CPCU® 500 Exam Format

In this blog, we will break down the exam format along with the most important topics of the exam. These are the topics that you must memorize to be prepared for this exam. These topics come straight from our CPCU® 500 online course where we provide a detailed breakdown of the most important topics of each chapter, along with our difficulty and importance rank for each chapter.

CPCU® 500 Exam Format

The CPCU® 500 exam is a 65-minute virtual exam consisting of 50 multiple-choice questions. Exams are virtual, and non-proctored, meaning you take the exam alone online directly from your computer.

All questions on the virtual exam will be application-based scenario questions. These are tricky questions that require you to apply your knowledge to a real-life scenario to choose the appropriate answer (you will not be repeating a definition or concept). You will be given a real-life scenario; your job will be to select the best recommendation to solve the given scenario.

You can download one of our free practice exams to see what these questions look like.

CPCU® Question Format

The CPCU® 500 exam format is going to be different than other exams that you have taken.

If you have not previously taken an institute’s administered exam, you will be in for quite the surprise. Although the CPCU® 500 content is not necessarily difficult, the questions on these CPCU® exams will be much different than what you may be used to on a typical exam that you took in high school or college. These questions require you to fully understand every aspect of the main topics and require you to actually apply the knowledge, rather than just repeating a definition.

I cannot stress this importance enough. You must fully understand a topic, DO NOT simply memorize definitions and think you will be able to pass (trust me, I’ve been there!)

The CPCU® 500  exam consists of 50 multiple-choice questions. You will have 65 minutes to complete the exam. That means, you only have about 1 minute and 18 seconds per exam question. That’s not a lot of time. You need to memorize all of the content of this exam to be able to quickly read, analyze, and correctly answer each scenario-based question.

CPCU® 500 Exam – Exam Topics

The major focus of the CPCU® 500 exam is risk and risk management techniques used by individuals and organizations. The main topics covered in this exam include Risk, risk management, risk control, risk financing, insurance, and big data.

A majority of the questions on this exam will be based on how individuals and organizations can use risk control and risk financing techniques, such as insurance, to mitigate risk. These questions will require you fully understand the job of a risk management professional and how various techniques can help to reduce the severity and frequency of loss.

Download: Free Practice Exam (CPCU® | ARM™ | AINS™ | API™)

CPCU® 500 Exam – Important Topics

Below we are outlining some important CPCU® 500 exam topics. We recommend you master these topics before attempting the CPCU® 500 exam. This is our opinion of the topics that are important on your exam.

  • Risk Control – you must know the risk control techniques and how to apply risk control in a real-life scenario.
  • Risk Financing – you must understand risk financing, the risk financing goals, the advantages of retention, the advantages of transfer, and the characteristics of an insurable loss exposure.
  • Risk management – you must understand the risk management process, big data, risktech, know the difference between ERM and traditional risk management, understand probability distribution (discrete and continuous), and understand standard deviation.

Disclaimer

Remember, every CPCU® exam is different. No single exam is the same. Be sure to study ALL topics (not just our recommendation). This resource is intended to provide you with a general idea of where your focus should be. Make sure to thoroughly study every topic of this exam.

Our Advice

My biggest recommendation is to focus on risk control and risk financing.  These two chapters are very similar and combine to form the most important concepts of the CPCU® 500 exam. Make sure to FULLY memorize the risk control techniques and understand the different advantages of retention versus transfer. This exam will require you to recommend the best risk control technique or risk financing method (retention or risk transfer) for a given situation.

You must also fully understand the risk management process. This exam is all about risk. Know the risk-management process (know every step in the process), the actions to mitigate risk (step 4 of the risk-management process), the difference between speculative and pure risk, the difference between objective and subjective risk, and the benefits of implementing an enterprise-wide risk management process.

CPCU® 500 Exam – Online Course

Ready to start studying? We are ready to help.

Stop wasting your time. You no longer need to study for 8 weeks to pass your exam (the industry-recommended study time). With our streamlined online course, students pass their exams, on average, in 2 weeks by studying just 1 hour per day. Start your studying today with our CPCU® 500 Full Course (guaranteed to pass or your money back).

Or, if you just need a little extra practice before your exam, check out our CPCU® 500 Practice Exam Course (300+ practice questions).

Free Practice Exam

Ready to get started studying? We’re here to help (for free). Download our free CPCU® 500 practice exams to get a feel for the type of questions you will see on the exam.

Download: Free Practice Exam (CPCU® | ARM™ | AINS™ | API™)

More Information

For more information about the CPCU® 500 exam, check out some of our other free resources:

Disclaimer

Remember, every CPCU® exam is different. No single exam is the same. Be sure to study ALL topics (not just our recommendation). This resource is intended to provide you with a general idea of where your focus should be. Make sure to thoroughly study every topic of this exam.

Difficulty rank and importance rank are solely the opinion of AssociatePI. This resource is intended to provide you with a general idea of where your focus should be. Each exam administered by The Institutes is different. AssociatePI is not affiliated with The Institutes or involved in the exam writing process. Please be sure to thoroughly study every chapter and every topic of this course.

CPCU® exams are administered by the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (“The Institutes”). AssociatePI does not administer the actual exams, we are an independent resource of free content, advice, and study material for professional insurance education. This blog is intended for informational purposes only, to inform prospective students of the benefit of the CPCU® designation.

CPCU® and API™ are trademarks of the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters (“The Institutes”). AssociatePI LLC is not affiliated with, associated with, endorsed by or otherwise supported or recognized by The Institutes in any way. AssociatePI LLC is not authorized by The Institutes to offer courses, practice examinations, or any other resources related to the Institutes’ designations or other programs.

For further information, please email contact@associatepi.com.

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