no notes. Scratch paper only, like test day.
Answer every question. If you’re torn between two, pick the option that best preserves no-arbitrage logic, risk governance, or client/market integrity—those principles eliminate traps.

Common mock mistakes (and quick fixes)

Too many mocks, too little review. Cap at one full mock every 3–4 days; invest the in-between days in targeted repairs.
Unrealistic conditions. Breaks, snacks, and pausing skew your pacing cues. Sit it straight through.
Memorizing solutions. Rotate providers and shuffle question orders so you’re practicing process, not recall.
Ignoring fatigue. The last 25 questions decide many scores. Train your second wind with a weekly “final hour” sprint (25 Q at slightly faster-than-exam pace).

A compact checklist for the final weeks

3–5 mocks total (2–3 if time-crunched), each followed by a structured autopsy.
Mini-mocks (40–60 Q) to attack weak topics between full mocks.
Error log that captures formulas, setups, and “fix actions.”
Trend toward 70–75% in the final two mocks; if not, narrow scope and drill the high-yield list above.
T-1 is for rest and logistics, not another full mock.

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