Series VIII
Equity Derivatives
50 questionsPass mark 60%Negative marking 25% / wrong answer
NISM Series VIII: Equity Derivatives
The equity derivatives paper: what a futures and an options contract are, how they are priced and specified, how they are traded, cleared, settled and margined, and the legal, accounting and investor-protection framework around them.
Questions1001 mark each
Duration120 min2 hours
Pass mark60%60 of 100 marks
Negative marking25%0.25 marks off per wrong answer
NISM Series VIII Equity Derivatives
Exam rules read on NISM's site on 3 October 2026. Test objectives in force from 1 May 2022. Check the current rules on NISM's site (opens in a new tab)
The NISM-Series-VIII: Equity Derivatives Certification Examination is 100 questions worth 100 marks in 120 minutes, and 60% is the pass mark. A wrong answer costs 0.25 marks and a blank costs nothing, so the two are not the same choice. The certificate is valid 3 years from the date of the examination. Every figure here was read from NISM's own published pages on 3 October 2026.
What the Series VIII certification is for
The equity derivatives paper: what a futures and an options contract are, how they are priced and specified, how they are traded, cleared, settled and margined, and the legal, accounting and investor-protection framework around them.
Who takes it
People dealing in the equity derivatives segment of a recognised stock exchange — dealers, sales staff and approved users of a trading terminal.
In NISM's own words, the examination “seeks to create a common minimum knowledge benchmark for associated persons functioning as approved users and sales personnel of the trading member of an equity derivatives exchange or equity derivative segment of a recognized stock exchange”. Anyone may sit it. That wording describes the roles it was designed for rather than a restriction on who may enter.
Why it is on this site
The certification whose objects this site already computes. A lot size, a breakeven price, a settlement date and a statutory charge are all things the calculators here work out and all things this paper examines.
Exam format at a glance
Questions1001 mark each
Total marks100100 × 1
Duration120 min2 hours
Pass mark60%60 of 100 marks
Negative marking25%0.25 marks off per wrong answer
Certificate validity3 yearsfrom the date of the examination
100 multiple-choice questions of 1 mark each in 120 minutes. 60% to pass, and 25% of a mark is deducted for every wrong answer — a guess that is wrong costs a quarter of the mark a correct one earns.
The examination fee is deliberately not printed here. NISM publishes it per certification and revises it from time to time, and a fee is the one figure on a page like this that somebody acts on with money — read the current one on nism.ac.in.
How the marking works — and what the quiz here does with it
Each question carries 1 mark, so the paper is scored out of 100 and 60 marks are needed to pass. A wrong answer deducts 25% of the marks assigned to the question — 0.25 marks here. A question left unanswered scores nothing and deducts nothing, so a wrong answer and a blank are not equivalent, and deciding between them is part of what the paper tests.
The practice quiz here uses these same figures. Timed practice applies this pass mark and this deduction. Its clock runs at this paper's pace (120 minutes for 100 questions), scaled to the size of your set.
Syllabus units, and what each is worth
11 practice topics, in the order our questions are written. Each row links to the topic's full questions and answers. Each answer explains why the other options are wrong. The marks column is the published syllabus outline's, and where two of our unit headings sit under one published unit they show that unit's whole mark value. The official outline gives a combined figure for these headings.
| Unit | Practice questions | Published marks |
|---|---|---|
| Basics of Derivatives | 10 | 8 of 1008% of the paper |
| Understanding the Index | 6 | 2 of 1002% of the paper |
| Forwards and FuturesShares its published unit with Application of Futures | 9 | 25 of 10025% for the group |
| Application of FuturesShares its published unit with Forwards and Futures | 13 | 25 of 10025% for the group |
| Introduction to OptionsShares its published unit with Application of Options | 21 | 28 of 10028% for the group |
| Application of OptionsShares its published unit with Introduction to Options | 33 | 28 of 10028% for the group |
| Trading Mechanism | 11 | 4 of 1004% of the paper |
| Clearing, Settlement and Risk Management | 16 | 13 of 10013% of the paper |
| Legal and Regulatory Environment | 17 | 15 of 10015% of the paper |
| Accounting and Taxation | 9 | 3 of 1003% of the paper |
| Sales Practices and Investor Protection | 5 | 2 of 1002% of the paper |
Because a shared unit reports its whole value under each of our headings, the marks column does not add to 100 — the published units do. The source each figure is quoted from is printed on that unit's own page.
Test yourself on this syllabus
It is marked with the pass mark and negative marking shown above.
150 Series VIII practice questions
Answer one at a time and see the reason straight away. Or sit a timed set marked like this paper: 0.25 marks off for a wrong answer, 60% to pass.
Start practising →NISM Series VIII mock tests
Three fixed papers of 50 questions each, timed at this exam's pace, with its pass mark and negative marking. When you submit, you see your score and why each answer is right.
Take a mock test →Every series' practice set
The other certifications we hold questions for, each scored on its own published pass mark and marking rule — which are not the same as this paper's.
Browse every series →NISM's own 10-unit curriculum
The published curriculum in NISM's own words, the examination fee, and the calculator on this site that makes each unit concrete — the reference page this certification page sits alongside.
Open the syllabus page →Which NISM exam applies to you
Which series fits your work, with the lessons and tools for each one.
Open the certification hub →The other certifications on this site
- Series V-A — Mutual Fund Distributors
- Series XV — Research Analyst
- Series VII — Securities Operations and Risk Management
- Series I — Currency Derivatives
- Series X-A — Investment Adviser (Level 1)
- Series IV — Interest Rate Derivatives
- Series VI — Depository Operations
- Series XVI — Commodity Derivatives
- Series XXI-A — Portfolio Management Services (PMS) Distributors
Sources & review date. The question count, total marks, duration, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity above come from NISM's own pages for the NISM-Series-VIII: Equity Derivatives Certification Examination, last read on 3 October 2026. Marks per question, marks needed to pass and marks lost per wrong answer are worked out from those figures. The syllabus marks are quoted from the published outline. The mapping from that outline onto this site's own unit headings is stated on each unit's page, including where one published unit covers two headings and its marks are therefore reported whole under both. The unit headings follow the order of these practice questions. Compare them with NISM's published unit list.
NISM Series VIII: common questions
How many questions are in the NISM Series VIII exam?
The NISM-Series-VIII: Equity Derivatives Certification Examination has 100 questions worth 100 marks in total, to be completed in 120 minutes (2 hours).
What is the passing score for NISM Series VIII?
60%, which on a 100-mark paper means 60 marks, calculated after negative marking has been applied to wrong answers. Checked against NISM's own published page for this examination on 3 October 2026.
Is there negative marking in NISM Series VIII?
Yes — 25% of the marks assigned to a question. Each question here carries 1 mark, so a wrong answer costs 0.25 marks. A question left unanswered neither earns nor deducts anything, so a wrong answer and a blank are not the same thing.
How long is the NISM Series VIII certificate valid?
3 years from the date of the examination. NISM also runs a Continuing Professional Education programme for its certifications. Confirm the current revalidation route on nism.ac.in before your certificate expires.
Are the practice questions on this page from the NISM Series VIII exam?
No. LearnNifty wrote all 150 of them from NISM's public syllabus for this certification. NISM does not publish its question bank. The questions help you practise the syllabus. They cannot predict the paper.
What does the NISM Series VIII syllabus cover?
Our practice questions for this certification are sorted into 11 topics: Basics of Derivatives, Understanding the Index, Forwards and Futures, Application of Futures, Introduction to Options, Application of Options, Trading Mechanism, Clearing, Settlement and Risk Management, Legal and Regulatory Environment, Accounting and Taxation, Sales Practices and Investor Protection. That is the structure the practice set follows. NISM publishes its own curriculum and test objectives for the examination on nism.ac.in, and the workbook current for your sitting is the only examinable material.
Where does LearnNifty get these NISM Series VIII exam figures from?
The question count, time, pass mark, negative marking and certificate validity come from NISM's own exam pages, last read on 3 October 2026. The quiz here marks with the same figures. NISM changes them from time to time, so confirm them on nism.ac.in before you register.
Sit a Series VIII paper marked on the figures above
Series VIII questions written against the published syllabus and scored under this paper’s own rules — 60% to pass, 0.25 marks off for a wrong answer. Practice mode explains every option as you go. Timed practice hides answers until you submit.
Open the Series VIII practice questions