ISACA certification practice
Practise Certified Information Systems Auditor CISA across all 5 official exam domains — Governance and Management of IT, Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience, Information System Auditing Process, Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation, and more — with original exam-style questions, full explanations, and wrong-answer analysis. Courseiva helps you prepare with realistic practice questions, topic-based revision, explained answers and structured study routes.
Ways to study CISA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
New here? Start with this
Start with a 25-question practice test
Covers all 5 domains · takes ~5 min · no account needed · shows your weak areas immediately
Key facts for the Certified Information Systems Auditor CISA exam.
Exam cost
$575 USD (ISACA member) / $760 USD (non-member) / ~£460 / ~£610
Duration
240 minutes (4 hours)
Question count
150 questions
Passing score
450 / 800
Validity
3 years (with annual CPE requirements)
Delivered by
PSI
Online proctored
Yes — available
Retake policy
Candidates may attempt CISA up to four times per 12-month period
Question formats
The ISACA Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) is one of the most respected and longest-standing certifications in IT auditing, control, and assurance, having been established in 1978. The exam validates skills across five domains: information systems auditing process, governance and management of IT, information systems acquisition, development and implementation, information systems operations and business resilience, and protection of information assets. CISA holders are trusted to audit, monitor, assess, and evaluate an organisation's information technology and business systems. The credential is widely required for internal audit, IT audit, and compliance roles across financial services, government, and large enterprises.
Official prerequisite
Five years of professional work experience in information systems auditing, control, or security. Substitutions allowed: a two-year or four-year degree can substitute for one or two years of experience respectively.
Recommended experience
Hands-on experience in IT audit, risk assessment, or compliance; familiarity with control frameworks such as COBIT, ISO 27001, and ITIL; understanding of financial audit concepts is helpful
5+ years in IS auditing, control, or security; common among audit professionals in financial services and government
Should you skip this exam?
Skip if you have no audit or compliance background — the CISA is deeply audit-focused and requires real-world audit experience to pass and maintain
Courseiva study tip
Use the official ISACA CISA Review Manual and QAE database — practice questions from ISACA are the closest match to real exam style; focus heavily on the IT audit process domain as it carries the most weight
UK salary range
£55,000–£85,000
US salary range
$90,000–$130,000
Job roles that cite CISA
What certification to take next
The CISA exam costs $575 USD for ISACA members and $760 USD for non-members. Becoming an ISACA member costs $135/year, which also provides access to study materials and resources, often making membership worthwhile for candidates.
The passing score is 450 out of 800 on a scaled basis. The exam uses 150 multiple-choice questions, and scores are scaled to account for differences in difficulty across exam forms.
ISACA requires five years of professional work experience in IS auditing, control, or security. However, a two-year degree substitutes for one year of experience, and a four-year degree substitutes for two years, meaning candidates with a degree need as little as three years of qualifying experience.
The CISA covers five domains: (1) Information Systems Auditing Process, (2) Governance and Management of IT, (3) Information Systems Acquisition, Development and Implementation, (4) Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience, and (5) Protection of Information Assets.
The CISA is considered a challenging professional-level exam. ISACA reports pass rates that vary, but many candidates need two or more attempts. The questions are scenario-based and require applying audit and control judgement rather than recalling facts, which makes thorough practice essential.
The CISA requires ongoing maintenance: 20 CPE hours annually (120 hours over three years) and payment of an annual maintenance fee. The certification remains active as long as these requirements are met — there is no formal expiry date if maintenance is kept current.
The CISA is essential for IT auditors, internal auditors with IT focus, compliance professionals, and IS risk managers. It is most valuable in financial services, government, healthcare, and consulting, where IT audit credentials are frequently required for senior roles.
See how CISA stacks up against related certifications.
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Courseiva Exam Intelligence
Data confidence: BuildingDerived from Courseiva's continuously updated practice dataset: 995 exam-style questions. Updated 2 July 2026.
Question difficulty mix
Average time per question: 98s
5
Exam domains
official blueprint domains covered by the bank
995
Questions
exam-style questions in the CISA bank
Practice modes
Choose a mode that matches your current study phase. Use topic practice early on and mock exams closer to your exam date.
All CISA Questions
Browse the full question bank organised by domain and difficulty.
Practice Test
Start a 20-question session with a full explanation after each answer.
Mock Exam
Simulate the real exam with a timed, full-length question set.
Quick 25
A 25-question warm-up — ideal for a short daily study session.
Flashcards
Reinforce key terms, commands, and protocol facts with flashcards.
Domain Practice
Focus exclusively on one exam domain to target your weakest area.
50-Question Set
Mid-length practice set covering all domains.
Exam guide
Start with a short practice session, review each missed answer, then return to the topics that caused mistakes.
Certified Information Systems Auditor CISA spans 5 official exam domains (Governance and Management of IT, Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience, Information System Auditing Process, and more). Questions test whether you can apply each objective in a realistic scenario, not just recall a definition.
Related practice questions
Use these internal links to move from the exam guide into focused topic practice pages.
Practise CISA questions linked to Governance and Management of IT.
Practise CISA questions linked to Information Systems Operations and Business Resilience.
Practise CISA questions linked to Information System Auditing Process.
Practise CISA questions linked to Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation.
Practise CISA questions linked to Protection of Information Assets.
Practise CISA questions linked to CISA fundamentals.
Practise CISA questions linked to CISA scenario.
Practise CISA questions linked to CISA troubleshooting.
Practice directory
Every practice set is a unique selection of questions — numbered tests, domain-focused sessions, and topic-specific quizzes.
Showing 8 of 64 tests. See all 64 CISA practice tests →
Official blueprint
Target weak areas by practising questions from a single domain. Each domain page shows all questions, difficulty breakdown, and a focused practice session.
Practise CISA questions in this domain →
Practise CISA questions in this domain →
Practise CISA questions in this domain →
Practise CISA questions in this domain →
Practise CISA questions in this domain →
Deep-dive questions
The most-searched CISA questions — each with a detailed explanation, worked example, and full answer breakdown.
Learn the concepts
16 book-style chapters cover every CISA objective in plain English. Read the theory here, then test it with practice questions.
Chapter 1
CISA Overview and IS Audit Basics
12 min read
Chapter 2
Audit Planning and Risk Assessment
12 min read
Chapter 3
Audit Execution, Evidence, and Documentation
12 min read
Chapter 4
Audit Reporting and Follow-Up
12 min read
Chapter 5
IT Governance and Strategic Alignment
12 min read
Chapter 6
IT Policies, Standards, and Procedures
12 min read
Chapter 7
Risk Management and Compliance
12 min read
Chapter 8
Information Systems Acquisition and Development
12 min read
Free study guide
The Courseiva CISA study guide covers exam format, the official domain blueprint with weights, a structured study plan, and domain-specific tips for each section. Use it alongside practice questions to build both conceptual depth and exam confidence.
Sample questions
Original exam-style questions — not copied from any exam or dump site. Open a question for the full answer breakdown.
Order the steps for performing a data backup in the correct sequence.
A company requires employees to use smart cards for facility access. Which additional control would BEST prevent tailgating?
During a build vs. buy analysis, the IS auditor observes that the organization decided to build a custom application because no vendor solution met all requirements. Which of the f…
An IS auditor is evaluating the security of the architecture. Which of the following is the MOST critical finding?
A mid-sized company is upgrading its legacy financial system to a new cloud-based ERP. The project manager has decided to use a big-bang cutover approach to minimize costs and time…
An organization has configured HSRP as shown. During a failover test, the primary router (G0/1) is shut down, but the DR site router does not become active. What is the MOST likely…
Related certifications
Studying for CISA? These related ISACA certifications share concepts and are common next steps.
All ISACA certifications →Courseiva provides free Certified Information Systems Auditor CISA (CISA) practice questions with original exam-style questions, detailed explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics. Courseiva is an independent platform and is not affiliated with ISACA.