"Sixth edition or seventh?" is the most agonising question our users ask. Here is the conclusion first: if you will sit the current syllabus, train on the seventh-edition bank; if you are mid-way through sixth-edition material or your programme requires the older syllabus, drill the sixth and patch the differences with the seventh.
The Two Banks Side by Side
| Item | Sixth Edition (V6) | Seventh Edition (V7) | | --- | --- | --- | | Syllabus status | older syllabus | current official syllabus | | Question count | 729 (incl. a recent-focus add-on set) | 45 | | Structure | four chapters + add-on set | four chapters | | Emphasis | classic laundering risk, standards, programmes, investigations | financial-crime panorama, sanctions, tools and technology | | Best for | candidates studying the older syllabus who want volume | candidates sitting the current syllabus |
Counts come from the actual banks (consistent with the practice pages and the update log): V6 carries 729 questions — chapter one 153, chapter two 200, chapter three 167, chapter four 120, recent-focus add-on 89; V7 carries 45 — chapter one 7, chapter two 7, chapter three 7, chapter four 7, plus a 17-question add-on from free public sources (expanding). Full detail lives on the syllabus comparison page.
What Changed in V7
The seventh edition is a structural rewrite, not a touch-up: the module order now runs financial-crime risk and methods → global framework and regulation → compliance programmes → tools and technology; fraud, corruption and sanctions evasion join a unified financial-crime frame; sanctions compliance is markedly heavier; a dedicated technology chapter covers screening, monitoring and virtual assets; and governance expectations (senior management, three lines of defence, risk-based approach) are spelled out more systematically. The full breakdown sits on the comparison page.
Recommendation by Timeline
Not yet registered. Go seventh edition. The current exam tests the current syllabus; there is no reason to detour.
Halfway through sixth-edition material. Do not restart. The frameworks overlap heavily; finish the V6 bank for breadth, then work the V7 chapters that cover the deltas — sanctions and the technology module in particular.
Programme requires the old syllabus. Train primarily on V6; its 729 questions include an 89-question recent-focus set that condenses high-frequency points.
Ample time, one attempt. Train both: V6 for breadth, V7 for syllabus precision. Our app keeps progress per bank, with the wrong-answer book and mock exams available for each.
Common Traps When Choosing
More questions is not automatically better — V6 contains a meaningful share of old-syllabus points, and pure volume can dilute precision for V7 candidates; conversely, do not dismiss V7 for being smaller: it is built to hit the current blueprint. Buying only one bank is also a false economy; the overlap makes the second bank a cheap supplementary paper. And if you sit the current syllabus, let V7's chapter structure drive your schedule — use the older textbook as reference, not as the master plan.
The first 20 questions of every chapter are free to try, no sign-up needed; the full banks unlock from the pricing page. For registration itself, see the process walkthrough.
- ACAMS official website (current syllabus): https://www.acams.org
- Officially published seventh-edition module structure
- Question counts match this site's banks (V6 729 / V7 45); updates appear in the update log