Which Third Party Study Materials for CFA Level 1?

Hey @abhicfa – it’s a tough one, as it depends on your preference / style of material. I looked into this when I took level 1 last year too.

In general, Elan, Schweser, Fitch and the ones listed in Reviews and Offers are good ones to look at – i.e. they are good quality and widely used by candidates.

Then, I’d look at each provider’s packages on offer, usually they provide free versions/samples of their products so you can have an idea of what you learn best from. for example, it could be that you only read notes, or if you want to add video lectures, or attend in person classes for certain topics, etc – lots of factors could affect how you choose one over the other. To answer your question, I think usually lecture videos come separately, again it differs amongst different providers.

To generalize, in my point of view:
1) Schweser seems like the incumbent, with concise notes, can be cost effective if you only want notes and practice papers.
2) Elan is good value for money, I heard good things about their video lectures as well but I have not tried it myself as they are one of the newcomers
3) Fitch is what I’m trying this year, as they seem to have a good balance in terms of book quality (a little more detailed than Schweser), with their basic package consisting of more online (and class if you want to) support. I’ve heard that Level 2 is a beast hence I chose to try this this year, having used Schweser previously.

Just my 2 cents, hope it helps though! Good luck 🙂

@abhicfa yeah I was recommended Kaplan Schweser by a former teacher of mine. So in all honesty I don’t know about the other third party providers. Kaplan has been good for me so far. If you are from a non-finance background, don’t rely solely on third party material. I would recommend using the CFAI books as well because they are quite detailed. So they really erase any doubt you have on any topic. A lot of people as you can see from previous discussions including myself are using third party material because they are slightly condensed in comparison to the CFAI books. But I use those on the side if I have doubts and the concept checkers.

Elan might be a good option. Their website is crap but materials are OK.

Stalla only has mobile apps so wouldn’t see that as a viable option.