1.1 Current CIA Part 1 Exam Facts

The exam at a glance

The Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) Part 1: Internal Audit Fundamentals exam is the first of three parts in the global CIA credential, the only internationally recognized certification for internal auditors. It is owned and administered by The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) and delivered only at Pearson VUE test centers; there is no online-proctored option.

Part 1 contains 125 multiple-choice questions and gives you 2 hours and 30 minutes (150 minutes) of testing time. That is roughly 72 seconds per question — a fast pace that rewards candidates who recognize the governing rule quickly rather than reasoning each item from scratch.

The pace matters. With about 72 seconds per item, a candidate who reads a stem twice on every question will run out of time. Build the habit during practice of one careful read, a quick identification of the tested principle, and a decisive answer.

The Standards behind the exam

In January 2024 the IIA released the 2024 Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS), a single integrated set of standards that replaced the 2017 International Standards and the Code of Ethics within the International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF). The Standards became effective 9 January 2025, and the 2025 Part 1 syllabus is written against them. If a study source still references the old IPPF "Attribute" and "Performance" standards or the standalone Definition of Internal Auditing, it predates the change.

The GIAS is organized into five domains, 15 principles, and a set of supporting standards:

1. Purpose of Internal Auditing
2. Ethics and Professionalism
3. Governing the Internal Audit Function
4. Managing the Internal Audit Function
5. Performing Internal Audit Services

Part 1 draws on the conceptual content that establishes who internal audit is and how it is positioned in an organization: the purpose and mandate, ethics and professionalism, governance, risk management, control, and fraud-risk material. Part 2 (Internal Audit Engagement) concentrates on actually planning, performing, and communicating engagements.

Fees and what they cover

You pay the application fee once when you enter the program ($120 member / $240 non-member), then a separate exam fee for each part. Members save $120 on the application and $135 on each exam part. These prices apply in the United States, Canada, and select countries; National Institutes may price differently. Confirm the exact current exam fee in your Certification Candidate Management System (CCMS) account, since published figures change.

How Part 1 is scored

CIA scores are scaled, not raw percentages. The IIA converts your number of correct answers into a score on a 250-750 range, and 600 is the passing line. A scaled score smooths out small differences in difficulty between exam forms, so 600 does not mean "60% correct."

A few scoring rules are worth fixing in memory:

• No penalty for wrong answers. Your score reflects correct answers only, so you should answer every question — never leave one blank.
• Some items are unscored pretest questions. The IIA seeds new items it is evaluating for future forms; you cannot tell which ones, so treat every question as if it counts.
• One official result within three weeks. The IIA sends a single official result within three weeks of your exam date. A passing report shows only that you passed, with no number; a failing report shows your scaled score and the syllabus areas where you need to improve.

Build the right mental model

Part 1 is a conceptual and definitional exam more than a calculation exam. Item writers test whether you can match a workplace situation to the correct principle from the Global Internal Audit Standards. The reliable habit is: read the stem, name the principle in play (for example, organizational independence, self-review threat, or professional courage), then choose the option that the Standards would endorse. Answers that sound operationally convenient but conflict with the Standards are the most common distractors.

Where Part 1 sits in the CIA credential

The CIA is a three-part credential, and Part 1 is the foundation the other two build on:

You may sit the three parts in any order (The IIA does not prescribe one); many candidates start with Part 1 because its content — purpose, ethics and professionalism, governance, risk, control, and fraud — is the conceptual basis the practice-focused Part 2 assumes you already know. Treat Part 1 as the vocabulary and principles layer of the credential.

Why Part 1 is the most definitional part

Compared with Part 2 (how engagements are planned, performed, and reported) and Part 3 (running the internal audit function: operations, the internal audit plan, quality, and engagement results and monitoring), Part 1 is the most principle-driven. Its objectives center on the Standards' requirements, so disciplined study of them pays off directly here.

That said, do not mistake "definitional" for "easy." A frequent trap is choosing an answer that is operationally sensible but conflicts with what the Standards require. The candidate who internalizes the intent of each principle — not just its wording — has the edge.