NISM Series XXV-A Study Material: What to Use
The official NISM workbook, third-party notes and mock tests, and what each is genuinely good for.
Series XXV-A is a short exam: 50 questions in 60 minutes, drawn from a 6-chapter workbook. The official NISM workbook covers the full examinable scope on its own, and being a newer, narrower certification, there's less third-party material written specifically for it than for older NISM series.
That makes mock practice more valuable here, not less. With fewer independent guides to lean on, a timed mock is the most reliable way to check whether the workbook's material has actually stuck.
The material landscape
What each source is genuinely good for:
- The official NISM workbook: start here
- Available via the NISM certifications portal (api.nism.ac.in/cmp/) once you register. It is the examinable scope: if something is not in the workbook, it is not on the paper.
- Mock tests
- The highest-value addition for a paper this short. 60 minutes for 50 questions leaves little room to think through unfamiliar phrasing on exam day. A timed mock is what tells you whether you can retrieve chapter 5 and 6 material fast enough.
- Third-party notes and summaries
- Thinner for XXV-A than for the older, higher-volume NISM series, simply because fewer candidates have sat it so far. Treat any third-party summary as a supplement to the workbook, not a substitute for it.
Use the current workbook edition
As a newly launched certification, XXV-A's workbook is more likely to be revised as NISM refines the syllabus in its early cycles. Download the current edition from the portal after you register rather than relying on a copy someone shared.
Free account, this exam preselected.
What to skip
Common purchases that do not move the needle for this exam:
- check_circleQuestion banks with no explanations: a wrong answer you can't diagnose teaches nothing
- check_circleAnything marketed as "guaranteed questions" or a leaked paper
- check_circleSeries XV material, which covers a different, much larger syllabus for a different role