Hi, I’m Alexander Law, a CFA Charterholder. Back in 2017, I managed to pass the CFA Level 1 exam with just five days of study. My scores were over 70% in all subjects except Alternative Investments and Financial Statement Analysis (those were in the 51-70% range). Luck definitely had some role to play in this, but …
The CFA Level 3 essay questions, also known as the constructed response section, is often a significant challenge to Level 3 candidates. Our research has also estimated that more than 93% of Level 3 candidates performed worse in the essay paper compared to the item-set paper, so improving your essay performance can really help your chances …
Note: this cheat sheet is updated for the latest 2025’s curriculum. Ah, I remember the days where I looked at the sheer volume of formulae and concepts in CFA Level 1 FSA (Financial Statement Analysis) in despair. And how I felt 5x worse when studying Level 2’s FSA section… Financial Statement Analysis is one of …
Editor’s note: This is a personal story shared as an anecdote. You should definitely NOT look to this example for your own CFA preparation approach (unless desperate)! Hi, I’m Scott, and a few years ago, I passed my CFA Level 1 with just 2 weeks worth of studying. I started two Saturdays away from the …
In the recent years CFA Institute has revised many long-standing aspects of the CFA exam – the shift to computer-based testing, multiple testing sessions in a year, and changes to results reporting. Their latest initiative is the CFA Institute Practice Pack – a package of mocks and practice questions made available to CFA Level 1 …
One of the most effective ways to learn is through practice, lots of it. However, how many CFA mock exams should we aim to complete for practice? According to our research (12 years worth of data!), there is an optimal number of CFA mock exams you should be doing for the best chance of passing. …
Note: this cheat sheet is updated for the latest 2025’s curriculum. Derivatives. Perhaps no single word has a greater ability to strike fear in the hearts of CFA candidates. The readings on this topic are replete with graphs, formulas, all of which seem indecipherable, and gratuitous references to Greek letters. However, it doesn’t need to …
To access our free mock exams for other levels, check out our Free Guides section. CFA Level 3 candidates: since doing practice questions is one of the best ways to study, here is our updated, free CFA Level 3 mock exam for more practice, thanks to our partner IFT. This is a 2 hour 12 minutes, …
We are nearly there candidates – it’s CFA practice exam season! You might be worried that your scores aren’t high enough. Candidates should be targeting a consistent practice exam score of at least 65% (the higher the better of course). But the score for your first practice exam can be quite low and demoralizing – …
There has been a few changes in schedule and frequency to the the CFA exam dates in recent years. For those considering the CFA exams: No worries, we’ve analyzed all available CFA pathways and mapped them out for you in our clearcut CFA Journey Planner – check it out! CFA exam schedule: summary of CFA …