The most exam-relevant FRE1 — Industry, Regulation and Key Parties facts and definitions on one scannable page, organised by topic. Every figure carries its source and the date it applies from. Tax bands and limits change, most on 6 April: check the date against your exam day.
MortgagePrep is an independent study aid for CeMAP candidates. It is not endorsed by, affiliated with or approved by Walbrook Institute London (formerly LIBF). CeMAP® is a registered trade mark of its owner and is used here only to describe the exam. All questions are original practice material, not past or live exam questions.
Know the rules? Now test yourself.
FRE1 rewards applying the rules to client situations under time pressure. See where you stand.
| Format | 25 standalone MCQs + 3 case studies × 5 MCQs |
| Duration | 1 hour |
| Pass mark | 28/40 (70%) |
| Delivery | Online, on demand, remotely invigilated |
Per the LIBF CeMAP qualification specification (July 2026). LIBF sets the format and can change it: check the current specification before you sit.
LO1 is the widest outcome in FRE1 and it is mostly about telling similar things apart: money markets and capital markets, primary and secondary markets, fiscal and monetary policy, the MPC and the FPC, placement and integration, insider dealing and market manipulation. Expect short scenarios where you classify what is happening (a share issue, a Bank Rate rise, a suspicious payslip, a changed bank account email) and a few calculations such as a running yield. Learn the definitions in pairs, attach each Bank of England tool to the right committee, and know the financial crime offences by statute and by what the adviser must do next.
LO2 is where FRE1 starts to look like advice. Most questions give you a client (a 26-year-old with a bonus, a self-employed father, a widow who seems confused, a couple saving a deposit) and ask what comes first, which product does the job, or which Consumer Duty outcome a firm is failing. Two skills win the marks. First, put needs in the right order: budget, emergency fund, expensive debt, protection, then saving and investing. Second, match each product to its function and its numbers: ISA and Lifetime ISA limits for 2026/27, the FSCS £120,000 limit, deferred periods and relief at source.
LO3 is the law that sits under every mortgage and protection case: who can be sued, who can sign, who owns the house, who inherits it and what happens when a borrower cannot pay. The questions are mostly short scenarios with one decisive fact: a joint tenant dies with a will, a witness signs an hour late, a donor loses capacity, a debtor owes £38,000. Learn the statute behind each rule and the numbers that examiners swap: the £322,000 statutory legacy, the £5,000 bankruptcy petition level, the Debt Relief Order limits, one year to discharge, six months for an Inheritance Act claim and two years for a deed of variation.
LO4 is a history and map topic. Examiners test it with dates (when did mortgage advice become regulated, when did second charges join MCOB), with order questions (put four events in sequence), and with 'who does this' questions across the FCA, PRA, FPC, HM Treasury, the CMA, the Information Commission, The Pensions Regulator, the FOS, the FSCS and MaPS. Learn the timeline as one story: self-regulation in 1986, a single regulator in 2001, twin peaks in 2013, then layers added for mortgages, consumer credit, the Mortgage Credit Directive, SM&CR, Brexit and the Consumer Duty. Then learn who inside a firm keeps it honest: the board, compliance, auditors, trustees and the network principal.
LO5 is the most rule-dense part of FRE1 and it feeds straight into FRE2. Expect three kinds of question. First, objectives: which FCA or PRA objective a piece of work pursues. Second, the Handbook: which Principle a scenario breaches, which block or sourcebook holds a rule, and what R, G and E mean. Third, people and powers: who needs approval under SM&CR, what the firm must do to certify an adviser, which Conduct Rule applies, and which enforcement power fits the facts. Know the numbers that are now different from older study material: 12 Principles, 6 individual Conduct Rules, a 30% settlement discount and a six-month authorisation deadline.
The three FRE1 case studies carry 15 of the 40 marks, and you need 28 to pass. Each case gives you one client situation and five linked questions, and each question tests a different rule: a death in the family brings survivorship, intestacy and inheritance tax into one scenario; a new brokerage brings authorisation, SM&CR and Training and Competence. Candidates rarely fail these for lack of knowledge. They fail by misreading one fact, such as how a home is held or whether a child is under 18, and losing several marks in a row. This note gives you a reading method, a fact-to-rule map, the legal and regulatory traps examiners set, and worked mini-examples.
FRE1 tests whether you can apply what you learn to client situations. Practise questions that put it to work.
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