The Sport License Academy team
Contents · 8 parts
75% on 20 questions, in 60 minutes, with more than a thousand pages of regulations: the FIFA agent exam rewards precision, not culture. Rereading your notes until midnight will not get you there. Here is a method built on what research knows about memory, and adapted to an open-book exam packed with deadlines, amounts and exceptions.
Why rereading is not enough
The FIFA exam is not a football quiz; it is an exam on regulations. Its questions turn on details: 14 days or 30, the engaging entity or the releasing one, "at least" or "at most". Rereading gives a feeling of familiarity, not the ability to retrieve the right detail under time pressure.
Research is clear on this. In a large review of learning techniques, Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rate practice testing and distributed practice as highly useful, and rereading and highlighting as of low utility. A meta-analysis by Adesope, Trevisan and Sundararajan (2017), covering 188 experiments, confirms that practising with tests beats restudying, and that multiple-choice practice works well. These studies measure a method, not a pass rate for an agent exam.
Remember. Every time you answer a question from memory, you strengthen the path to that memory. Every time you reread, you mostly strengthen the impression that you know.
The open-book paradox
The exam is open book: according to FIFA's January 2026 study materials, you may consult the study materials inside the exam interface. Many candidates conclude that there is nothing to memorise. That is a mistake. With three minutes per question, the book only helps you confirm an answer you already have in mind. Your goal is twofold: know the rules well enough to answer, and know where they sit in the texts to check them in seconds.
The four principles of the method
1. Test yourself every day
Start every session with questions, not with reading. Short series of 10 to 20 multiple-choice questions, then the correction with the article. A wrong answer followed by the right explanation is worth more than a page reread.
2. Space your reviews
Come back to a text after a day, then three days, then a week. Deadlines and thresholds fade fast if you only see them once. Spacing is uncomfortable, and that is why it works.
3. Treat your mistakes as your programme
Keep every mistake and review it with its article until you get it right twice in a row, on different days. Your mistakes show precisely where the exam can catch you.
4. Mix the texts
Once each text has been seen, mix them in your series. The exam does not announce the chapter, and switching between the agent regulations, the RSTP and the Disciplinary Code trains you to identify the right text quickly.
Isolate the figures
A large share of the traps lies in figures. Make your own list and test yourself on it, sorted by family:
| Question | Answer | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Deadline to pay the licence fee after passing? | 90 days | Football Agent Regulations, art. 7.3 |
| Deadline to upload a representation agreement to the Platform? | 14 days | Football Agent Regulations, art. 16.2 j |
| Maximum length of an agreement with a player? | 2 years | Football Agent Regulations, art. 12.3 |
| Presumption of inducement after a player's breach? | 45 days | RSTP, art. 17.11 |
| Time to request the grounds of a Football Tribunal decision? | 10 calendar days | Procedural Rules, art. 15.5 |
| Time to appeal to CAS? | 21 days | FIFA Statutes, art. 50 |
The figures that look alike are collected in 5 multiple-choice traps of the FIFA agent exam.
A 10-week plan
Twenty to forty minutes a day is enough if you are regular. An example, to adjust to the dates FIFA publishes (see FIFA agent exam dates):
- Weeks 1 and 2: the Football Agent Regulations, the core of the job. See How to become a FIFA football agent.
- Weeks 3 and 4: the RSTP, in four blocks: status and registration; periods, ITC and loans; contractual stability; minors, training compensation and solidarity. See the RSTP for the agent exam.
- Weeks 5 and 6: the Football Tribunal, the Disciplinary Code and the Clearing House.
- Week 7: the Statutes, the Code of Ethics, FIFA Guardians and the Ethical Recruitment Guide.
- Weeks 8 to 10: mixed series and a full mock exam in 60 minutes twice a week, mistakes reviewed the next day.
Mock exams: train like the real thing
A mock exam is useful only under real conditions: 20 questions, 60 minutes, no break, with only the texts you are allowed to consult. Aim above 75% in training to keep a margin on the day. After each mock, spend as long reviewing your mistakes as you spent on the exam: that is where the progress happens.
You can take a 20-question mock exam on our site, without signing up, then continue with your free account: free corrected questions on each official text, with the article.
Sources
- Dunlosky J. et al. (2013), Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques, Psychological Science in the Public Interest
- Adesope O., Trevisan D., Sundararajan N. (2017), Rethinking the Use of Tests: A Meta-Analysis of Practice Testing, Review of Educational Research
- FIFA Football Agent Exam Study Materials, January 2026 (PDF)
Frequently asked questions
How long should I study for the FIFA agent exam?
It depends on your starting point. A regular rhythm of 20 to 40 minutes a day over about ten weeks lets you cover every text and finish with mock exams. Regularity matters more than long sessions.
Do I need to memorise if the exam is open book?
Yes. With three minutes per question, the texts are useful to confirm an answer, not to find it from scratch. Know the rules and where they are.
What score should I aim for in training?
Above the 75% pass mark, regularly, so that you keep a margin on exam day.
The FIFA licence, step by step
- How to become a FIFA football agent: the licence, step by stepThe guide
- How to pass the FIFA Football Agent Exam
- FIFA agent exam dates and how applications work
- The RSTP for the FIFA agent exam: what to master
- The FIFA Disciplinary Code explained for future agents
- The FIFA Football Tribunal: chambers, deadlines and procedure
- How to study for the FIFA agent exam: a method that works
- 5 multiple-choice traps of the FIFA agent exam, and how to avoid them
