If you searched for CPA Ethics and Governance past exam papers, here is the direct answer first: CPA Australia does not release them. Its CPA Program rules state plainly that "the exam questions and answers are not released or available for viewing due to the secure nature of the exams," and candidates who sit the exam agree to a non-disclosure agreement that prohibits them from reproducing or transmitting any part of it. That single fact explains almost everything confusing about this search: the PDF "practice exam" booklets sold on Etsy and Scribd, the undated quiz sheets floating around Studocu, and the forum posts asking where to find "old questions" for a test whose content is legally locked down.
What genuinely exists is narrower and more useful once you know about it: one official full-length practice exam per subject, released inside CPA Australia's My Learning platform for a short window each semester, plus OpenExamPrep's independent, free Ethics and Governance practice questions that you can use year-round. This guide lays out the current 2026 exam format, the official module weightings, the 2026-27 enrolment and exam calendar, and a study plan that actually matches how CPA Australia weights the subject - sourced from CPA Australia's own subject, policy, and fee pages rather than from a reseller's PDF.
Why "past exam papers" don't exist - and what's sold instead
Ethics and Governance (E&G) is one of four compulsory subjects in the CPA Program, and for many candidates it's the first subject they attempt, since CPA Program rule 2 allows any subject except the capstone Global Strategy and Leadership to be taken first. That helps explain why so many "past papers" searches target this subject: first-time candidates assume prep materials work the way they did at university.
They don't, for one specific legal reason. CPA Australia's CPA Program rules and regulations state that exam content is confidential, that CPA Australia owns the copyright in every exam, and that candidates are "expressly prohibited from disclosing, publishing, reproducing, or transmitting the exam, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means ... without the prior express written permission of CPA Australia." Every candidate agrees to a non-disclosure agreement as a condition of sitting. That is a different model from license exams that retire and publish old forms. It means a PDF labelled "CPA Australia EG Past Exam" is, at best, someone's reconstruction from memory (unreliable and potentially stale), and at worst a breach of that same non-disclosure agreement being resold to you.
What CPA Australia does provide is described on its in-semester learning resources page: each subject includes "one full-length practice exam" designed to reflect the style and structure of the final exam, the functionality of the exam platform, and the level of difficulty you can expect on exam day. One practice exam, not an archive of past papers, and it only appears in My Learning once you're enrolled for that semester; access ends when My Learning is disabled after the exam period. From Semester 2 2026, CPA Australia is also moving these resources onto a new learning platform, so even returning candidates should expect a different interface from prior semesters.
That's the gap OpenExamPrep's free, independent Ethics and Governance practice questions are built to fill: original multiple-choice items mapped to the five official modules, available whenever you want to drill a topic, not just during the roughly five-week official practice-exam window. They are independent practice material, not CPA Australia's exam and not a leaked past paper - treat them as a way to test your own understanding of APES 110, governance theory, and corporate accountability, not as a prediction of the live exam.
The exam itself: format, timing, and the scaled pass score
CPA Australia's Ethics and Governance subject page states the exam structure in one line: "The Ethics and Governance exam is comprised of a combination of multiple-choice and extended response questions." CPA Australia does not publish a fixed question count or a per-question mark allocation on its public site. Its exam FAQs point enrolled candidates to the "Exam Information and Mark Allocations" PDF inside My Learning for that detail. The same FAQs say standard multiple-choice items have four options with one correct answer, and that the case-study-based multiple-choice format applies only to Global Strategy and Leadership. Be wary of any outside source that states an exact number of questions as settled fact - it almost certainly isn't sourced from a current official document.
On duration and conditions, CPA Australia's test-centre and online-proctored exam pages both confirm: "All CPA Program exams are 195 minutes long (3 hours and 15 minutes). Open book exams (excluding Singapore Taxation)." The 195-minute clock doesn't start until you actively begin the exam: the opening platform tutorial and the closing survey both run outside the exam timer. The exam FAQs put the full appointment at 225 minutes - a 5-minute non-disclosure agreement, a 10-minute tutorial, the 195-minute exam, one optional 5-minute "Pause Exam" break and a 10-minute survey - so book your day around 225 minutes plus check-in, not 195. On delivery mode, CPA Australia has signalled a 2026 shift worth knowing about: on its Pearson VUE candidate page it says that in 2026 it will be "prioritising test-centre exams and reducing our focus on online exams," after seeing increased demand for test-centre sittings, and its exam FAQs warn that you may see fewer online appointments as a result. If you were planning on an online-proctored appointment, book early and check seat availability in your location rather than assuming it will be offered by default.
On passing: CPA Australia uses a scaled score, not a raw percentage. Its exam-results page explains the model directly: "The CPA Program assessment scale has a range of 100-900, where 100 represents no questions answered correctly, 540 represents a passing scaled score, and 900 represents all questions answered correctly." Test equating adjusts for the difficulty of whichever exam form you happen to sit, so 540 does not translate into a fixed percentage of questions correct, and CPA Australia does not publish a per-subject pass rate. Ignore any site that quotes you an exact "pass percentage" for E&G; that number is not published by CPA Australia for this subject.
The five modules and their official exam weight
CPA Australia's subject page lists the same table that defines the Fourth edition subject outline, and it is the authoritative weighting for exam emphasis:
| Module | Study-time proportion | Exam weighting |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Accounting and society | 15% | 15% |
| 2. Ethics | 20% | 20% |
| 3. Governance concepts | 25% | 25% |
| 4. Governance in practice | 25% | 25% |
| 5. Corporate accountability | 15% | 15% |
Notice that the two governance modules together make up half the exam. A candidate who over-indexes on Module 2's ethical theories and under-studies Modules 3 and 4's board structure, remuneration, and risk-oversight content is leaving half the exam under-prepared, even though "ethics" is the subject's name. Use the weighting as your study-time budget, not just a content list.
A module-weighted study plan for a two-week push
If you're cramming E&G into roughly two weeks of serious study (a common pattern once the practice exam window opens mid-semester), allocate your hours to match the weighting rather than splitting time evenly across five modules:
- Phase 1 - Accounting and society + Ethics (about 35% of your hours). Nail the profession-versus-occupation framework, the social contract, and then move straight into APES 110: the five fundamental principles and the threats-and-safeguards conceptual framework. This module is tested constantly inside later governance scenarios, so treat it as foundational, not standalone.
- Phase 2 - Governance concepts (25% of your hours). Agency versus stewardship theory, the corporate form, the ASX Corporate Governance Principles' "if not, why not" model, and how the UK and OECD approaches differ from Australia's.
- Phase 3 - Governance in practice (25% of your hours). Board and committee structure, remuneration (including the two-strikes rule and malus versus clawback), whistleblower protections, and data-breach obligations. This is the most case-study-heavy module and rewards applied practice over memorisation.
- Phase 4 - Corporate accountability + exam rehearsal (the remaining hours). CSR, the triple bottom line, and the practical difference between GRI's impact-materiality lens and the ISSB's financial-materiality lens. Finish by rehearsing extended-response answers under open-book, timed conditions - the open-book format rewards candidates who already know where concepts live, not candidates who plan to search during the exam.
Use OpenExamPrep's free Ethics and Governance practice questions to drill each phase as you finish it, the study guide to work through module content in depth, flashcards for the terminology and section numbers that extended-response answers expect you to cite, and the cheat sheet for a final-day review of the threats-and-safeguards framework, the ASX principles, and the two-strikes escalation path.
APES 110 in depth: the module most candidates under-rate
Module 2 is only 20% of the exam by itself, but its content resurfaces throughout Modules 3 and 4, so it deserves more study attention than its weighting alone suggests. The APES 110 Code of Ethics, issued by the Accounting Professional and Ethical Standards Board (APESB) - a body independent of CPA Australia - sets out five fundamental principles: integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, and professional behaviour. Around those principles sits a conceptual framework built on five threat categories: self-interest, self-review, advocacy, familiarity, and intimidation. For any threat that isn't already at an acceptable level, the Code's response sequence is to eliminate the threatening circumstance, apply safeguards to reduce the threat, or decline or end the engagement if the threat can't be reduced enough.
A frequent exam trap is treating "the client is satisfied" as proof an ethical obligation has been met. It isn't. APES 110 treats acting in the public interest as a distinguishing mark of the profession, so a member's responsibility is not limited to satisfying a paying client or employer, and the two can directly conflict. Extended-response questions in this subject are built around exactly that kind of conflict, so practise writing out which stakeholder's interest wins and why, not just naming the threat category.
Searching for the US ethics exam instead?
If you landed here searching for a "CPA ethics exam" and you're preparing for licensure in the United States, you're looking for a different test. The US ethics requirement many state boards reference is a separate, standalone exam (commonly the AICPA's ethics course and exam) tied to state CPA licensure, administered independently of Australia's six-subject CPA Program. CPA Australia's Ethics and Governance subject is one compulsory subject inside its own postgraduate CPA Program and is assessed through the scaled-score, MCQ-plus-extended-response exam described above. The two are unrelated qualifications with different exam owners, formats, and passing standards - confirm which credential you're actually enrolled in before you start studying, since the content does not transfer between them.
2026-27 enrolment and exam windows
CPA Australia's important dates and fees page is the authoritative calendar, and it notes that all dates are subject to change, so check it directly before you rely on any date below:
| Milestone | Semester 2 2026 | Semester 1 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Enrolment opens | Tuesday 9 June 2026 | Monday 30 November 2026 |
| Early-bird enrolment closes | Wednesday 15 July 2026 | Wednesday 13 January 2027 |
| Enrolment closes | Tuesday 28 July 2026 | Tuesday 2 February 2027 |
| Exam scheduling closes | Monday 3 August 2026 | Tuesday 9 February 2027 |
| Official practice exam available in My Learning | 14 September - 20 October 2026 | 23 March - 27 April 2027 |
| Exam period | 5 - 20 October 2026 | 12 - 27 April 2027 |
| Results released | Friday 27 November 2026 | Friday 4 June 2027 |
If you're reading this in early October 2026, the Semester 2 window is already live: the official practice exam is open now, the exam period runs from 5 to 20 October 2026, and Friday 2 October 2026 is the last day for late deferrals and subject cancellations. Exam scheduling closed on 3 August, so plan your last study phase around your own booked appointment date rather than the end of the window.
What it costs
CPA Australia's member service fees page lists CPA Program subject enrolment (for Australian residents; other regions differ) at $1,416 at the early-bird rate or $1,597 at the standard rate, which covers your study guide, My Learning access, and one exam attempt for the subject. A standard exam deferral costs $404, a late deferral $545, and a replacement study guide $112. That enrolment fee is separate from CPA Australia membership dues, which Ethics and Governance candidates do not strictly need to hold - CPA Program rule 5 lets CPA Australia accept a non-member's enrolment in this specific subject at its discretion, unlike every other CPA Program subject, which requires current Associate or CPA status.
How to actually practise, starting today
- Read the subject outline once, fully, before you touch a single quiz: CPA Australia's Fourth edition Ethics and Governance subject outline (PDF) lays out every module's learning objectives in CPA Australia's own words.
- Drill module by module with OpenExamPrep's free, independent Ethics and Governance practice questions, checking the explanation on every miss, not just the correct answer.
- Reinforce terminology with the flashcards - especially APES 110's principle numbers and the Corporations Act sections behind the two-strikes rule.
- Do a final-day pass with the dense cheat sheet rather than re-reading full modules.
- Save CPA Australia's one official practice exam inside My Learning for the end of your preparation, since it's your closest available simulation of exam-day functionality and difficulty - and it disappears once your My Learning access is disabled after the exam period.
None of this is a substitute for CPA Australia's own study guide, which CPA Australia describes as your primary resource throughout the semester. Independent practice from OpenExamPrep is designed to test whether you've understood that material, not to replace it.
