Revise Faster: How to Finish All Mock Exams by CFA® Exam Day

By Mike

So you bought a whole bunch of mock exams. Are you on track to finish all of them by CFA exam day?

Our research, based on 900+ candidate experiences and results, shows why finishing up matters, and how you can get there.

Practice is important to passing your CFA exams. In our 2019 research study, we asked candidates to estimate the number of mock exams they completed by exam day.

​When compared by CFA exam results, the conclusion was clear: candidates that pass the CFA exam complete more mock exams – nearly two whole mock exams more in Level 1.

Additional conclusions from this chart:

• Passing CFA exam candidates averaged nearly two more mock exams than candidates who failed in Level 1. This difference narrows to 1.5 mock exams in Level 2 and just 0.2 mock exams in Level 3.
• Passing candidates completed around 5 mock exams, which varies only slightly across all levels

But did they leave any mock exams undone?

​Here is the same chart again, but this time it also shows the average number of mock exams that were not completed by exam day:

We can see from the chart that across all three levels, passing candidates are better at sticking to their target number of mock exams than failing candidates.

This suggests that some failing candidates may have targeted enough mock exams to get them to pass, but had issues completing them on time.

You can prevent this from happening by having a robust study plan that leaves enough time for practice.

But what your exam day is coming soon, and you’re already running out of time?

When completing mock exams, there are a variety of approaches balancing thoroughness and speed. Your own optimal approach will depend on your specific circumstances. Here are 3 main approaches that we recommend – use these as a base, and modify how you complete your mock exams to suit your preparations.

The Thorough approach is ensures you get the most improvement per mock exam, but also requires the most time.

The Streamlined approach allows you to go through your mock exams faster, but sacrifices a bit of thoroughness. 

If used correctly , the Speedy approach can be a very powerful approach.

​It is suitable for when you’re reviewing practice exams that you’ve already completed, or if you’re really rushing to complete all your mock exams before the actual exam. ​

When using the Speedy approach, just read through the questions and answers – there’s no need for writing down answers. If that sounds a bit iffy, remember that this approach is to get through your mock exams as time-efficiently as possible.

This ‘read only’ method allows you to really blitz through your mock exams, although it is by far the least thorough approach. Use it if there is no other way to fit in mock exams otherwise, or as a method to review already-completed mock exams.

Have a quick think about the method and formulae you’d use to calculate the answer, then hop straight to reviewing the detailed answers. Go through the demonstrated calculations to check to see if your approach was right. 

You obviously lose out on calculator practice, but we’re assuming you’re trying to save time here.

​Depending on how time-efficient you want to be, you can also choose to perform the calculations yourself before reviewing, but this will need significantly more time.

You should always complete your mock exams in a ‘closed-book’ way, i.e. not referring to your study materials when answering questions.

Doing your mock exams ‘open-book’ would defeat a lot of the main purposes of mock exams:

• It’s not how CFA exam day is going to be like
• You won’t get a good idea of how well you’re doing, as your score would not representative of your ability
• You would not be highlighting your weak areas
• Going through mock exams will take even more time

• Make sure you complete our free mock exams – comes complete with grading and explained answers:
  • CFA Level 1 Practice Test 1 | Practice Test 2
  • CFA Level 2 Practice Exam
  • CFA Level 3 Practice Exam
• Improve your mock exam score:
  • Compare your score to our mock exam score benchmarks
  • Tips on how to improve your mock exam scores
• Listen to the Proctor track while completing your mock exams to simulate an actual CFA exam hall.

Here’s to finishing all your mock exams by CFA exam day! If you need any more help, just reach out in the comments below.