CFA® Level I Exam Guide 2026

What is the CFA® Level I exam?

The CFA® Level I exam is the first of three exams in the Chartered Financial Analyst® Program administered by CFA Institute. It tests investment tools and foundational concepts across ten topic areas — from ethics and quantitative methods through financial statement analysis, asset classes, and portfolio management. Level I questions are standalone multiple choice; the emphasis is on knowledge and comprehension of the curriculum’s learning outcome statements (LOS), applied to short scenarios and calculations.

Passing all three levels, together with the work-experience requirement and CFA Institute membership, is the path to the CFA® charter — one of the most widely recognized credentials in investment management.

Exam format at a glance

Total questions	180 multiple-choice questions
Structure	Two 135-minute sessions of 90 questions each, with an optional break between sessions
Total testing time	4.5 hours (270 minutes)
Question style	Standalone MCQs with three answer choices (A/B/C)
Delivery	Computer-based at proctored test centers (Prometric-style)

Each session covers a fixed subset of topics, so you cannot bank all of one topic for later — be ready for every topic area in both halves of the day.

2026 exam windows

Level I is offered four times a year, in multi-day windows in:

• February
• May
• August
• November

You choose a specific appointment date within your window when scheduling. Registration for each window opens roughly a year in advance and closes months before the exam — check CFA Institute for the exact registration and scheduling deadlines of your target window.

Registration fees

• Early registration: US$1,140
• Standard registration: US$1,490

The previous one-time program enrollment fee has been discontinued, so the registration fee is the main cost per attempt. Registering early saves several hundred dollars — worth planning around. Fees are set by CFA Institute and change periodically; check CFA Institute for current fees and deadlines before registering.

Who is eligible?

To register for Level I you must meet one of the following:

• Hold a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent), or
• Be within 23 months of graduating from your bachelor’s program at the time of registration, or
• Have 4,000 hours of professional work experience and/or higher education, accumulated over a minimum period — the combination counts, and the experience does not need to be investment-related.

You also need a valid international travel passport to register and sit the exam.

Scoring and the passing standard

• No penalty for wrong answers — never leave a question blank. With three choices, blind guessing still recovers points; educated elimination recovers more.
• The minimum passing score (MPS) is set by CFA Institute and never published. It is determined after each exam administration and is widely believed to sit meaningfully below a perfect score — you do not need to master every question to pass.
• Results are reported as pass/fail with topic-level performance bands, typically several weeks after your exam window.

Approved calculators

Only two calculator models are permitted in the exam room:

• Texas Instruments BA II Plus (including the Professional version)
• Hewlett Packard 12C (including variants)

Pick one early and drill every time-value-of-money, statistics and cash-flow workflow on it until keystrokes are automatic. Calculator fluency is free exam time.

Topic weights

The Level I curriculum spans ten topics with published weight ranges. Weight your study hours accordingly:

Topic	Weight
Ethical & Professional Standards	15–20%
Quantitative Methods	6–9%
Economics	6–9%
Financial Statement Analysis	11–14%
Corporate Issuers	6–9%
Equity Investments	11–14%
Fixed Income	11–14%
Derivatives	5–8%
Alternative Investments	7–10%
Portfolio Management	8–12%

Ethics, Financial Statement Analysis, Equity and Fixed Income together account for roughly half the exam. See our free topic-by-topic study notes for what each topic actually tests.

Suggested study plan

• Budget 300+ hours. CFA Institute’s long-standing guideline is around 300 hours per level; most first-time candidates spread that over 4–6 months.
• Prioritize by weight. An hour on Ethics or Financial Statement Analysis buys two to three times the expected points of an hour on Derivatives. Cover everything, but sequence the heavyweights first and revisit them most often.
• Learn formulas by using them. TVM, ratios, duration, CAPM and the rest stick through repeated calculation practice, not flashcard recognition alone.
• Drill questions early and continuously. Reading the curriculum feels productive; answering questions reveals what you actually retained. Aim for consistent accuracy above the mid-60s percent per topic before exam month.
• Final month: mock exams. Sit at least two full 180-question timed mocks under exam conditions (two 135-minute sessions, one break). Pacing at 90 seconds per question and second-session stamina fail more prepared candidates than knowledge gaps do. Review every miss to its underlying concept.
• Never skip Ethics review in the final week. It is the largest topic, and fresh familiarity with the Standards’ fine distinctions pays off disproportionately.

Free study resources

• PrepLicense: CFA® Exam Prep — app overview
• CFA® Level I study notes (all 10 topics)
• CFA® Level I exam FAQ
• 20 free practice questions with explanations
• CFA Institute (authoritative reference for registration, fees, policies and the curriculum)