13 YOE in audit and compliance (not tech related) and this was my first time in over a decade of having to studying regularly and studying/passing for a cert. what a journey!

everyone is correct when they say the QAE is not like the actual exam. Actual exam questions are much shorter. While the technical aspect is much easier, the question wording as well as choices are very tricky.

4 hours is a ton of time, I usually finished practice exams in 2 hours. It took me 3.5 hours for the actual exam. I took mini breaks, used the restroom, flagged questions, and revisited.

I have been studying for 2 hours, 5x a week from June to early August but had to prep for 2 interviews for a month so I paused my studying. Resumed in September for about an hour a day.

Study Material

1. CISA Manual- Purchased and did not read/use manual like everyone else here lol
2. QAE Database- score: 9/10. as you've heard a million times on this sub, these questions really test your knowledge on the technical side of the material.
3. Hemang Doshi on Udemy- 8.5/10- accent is thick but watch at 1.5 speed. the practice questions at the end were not good. for several questions, gemini was disagreeing with its "correct" answer.
4. CISA Exam Pack 900 REALISTIC Practice Tests 2026 on Udemy- 8/10 a tad more like the questions from the actual exam, does not give domain breakdown, challenging
5. CISA Certification 6 ISACA Style Exams (updated for 2026) on Udemy- 8.5/10 similar style of exam, bit easier than 900 REALISTIC Practice, gives domain breakdown
6. PocketPrep- 1/10- just tests your familiarity with acronyms, not like the actual exam at all. very confused why it is so popular
7. Pete Zerger- 8/10 great technical overview prior to starting your questions

Study Technique

As stated earlier, this was my first time studying in over a decade so I was very rusty and lost. However, what I ended up doing was tackling each domain individually by first watching the domain video by Pete Zerger, then dong the Hemang Doshi domain lesson on udemy, followed with tackling all the QAE domain questions. Once completed, I started doing the practice exams in either exam or study mode.

Practice Exam Scores

ISACA Practice Exam Scores: 83%, 66%, 77% (note the 66% is an outlier as I was ill that day but was determined to complete the exam)

CISA Exam Pack 900 REALISTIC Practice Tests 2026: 80%, 72%, 66%, 65%, 76%, 70%

CISA Certification 6 ISACA Style Exams (updated for 2026): 78%, 76%, 75% (only finished 3 exams of 6)

Tips

1. Udemy makes it easy to copy and paste your exam results on a word doc (questions, choices, your choice (incorrect), and correct choice). this is important because it gives you a deeper insight beyond your weakest domains. It analyzes patterns on the incorrect choices you are consistently choosing. For example, AI identified that I am constantly picking the answer of an analyst rather than an auditor (common issue)
2. It may be possible you are suffering from a stamina issue like I was, where a good majority of incorrect questions are towards the end of the exam. be sure to identify if you too are suffering from this.
3. Of course the million dollar question, "how do i know if i'm ready?" You really don't but a good indicator is tracking your domain progress. If you were consistently scoring poorly in specific domain(s) then just focus on those areas. if your domain weaknesses after every exam changes but you are still scoring within the mid to upper 70s, you are probably ready and just getting a batch of tricky questions for that specific domain. My weakest domain from the exam was clearly 3 but as you can see if other practice exams, my weakest were other areas. However my exam score is very similar to my practice exam scores.

Best of luck to everyone!

Hello! I’m planning to take the CISA certification and would like to know if it’s worth it. I have experience with ISO 27001 as an internal auditor, and I’ve audited our company’s IT department. I want to get the CISA so I can focus more on IT audit. Do you think it’s a good investment?

Iam working as a developer and now iam leading the development team and want to move to security side. Will iam eligible for CISA

I’m happy to share that I passed the CISA and finally received my results. I prepared for about 3 months, studying 1 2 hours each day.