FRM candidates need approximately 250 hours to prepare for each part (Part 1 and Part 2). A typical 5-6 month study plan means 10-13 hours per week for both parts.
Our free study planner tracks your progress across the FRM curriculum, prioritizes high-weight topics, benchmarks your mock scores against historical candidate data, and predicts your exam performance. Used by 100,000+ candidates. No credit card required.
How many hours do you need to study for the FRM exam?
Plan for approximately 250 hours per part – both Part 1 and Part 2 require similar time commitments. This translates to 5-6 months per part at 10-13 hours per week, or 4 months at 14-15 hours per week for disciplined candidates.
While these timelines provide structure, executing them requires tracking actual progress against the curriculum, identifying weak topics, and knowing whether your mock scores predict a pass. Generic spreadsheets don’t prioritize high-weight topics or benchmark your performance.
We’ve built a free, personalized FRM study planner used by 100,000+ candidates that automates this tracking. It shows you:
- Whether you’re on-pace with your timeline (based on remaining days and curriculum coverage)
- Which topics to prioritize (considering exam weights, difficulty, and your progress)
- Whether your mock scores predict a pass (benchmarked against historical candidate data)
- What makes the best FRM study planner?
- How do I create a personalized FRM study plan?
- How do I plan and track my FRM study hours effectively?
- How do I identify and prioritize weak FRM topic areas?
- How do my FRM mock scores compare to other candidates?
- When should I start my FRM study plan for 2026?
- What are the steps to build a customized FRM study schedule?
- What are the most common FRM study planning mistakes?
- Frequently asked questions about FRM study planner
What makes the best FRM study planner?
“Love the (study planner), it’s been instrumental in my exam prep… You’re genuinely a life saver!”
Tom Flavahan
We built our FRM study planner with two guiding principles:
- Low input required: We want you to focus on studying, not playing around with study data. Our study planner is ready to use right out of the box. Input as much or as little as you want, it makes the most of the study data you give it.
- Focus on passing: The study planner’s main function is to help you pass. Every aspect of its interface is to help you focus on the areas that matter, or incentivize you to perform better or work harder. This means our focus areas will prioritize topics that can gain you the most points, and we built in a lot of features to give you an idea of how your exam performance would be.
Minimal input with maximum pass chances. Nothing else matters.
How do I create a personalized FRM study plan?
More than 100,000 readers have successfully used our planner. You can generate your own in less than a minute.
We will create a personalized FRM study planner for you with 3 core features:
- PLAN: Shows you whether you’re on-track with your FRM exam studies and all important dates
- PROGRESS: Show you where are the topics you should be focusing your time on, taking into account in the amount of reading and actual exam weightings to really show you the most efficient topics to be addressing
- PERFORM: Benchmarks your mock exam scores to show you if your scores need improving to ensure a pass
How do I plan and track my FRM study hours effectively?
With our online planner, you can check your study progress at any time, and see if you’re on track to complete all your studies before your FRM exam day.
The planner also monitors the remaining days left to your exam with your study plan and progress, alerting you if you are falling behind.
It also charts your study hours, showing your progress against past periods.
How do I identify and prioritize weak FRM topic areas?
Know exactly how much you’ve covered
Our study planner prioritizes exam performance – exam weighting is built into every assessment. Throughout your studies you will have a progress % showing how much of the exam you’ve covered, and how far ahead – or behind – you are.
Focus on your important topics
The planner also considers exam weights, difficulty and progress to highlight topics that you should prioritize.
Helps you stay disciplined
As you progress through your studies, reviewing topics and completing mock exams, marking your progress as ‘done’ in the planner actually contributes towards your sense of achievement and helps you maintain a more disciplined approach to your FRM exam studies.
How do my FRM mock scores compare to other candidates?
We predict…you’ll pass your FRM exams.
Combining past candidate performance data and your study data, we can even attempt to predict your FRM exam performance.
Of course, this is just a prediction, and not a guarantee!
Auto-benchmarked against past candidates
As you enter your mock exam scores, these are auto-benchmarked to show you if you are scoring well against historical candidates performance.
We have past candidates’ actual FRM results, so we can create a reliable benchmark to show you if you’re trending towards a pass, or you need to step it up.
This better informs you if your scores need improving, and helps reassure you if your scores are on a good trend.
When should I start my FRM study plan for 2026?
To reach the 250-hour benchmark, you should start your preparation at least 5 months before your chosen window. For 2026, align your plan with these GARP windows:
- May exam window: Start your plan no later than January 1st.
- August exam window: Start your plan by March 15th.
- November exam window: Start your plan by June 15th.
Pro tip: Always build in 2 weeks of “buffer time” for unexpected work commitments to keep your planner on track.
What are the steps to build a customized FRM study schedule?
What are the most common FRM study planning mistakes?
Many candidates fail the FRM not due to a lack of effort, but due to structural flaws in their study plan. Even with 200+ hours of study, misallocating time or delaying practice can lead to a “fail” result on exam day. Avoiding these common pitfalls is the fastest way to increase your ROI and ensure you only have to take each Part once.
To maximize your chances of passing in 2026, ensure your study plan avoids these four critical errors:
- Underestimating Quantitative Analysis: Many treat “Quant” as just 20% of Part 1, but it is the mathematical foundation for 80% of the entire program. A weak grasp of probability and regression causes cascading failures in Valuation, Financial Markets, and Part 2 Credit Risk. The Fix: Allocate at least 80 hours to Quant early on; do not rush to the “more interesting” risk topics until your foundations are rock-solid.
- Saving Practice Questions for the End: Waiting until you’ve finished all readings to start practicing is a high-risk strategy. The FRM tests application, not recall, and you cannot build 90-second problem-solving skills through reading alone. Try to implement a “Learn-then-Do” rule: complete 20–30 practice questions immediately after every topic to identify knowledge gaps while you still have months to fix them.
- Misinterpreting Mock Exam Scores: Scoring 70%+ on a third-party mock is a good sign, but it is not a guarantee of passing. Third-party mocks vary in difficulty, and the actual GARP Minimum Passing Score (MPS) fluctuates every year. Use mocks as diagnostic tools rather than predictors. Focus on why you missed a question, aim for a 75% buffer on all materials, and always prioritize the official GARP practice exam as your primary benchmark.
- Neglecting “Low-Weight” Topics: Skipping Foundations (20%) or Current Issues (10%) to focus on high-weight modules is a common mistake. These sections often contain the most straightforward questions and provide the highest “points-per-hour” return. Never skip a topic. The 3–5 points gained from a quick review of Current Issues are often the exact margin between a pass and a fail result.
Frequently asked questions about FRM study planner
What do you think? I hope you found this simple framework useful for your study planning, and that you now have your online planner to use. Share this with a friend who just registered for FRM too!
Meanwhile, you may find these related articles of interest:
- What Is The FRM Exam? A Great Beginner’s Guide
- 2026 FRM Exam Dates: Important Deadlines You Need To Know
- FRM Fees: What’s The Total Cost? A Solid Estimate
- FRM Pass Rates: How Hard Are FRM Exams?
- FRM Minimum Passing Score: Our Best Estimates So Far
- Best Calculator Guide: TI BA II Plus vs HP 12C
- BA II Plus Guide: How To Use Your Calculator Better For Exams
Can you update the study planner for the 2026 FRM Part II curriculum? Thanks!
I loved the planner. But I’m preparing for a different exam and not for any of the exams given in the option. How can I modify the Subject and topics in Reading sheet?
Hi Amrita, what exam(s) are you preparing for? Let’s see if we can help.
CLAT PG (LLM). This is a national level LLM entrance exam of India to get admission into National Law University for LLM programme.
what i must study ?
which is the course material
need good study plan
Good information 👍