NISM certifications
Which certification applies to which activity, what each exam actually tests, and — for the derivatives syllabus — the free calculators that turn an examinable formula into a number you can check.
What NISM certifications are
The National Institute of Securities Markets (NISM) is a public trust established by SEBI. Under SEBI's certification regulations, certain roles in the Indian securities market require the person performing them to hold a valid NISM certificate for that activity — a dealer on the equity derivatives segment, a research analyst, a mutual fund distributor. The certification is tied to the activity, not to seniority or experience, which is why “which exam should I take” is answered by what you do rather than by what is easiest.
Each examination has its own published workbook, syllabus outline, fee, duration, pass mark and validity period. Those parameters are revised from time to time, and a revision does not announce itself — which is the single most common way a candidate is caught out by an out-of-date summary, including summaries on sites like this one. That is why every figure we publish is dated.
The certifications, and how close each one sits to this site
Grouped by how much they overlap with what NiftyScanner already computes. This is not a difficulty ranking and it is not the complete NISM catalogue — NISM offers considerably more examinations than the six below, and the full, current list lives on nism.ac.in.
| Certification | Who it applies to | Overlap |
|---|---|---|
| NISM Series VIII Equity Derivatives | Anyone dealing in the equity derivatives segment — dealers, sales staff and approved users of a trading terminal. The one that overlaps this site most. Futures and options mechanics, contract specifications, margins, trading, clearing, settlement and risk management — the same objects the calculators here compute. | Closest to this site |
| NISM Series XV Research Analyst | Anyone producing or publishing research reports, research analysts and their principals. The certification that governs publishing analysis in India, alongside SEBI's Research Analyst regulations. Directly relevant to the difference between an observation and a recommendation. | Closest to this site |
| NISM Series V-A Mutual Fund Distributors | Anyone distributing mutual funds, including employees of distributors. The most widely taken NISM exam. Not derivatives, but it shares the securities-markets and regulatory groundwork that Series VIII assumes you already have. | Shares the groundwork |
| NISM Series VII Securities Operations and Risk Management | Staff in a broker's back office — operations, risk and compliance functions. Clearing, settlement and risk management from the operations side. It explains the machinery behind the settlement dates and margin numbers a trader only sees the output of. | Shares the groundwork |
| NISM Series I Currency Derivatives | Anyone dealing in the currency derivatives segment. Same derivative mechanics as Series VIII with a different underlying. Note that this site's market-hours and holiday data covers the equity and equity-derivatives segments only — currency runs different sessions. | Context |
| NISM Series XXI-A Investment Adviser (Level 1) | Individuals seeking registration as an investment adviser, and their staff. The advice side of the regulatory line. Listed here for completeness and because it marks exactly what this site does not do: nothing published here is investment advice. | Context |
Only Series VIII has a detailed page here so far, because it is the syllabus whose objects this site already computes. The remaining rows are deliberately unlinked rather than pointed at a page that does not exist.
Start here
The full syllabus, exam format and marking scheme, unit by unit.
NISM Series VIII: Equity Derivatives
The ten units, the published exam format — questions, duration, pass mark, negative marking, fee and validity — and the calculator that makes each unit concrete.
Open the syllabus →Learn: patterns & market mechanics
Free explainers for the mechanics the derivatives syllabus assumes — open interest, build-ups, theta decay — using synthetic, clearly-labelled examples.
Open Learn →Stock market glossary
Plain-English definitions of NSE and F&O terms — and, for each, what the term does not tell you, which is the part most glossaries leave out.
Open the glossary →A calculator for each examinable idea
A syllabus line stays abstract until you can put numbers in it. Each of these is free, runs entirely in your browser, and shows its working.
Options breakeven calculator
Payoff and breakeven for a long call or put, with statutory charges included — the arithmetic behind the payoff diagrams in the derivatives syllabus.
Open →Trade cost & breakeven calculator
Brokerage, STT, exchange transaction charges, SEBI turnover fee, GST and stamp duty — the statutory-charges topic, itemised on a real trade.
Open →F&O lot sizes
Contract specifications: the market lot, why a standardised lot exists at all, and how a revision takes effect across unexpired contracts.
Open →T+1 settlement date calculator
The settlement cycle, with weekends and exchange holidays stepped over — the clearing-and-settlement unit applied to a specific trade date.
Open →Position size calculator
Turning capital and a per-trade risk limit into a quantity — the arithmetic side of the risk-management unit.
Open →Is the market open today?
Trading hours, the pre-open call auction and the published holiday calendar — trading-mechanism topics that appear early in most NISM workbooks.
Open →What this hub is not
It is not coaching, not a question bank, and not a substitute for the official workbook. NISM publishes the examinable material for each certification, and that workbook — in the edition current for your sitting — is the only thing an examiner tests you on. Summaries age; workbooks are revised; a page that quietly kept showing last year's pass mark would do a candidate more harm than no page at all.
It is also not investment advice. Nothing here, on the calculators, or anywhere else on NiftyScannerrecommends a security, a strategy or a course of action. The tools compute arithmetic you supply the inputs for.
NISM certifications: common questions
Which NISM exam should I take first?
It depends on the role, not on difficulty. If you deal in equity futures and options, Series VIII is the one that applies. If you publish research or analysis, Series XV (Research Analyst) is the relevant certification. If you distribute mutual funds, it is Series V-A. NISM's own website lists the certification mandated for each activity, and that mapping — not a general ranking — is what decides it.
Is NiftyScanner affiliated with NISM or SEBI?
No. NiftyScanner is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to NISM or SEBI. We do not sell study material, run coaching, or register candidates for any examination. The pages here summarise publicly published syllabus and exam-format information and pair it with free calculators. Register and confirm current details only on the official NISM website, nism.ac.in.
Are the exam fees and pass marks on this site current?
Every exam figure we publish carries the date a human last read it from NISM's own pages — currently 4 September 2026. NISM revises fees, formats and workbook editions periodically, and a revision does not announce itself to us. Treat any figure here as a starting point and confirm it against nism.ac.in before you register or sit an exam.
Do the calculators here replace the NISM workbook?
No, and they are not intended to. The workbook is the examinable material. The calculators make a formula concrete — you can put your own numbers into a breakeven or a settlement date and see the result — which helps the idea stick, but the definitions, regulations and worked treatment that an exam tests come from the official workbook for your sitting.
Why does this site cover NISM material at all?
Because the same objects keep appearing. A lot size, a settlement date, a breakeven price and a statutory charge are all things this site already computes for its own tools, and all things a derivatives certification examines. Publishing the mapping between them costs nothing extra and makes both halves more useful than either alone.
NiftyScanner provides general educational information and user-input mathematical utilities. It does not provide personalised investment advice, research recommendations, trade calls, price targets or suitability assessments. Market-calendar, settlement and transaction-cost information may change and should be verified against current official exchange, clearing, broker, depository and tax records. Trading and investing involve risk; you remain responsible for your own decisions and should seek appropriately qualified professional advice where needed.