CFA

Overview

The CFA Program is a graduate-level credential run by CFA Institute, a global association for investment professionals. It covers investment tools, asset classes, portfolio management and wealth planning, built on the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. The charter is recognised by employers across asset management, research, banking and wealth management worldwide, and it also draws strong interest from finance students and working professionals in India.

The program has three sequential exams, Level I, Level II and Level III. You must pass each level in order. After passing Level III, you apply for the CFA charter once you also meet the work experience requirement and other membership conditions.

Who can apply

To enrol in the CFA Program and sit Level I, you must meet one of these paths:

• Hold a completed bachelor's degree (or equivalent) from an accredited institution, in any subject.

• Be in the final years of a bachelor's degree, if your exam date falls within a set window before your expected graduation (CFA Institute sets a separate window for each level).

• Have at least 4,000 hours of professional work experience, gained over at least three consecutive years, or a combination of work experience and higher education that adds up to 4,000 hours.

You also need a valid international travel passport, must be able to take the exam in English, and must live in a country where CFA Institute operates the program. There is no separate finance or accounting degree requirement to enrol.

Levels or stages

Level I

• 180 multiple-choice questions, split into two sessions of 135 minutes each, with a short optional break between them.

• Questions are stand-alone, not grouped into case-based sets. Topics span ethics, quantitative methods, economics, financial statement analysis, corporate issuers, equity, fixed income, derivatives, alternative investments, portfolio management, and ethical and professional standards.

• For the 2026 curriculum, Ethical and Professional Standards carries an exam weight of 15-20%, reflecting its central role at every level.

• Offered up to four times a year: February, May, August and November exam windows.

Level II

• 22 item sets (vignettes, each followed by a set of multiple-choice questions), totalling 88 questions.

• The exam runs 4 hours 24 minutes, split into two sessions of 2 hours 12 minutes each, with an optional break in between.

• Builds on Level I with more applied, scenario-based analysis across the same broad topic areas.

• Offered three times a year: May, August and November exam windows.

Level III

• A mix of item sets and essay (constructed-response) questions, where candidates must write out answers rather than just select one.

• Candidates choose one of three specialised pathways for part of the exam: Private Wealth, Private Markets or Portfolio Management. The common core makes up roughly 65-70% of the exam's topic weight, and the chosen pathway makes up the remaining 30-35%.

• Offered twice a year: February and August exam windows (plus a November window in some years).

Marking and results

CFA Institute does not release a numeric score. Each exam is graded pass/fail against a Minimum Passing Score (MPS), set separately for every exam administration. Since 1996, CFA Institute has used the modified Angoff method, an exam-centred, criterion-based standard-setting process, to recommend the MPS to its Board of Governors, which approves the final cut-off after reviewing question difficulty and candidate performance for that exam window. The MPS itself is never published.

Results for Level I and Level II are typically released about five to seven weeks after an exam window closes; Level III results typically take about six to eight weeks. You get an email when your result is ready, and you can view it, along with a topic-level performance breakdown, in your CFA Institute account.

Important dates

For 2026, Level I exams are offered in the February, May, August and November windows; Level II in the May, August and November windows; and Level III in the February, August and November windows. Each window has its own registration deadlines (early and standard pricing cut-offs) and a scheduling deadline with Prometric test centres. Check the CFA Institute dates and fees page for the exact cut-off dates for the window you plan to sit.

Fees

All CFA Program fees are billed in US dollars.

• Enrolment fee: CFA Institute removed the one-time USD 350 enrolment fee from 29 April 2025 onward, so for 2026 there is no separate enrolment charge; you pay only the exam registration fee.

• Exam registration fee, for 2026:

  • Level I: USD 1,140 (early registration) or USD 1,490 (standard registration).

  • Level II: USD 1,140 (early registration) or USD 1,490 (standard registration).

  • Level III: USD 1,240 (early registration) or USD 1,590 (standard registration).

• Registering early for every level saves money over standard pricing; CFA Institute estimates the total cost of completing all three levels, across exam fees alone, at roughly USD 3,520 to USD 4,570 for 2026, depending on how many windows you register early for.

• A candidate who withdraws within 14 days of paying an initial registration can get a full refund of the registration fee and any sales tax charged.

How to apply

1. Create or sign in to your CFA Institute account and confirm you meet one of the enrolment paths (degree, final-year student window, or work experience).

2. Enrol in the CFA Program and register for the Level I exam window you want, paying the registration fee online in US dollars.

3. Once payment is processed, use the "schedule your exam" option in your CFA Program account to book a date, time and Prometric test centre through the scheduling tool.

4. Repeat registration and scheduling for Level II and Level III once you pass the prior level, choosing a pathway (Private Wealth, Private Markets or Portfolio Management) before you register for Level III.

After the exam

Once you clear Level III, you can apply for CFA Institute membership and the CFA charter. To receive the charter you must also have at least 4,000 hours of qualifying work experience, completed over a minimum of 36 months, either before, during or after the exams. The work must be directly involved in the investment decision-making process, or produce research or analysis that feeds into that process. You also need to submit professional references as part of the membership application, and agree to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. CFA Institute states that most candidates take three to four years to clear all three exam levels; combined with the work experience requirement, reaching the charter typically takes around four years or more from starting Level I.

Preparation tips

• CFA Institute recommends roughly 300 hours of study per level; plan your study schedule around this well before your registered exam window.

• Ethics is tested at every level and is weighted heavily at Level I (15-20% for the 2026 curriculum); do not treat it as a minor topic.

• Practise full-length, timed mocks for your level's actual format: stand-alone MCQs for Level I, vignette-based item sets for Level II, and a mix of item sets and written essay responses for Level III.

• Decide your Level III pathway (Private Wealth, Private Markets or Portfolio Management) early, since it affects close to a third of that exam's content.

FAQs