The CFP Board is postponing exams for the industry’s most popular professional credentials, citing the risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The move, which follows similar actions taken in March, could crimp growth in the rising number of CFP professionals.
“[The] CFP Board did not make this decision lightly,” the board’s CEO Kevin Keller said in a statement. “We recognize the months of preparation many candidates put into preparing for the exam, and we appreciate their ongoing dedication and perseverance.”
Instead of taking the exam in July, test-takers may now sit for it Sept. 22-29. The next regularly scheduled exam window is Nov. 3-10.
That said, neither of the next two exam windows this year are guaranteed, according to the board, which noted it will proceed with tests “only if they can be conducted without compromising the health of exam candidates.”
As quarantines set in nationwide, the board canceled a round of exams on March 17 in the middle of the week-long testing window, impacting more than 100 test-takers by bumping their tests to July. Those test-takers and others who planned on sitting for the exam this summer will have to wait a bit longer.
Prometric, the company that administers tests, closed testing centers in March. The CFP Board did not immediately say if the summer delay was being driven by Prometric. Prometric’s U.S. and Canadian test centers remain closed through May 31, the company says. Prometric says its test-takers will not be charged for the rescheduling.
As of mid-March when Prometric halted the board’s test week midstream, 2,112 people had taken the exam this year. The board usually adds about 3,000 new CFPs to its growing ranks of more than 86,000. The board was on track to hit 89,000 CFPs before COVD-19. Last year, 62% of people who took the exam passed it.
Candidates pay $825 to take the exam for regular registration. Early bird registration, paid up to six weeks before the exam date is $725 and late registration, scheduled within two weeks of the date, is $925.
The CFA also postponed its exams in March.
Additional details are addressed in a set of FAQs issued by the board.