CeMAP changed in September 2025 — here's the new exam structure

In September 2025 the qualification was restructured for the first time in years. If your study materials, question banks or half-remembered advice from colleagues predate the change, the exam you'll actually sit looks different from the one they describe. Here's the current structure in plain English.

The units

• FRE1 — Industry, Regulation & Key Parties: 25 standalone questions plus 3 case studies of 5 linked questions (40 marks, 60 minutes).
• FRE2 — Skills, Principles & Ethical Behaviours: same format as FRE1 (40 marks, 60 minutes), covering Consumer Duty, conduct rules, ethics and adviser skills.
• MRT1 — Mortgage Law, Practice & Application: 50 standalone questions, 60 minutes.
• MRT2 — Mortgage Products & Post-Completion: 40 standalone questions, 60 minutes.
• Module 3, Assessment of Mortgage Advice Knowledge — 6 client case studies with 10 linked questions each (60 questions), 120 minutes. It carries the unit code ASEW in England & Wales and ASSC in Scotland; you sit one of them, not both.

Every unit needs 70% to pass.

A note on codes: you'll still see ASSM used for Module 3 across older guides, forums and course listings. ASSM is the old code. The current codes are ASEW and ASSC, and which one you take depends on whether you're studying English and Welsh or Scottish mortgage law — the underlying assessment is the same shape either way.

Old structure vs new units, side by side

There are still three modules. What changed is that Modules 1 and 2 are now studied and examined unit by unit, rather than as one long paper each — and Module 1 was replaced outright.

The pass mark is 70% on every unit, before and after.

The transition timeline

These are the awarding body's published dates.

If you are registering now, you are on the new units from day one. There is no old-format paper left to book.

One date that gets reported wrongly

Several CeMAP guides say the old format ran until July 2026. That mixes up two different deadlines. Old-version CeMAP modules stopped being examinable on 12 January 2026. The 16 July 2026 date applies only to learners who were already registered on UKFR and told the awarding body they wanted to finish that module rather than transfer to FSRE. It is not a general extension, and it was never available to anyone registering after 29 September 2025.

Why the syllabus changed

The awarding body gives four reasons for the change:

1. Unit-level study and assessment. Learners can study and sit exams one unit at a time instead of taking one long exam per module.
2. Refreshed content, to better reflect the current needs of the industry.
3. A better online learning experience — video and audio, case studies, regular assessments, and a free specimen exam paper for each unit.
4. Exams online through Brightspace with remote invigilation, on the same platform used for study, with no need to book in advance.

Separately, Module 1 was replaced rather than reshaped. UKFR was swapped for FSRE because FSRE is already the regulation-and-ethics foundation in the Diploma for Financial Advisers (DipFA). Using the same module across both qualifications means a learner who completes FSRE can transfer that credit into DipFA instead of studying the same ground twice.

One thing worth being clear about, because it worries people: this was not a compliance fix. The awarding body's own wording is that both the current and updated versions of CeMAP continue to meet FCA standards. CeMAP is still the Level 3 Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice and still meets the FCA's education standard for a mortgage adviser. What changed is how it is packaged, taught and examined.

LIBF, Walbrook, and which name is correct

This causes more confusion than the syllabus change itself, so it is worth separating the two.

The institution changed its name on 2 April 2025, from The London Institute of Banking & Finance (LIBF) to Walbrook Institute London. That is an institutional rebrand and has nothing to do with the September 2025 syllabus change.

Crucially, CeMAP is still awarded under the LIBF name. Walbrook continues to use "LIBF, part of Walbrook" for its professional mortgage and financial advice qualifications. The current qualification specification, effective July 2026, is titled LIBF Level 3 Certificate in Mortgage Advice and Practice (CeMAP), and Walbrook states that future students taking professional finance qualifications will see the LIBF name on their certificates.

So both names are correct, and they mean different things: Walbrook Institute London is the institution, LIBF is the brand your CeMAP certificate carries.

What happened to the old units

The last sittings of the old-format exams were in January 2026; anyone mid-qualification was moved onto the new structure automatically with a fresh registration period. Old passes converted: old Units 3 and 4 together became an MRT1 exemption, old Unit 6 became MRT2, and a completed old CeMAP 1 carried across to FRE1 and FRE2. The notable trap: candidates who had passed only old Unit 5 received no exemption and sit both MRT1 and MRT2 in full.

The other thing that changed

Delivery. CeMAP is no longer sat at a Pearson VUE test centre — that route closed on 12 January 2026. Exams are now taken online through the Brightspace virtual learning environment under remote invigilation, with no date and time to book. You register, pay, get access, and sit each unit when you're ready.

Why this matters for your revision

Content overlaps heavily with the old syllabus, but the packaging — which topics appear in which exam, question counts, case-study formats and timing — does not. Practising with old-format papers trains you for an exam that no longer exists. MRT1, for example, now rolls the old mortgage law AND application units into one 50-question sitting, so pacing practice on the real format matters.

Our CeMAP 3 mock papers were built for the current structure from day one: real formats, real timings, real pass marks, with an explanation on every question. The first FRE1 paper is completely free — try it and see where you stand.

Read next: the delivery change is the part that trips people up most — we've covered it in full: Is CeMAP still on Pearson VUE? What changed in January 2026.