CIA Exam Difficulty: Which Part of the CIA Exam is the Hardest?

CIA Exam Difficulty

Certified Internal Auditor examination comprises the four main verticals of Internal audit practice, internal audit fundamentals, internal audit knowledge of aspects, and business acumen. The candidate is tested in each of these domains with subjects ranging from internal control, risk management, compliance, business practices, and governance. 

While the CIA demands a disciplined practice/study schedule, the difficulty level of this certification exam may vary for candidates and depends upon various factors including qualification, background in internal auditing or any other domain, and number of hours dedicated to study. 

A professional may be eligible to take the CIA Exam with as little as an associate’s degree, depending on how long they have been employed as internal auditors. The CIA Exam consists of three portions that cover a lot of ground. 

Part 1: Essentials of Internal Auditing

Part 2: Practice of Internal Auditing

Part 3: Business Knowledge for Internal Auditing

Here is a closer look at the Certified Internal Auditor Exam’s difficulty analysis:

• The certified Internal Auditor exam covers a wide range of topics that directly reflect on the roles and responsibilities of the candidates who will eventually take on their profession. This makes the topics of fraud, IT auditing, risk assessment, and management, code of conduct, ethical behavior, compliance, and governance critical as well as hard segments to crack. The candidate must devote time to studying for the CIA exam and gain a thorough awareness of both auditing principles and practices to garner extensive knowledge of all these topics. 
• The CIA exam tends to be challenging because the position of a certified internal auditor demands experts to possess in-depth knowledge rather than just surface-level understanding. To enhance their analytical abilities, professionals need to have practical auditing experience.
• When assessing the degree of difficulty, it’s also important to take into account the format of the certified internal auditor certification exam. Multiple-choice, objective, and scenario-based questions are all included in the CIA certification exam. Each of them was developed to assess the candidate’s various abilities, knowledge bases, and skill levels. 

Since the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) bestows the CIA accreditation, their certification programs undergo a stringent evaluation and validation procedure that involves independent third-party validation. To guarantee scores are constant across exam formats and periods, the IIA employs a scaled scoring method. This implies that candidates need to score a certain amount of points to pass rather than being given a passing %. On a scale of 250–750, a passing score of 600 is achieved by correctly answering questions. Make an intelligent guess for each question and never leave one unanswered as there are no points deducted for incorrect answers.

The exam’s level of difficulty may perplex or overwhelm some candidates, but they can overcome it and successfully obtain the CIA certification on their first try if they study consistently, dedicate enough time to prepare, and consider signing up for CIA exam courses. 

Netrika Consulting offers an instructor-led CIA course to increase a candidate’s chances of passing the exam. Our course is designed to help your career trajectory flourish in the competitive market as it provides a strong foundation for learning skills, information, and best practices.