CFP Board Announces July 2025 CFP® Certification Exam Results

Record-Breaking Number of Candidates Sit for July CFP^® Exam

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CFP Board today announced the results of the July 2025 CFP^® Certification Exam. The exam was administered during a July 10-17 testing window to 3,214 candidates. Following the largest ever March CFP^® Certification Exam, this is the largest number of people to ever sit for a CFP^® Certification Exam in July. The pass rate for the July exam was 64%.

"CFP^® professionals are setting the standard for the future of financial advice," said CFP Board CEO Kevin R. Keller, CAE. “The surge of candidates in 2025 shows the powerful momentum behind CFP^® certification, and more professionals want to be part of it.”

According to the July 2025 post-exam survey, the main reason exam-takers are pursuing CFP^® certification is to demonstrate expertise in their job (38%), followed by to distinguish themselves as a fiduciary (32%). Of the exam-takers, 41% reported receiving some level of financial support from their employers during the CFP^® certification process.

Of the candidates registered for the CFP^® exam, 73% were under 40 years old, and 42% were under age 30. (Both figures reflect a slight increase in younger candidates compared to March 2025, when 72% were under 40 and 41% were under 30.) The 10 states with the most CFP^® exam candidates were California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, Massachusetts and New Jersey, with 1,709 candidates from these states sitting for the exam.

Statistics from previous exams — including those from the July 2025 exam — are available on CFP Board’s exam statistics webpage.

November 2025 Exam

The CFP^® exam is offered three times annually, in March, July and November. Registration for the November 2025 CFP^® Certification Exam is now open. This exam will be administered from November 3-12, 2025. The registration deadline is October 20, and the Education Verification deadline is October 14. Testing appointments are scheduled on a first-come, first-served basis. We therefore encourage individuals to register for the exam at least 60 days in advance for the best date and site availability.

To begin the path to certification, CFP^® certification candidates should create accounts on CFP.net. Here, they can access resources for all stages of their certification journey.

ABOUT CFP BOARD

CFP Board is the professional body for personal financial planners in the U.S. CFP Board consists of two affiliated organizations focused on advancing the financial planning profession for the public’s benefit. CFP Board of Standards sets and upholds standards for financial planning and administers the prestigious CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER^® certification — widely recognized by the public, advisors and firms as the standard for financial planners — so that the public has access to the benefits of competent and ethical financial planning. CFP^® certification is held by more than 104,000 people in the U.S. CFP Board Center for Financial Planning addresses diversity and workforce development challenges and conducts and publishes research that adds to the financial planning profession’s body of knowledge.