Completely free
No account walls, no upsell
Free exam prep for every test — 20,000+ exam pages and 2.4M+ practice questions.
Open free CIA Part 1 prep resources ↗Exam facts & prep options
CIA Part 1: Internal Audit Fundamentals
CIA Part 1 (Internal Audit Fundamentals) is the first part of The IIA's three-part Certified Internal Auditor exam: a 150-minute, 125-question multiple-choice exam on four sections (Foundations of Internal Auditing 35%, Ethics and Professionalism 20%, Governance Risk Management and Control 30%, Fraud Risks 15%), delivered at Pearson VUE test centers worldwide under the 2025 CIA syllabus. Part 1 is also the exam for the stand-alone Internal Audit Practitioner (IAP) credential.
Official exam siteJump to prep options ↓
Questions125 questions
Testing time2.5 hours (150 minutes)
ScoringScaled passing score of 600 or higher required (same standard for all CIA exam parts)
Exam feeUSD 310 (IIA member) / USD 445 (non-member) for the Part 1 exam registration, plus a one-time CIA application fee of USD 120 (member) / USD 240 (non-member); pricing applies to the United States, Canada, and select countries and may differ where exams are run through National Institute agreements
Prep options
Study resources for CIA Part 1
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- The IIA
- Category
- Audit, Risk & Fraud
- Current version
- 2025 CIA exam syllabus — Part 1: Internal Audit Fundamentals (Expanded Test Specifications, v2.09.2024, aligned to the Global Internal Audit Standards); replaced the 2019 syllabus in which Part 1 was titled 'Essentials of Internal Auditing'
- Where it applies
- Global
- Exam languages
- English, Arabic, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese
- Testing provider
- Pearson VUE
- Format
- Computer-based, multiple-choice exam delivered at authorized Pearson VUE test centers (online testing discontinued 27 May 2025)
- Availability
- Year-round by appointment at Pearson VUE test centers within a 180-day exam registration window (fixed February/June/September/November testing windows apply only to the separate CIA Challenge Exam)
- Results
- Single official exam result within three weeks of the exam date, notified by system-generated email
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
125 multiple-choice questions across four sections: Foundations of Internal Auditing (35%), Ethics and Professionalism (20%), Governance, Risk Management, and Control (30%), and Fraud Risks (15%)
Where rules vary
Global professional certification exam delivered at Pearson VUE test centers worldwide; only pricing differs by region (National Institute agreements)
Eligibility
Approved CIA program application with proof of education (degree or equivalent; waived for active Internal Audit Practitioner holders, who also receive a Part 1 waiver); candidates may sit for the exam before completing the experience requirement; post-passing internal-audit experience required varies by pathway (1 year with a master's degree, 2 years with a bachelor's, 5 years via the IAP route), and all 3 parts must be passed within 3 years of applying
Retake policy
Maximum of 8 attempts per exam part; a retake may be scheduled 30 days after the most recent attempt, with a new registration and full fee