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Your goal is to pass each part of the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) exam the first time you sit for it. This will require you to develop a CIA exam study plan tailored to meet your needs.
Ask yourself:
NOTE: Be realistic about what you can expect from yourself, and make a plan that you can keep. Everyone is able to study for a different amount of time each week, so really think about your schedule when making your CIA exam study plan.
Passing the CIA exam is not an easy task, so you’re going to need to spend ample time studying for each part of the exam. While it can be hard to find time to study, remember that becoming a CIA is an investment in yourself.
You will need to make sacrifices in order to find time to study for the CIA exam. Some candidates find it best to make several small sacrifices (e.g., waking up an hour early, studying during a lunch break, or watching a bit less television). Other candidates prefer to make one large one (e.g., working fewer hours a week or taking a summer off from school).
The most important thing is to be honest with yourself—don’t plan on sacrificing something essential. Sacrificing essential aspects of your life makes it harder to stick to the plan you have set for yourself. Finding time to study is only worthwhile if you actually stick to your plan. Studying for the exam will be a marathon, not a sprint, so critically consider your weekly activities, and make the time to study for the CIA exam.
Our CIA exam blog is full of candidate stories to help you find inspiration and motivation to stay on top of your study schedule!
Determine how familiar you are with the CIA material and base your study needs on your answers to the questions provided above.
It can be helpful to review the CIA Exam Syllabus and practice answering CIA exam questions. Gleim has free CIA exam questions available for candidates to quickly determine how familiar they are with the material.
Get a calendar (digital or physical) and mark your deadline on the calendar.
Working backward from your deadline, mark off any days you will be unable to study.
Think about any obligations, holiday plans, or events you have planned that may impede your study time.
Count the number of weeks from the time your studies begin to your deadline.
NOTE: Determining your half weeks is not a one-size-fits-all rule. If you only study on Saturday and Sunday, and even one of those days is marked off, it might count as a half week. On the other hand, in that same scenario, you could mark off every weekday and still have most of your study hours available. Use your best judgment when determining half weeks.
| Average time spent studying per part of the CIA exam | |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | ~ 75 study hours |
| Part 2 | ~ 85 study hours |
| Part 3 | ~ 125 study hours |
If you have not already, schedule your exam at least 4 weeks in advance.
During the global COVID-19 pandemic, The IIA teamed up with Pearson VUE to offer the CIA exam online for candidates for a limited time. Our CIA exam changes page goes over the details to help you make the decision between taking the exam at a test center or online.
Plan to begin your final review the week before your CIA exam.
Set benchmarks on your calendar. You should have a benchmark every week to check your progress against.
We recommend setting weekly goals instead of daily goals to avoid being distracted by small interruptions in your plan. It’s important to plan and work around the unexpected.
Write down important exam deadlines on your calendar.
As you make your way through your studies, mark your progress off on the calendar.
Do not abandon your study plan if you begin to miss benchmarks! If you start to fall behind (missing 2 benchmarks in a row), you may need to adjust the remainder of your CIA exam study plan. Readjusting your study plan involves the same steps as creating a new study plan, just using your remaining time.
As your exam day approaches, look at your recent benchmarks to determine whether you’ll be prepared.
If you create a CIA exam study plan without a deadline, you’ll decide your testing date based on the amount of time per week you are able to study.
NOTE: You will want to select a testing date and schedule it as a part of this process. This will give you a deadline to work towards and help cement your exam prep as a priority.
Use a calendar to mark off the days over the next few months that you won’t be able to study.
Based on the number of hours you can study in a week, determine how many weeks it will take to reach the total number of study hours you’ll need.
Any week for which you have marked off half of your study hours or more should be considered a half week.
Select a testing date for the CIA exam.
The CIA exam does not have testing windows, so you can schedule your exam for any time that an eligible Pearson VUE testing center has seats available.
After you have selected a testing date, you can use steps 5 through 10 from the deadline-based approach to flesh out your CIA exam study plan.
Of course, creating a great study plan is only the first step to earning your CIA certification. After you have your CIA exam study plan scheduled out, we have tips to help you make the most out of your precious study time. From there, you’ll want to make sure you’ve appropriately applied for the CIA exam, and then you need to sit down and enact your plan!
Looking for more information on applying and scheduling your exams? Check out our CIA Exam Guide!