Which IIQE Paper I Chapters Come First? Two of Them Carry 56% of the Loss

Last updated 2026-08-10

Paper I is the one paper every candidate must sit, whatever line of business you intend to carry on — general, long term or composite.

It is also the longest of the four: 2 hours, 75 questions — half again the question count of Papers II and III.

The official parameters

All multiple choice, all questions must be attempted, set in both Chinese and English.

Where the time actually belongs: 4,057 real answers

The standard advice is "build your foundation in Chapter 1 and work through in order." Measured against the examination, that order is wrong.

Using real answering records from Mange users, we compute each chapter's expected loss — not how hard it is, nor how much of the paper it covers, but the product of the two:

Expected loss = chapter weighting × (1 − accuracy on that chapter)

Chapters 3 and 6 together = 56.4% of expected loss. Chapter 1, which opens the syllabus, contributes only 8.0% — because at 79.5% it has the highest accuracy in the paper. That is less than Chapter 4, which carries a 9% weighting.

Suggested order: 3 → 6 → 2 → (4, 1, 7, 5 to finish). The first three already account for 72.2%.

⚠️ This is a practice accuracy rate, not a pass rate, and the two are not convertible. The sample is 9 candidates and 7,914 answers (4,057 on Paper I) — still small; read it on that basis. Full method and chapter-by-chapter reading.

Mange's Paper I question bank

• Switchable Simplified / Traditional Chinese — the official paper is Traditional Chinese with English

alongside (more on language)

• An explanation of why each wrong answer is wrong, not just right/wrong
• Practice ordered by your own weak spots — the table above came out of real usage
• 90-day access

Three things to settle before you start

1. Is Paper I all you need? → the business-category table
2. Can you sit it from outside Hong Kong? → yes, via the

remotely invigilated mode (Papers I, II, III only)

1. What happens after you pass? → [passing is not the same as being

licensed](/en/guide/iiqe-exam-vs-licence)

Sources and currency

Duration, question count, pass mark and the compulsory-paper rule are taken from the Insurance Intermediaries Qualifying Examination (Paper-and-Pencil and Computer-based Modes) Handbook (applicable from 1 September 2025); fees from clause 5.1 and item 5 of the remote-mode FAQ; retrieved 2026-08-09. Chapter weightings are taken from the publicly available syllabus and study-note contents; accuracy rates and answer counts are compiled by Mange as at 2026-08-09.

The handbook is versioned and both fees and syllabus are subject to change — check before enrolling. Mange does not own, and does not claim to own, copyright in any official examination material. Nothing here is enrolment advice or a promise about any examination outcome; the official announcements of the Insurance Authority and the PEAK Examination Centre govern.