CFA guide
How to revise for CFA Level 1
The CFA Institute recommends 300 hours for Level 1. Most first-time passers report 350+. Distribution matters more than raw hours — where you spend them determines the outcome.
Follow topic weightings
Ethics (15–20%), FRA (11–14%), Fixed Income (10–12%), Quant (8–12%), Economics (8–12%). Weight your hours by exam weight, not by comfort.
The 300-hour split
150 hours curriculum reading, 100 hours end-of-chapter questions and topic quizzes, 50 hours mock exams. Skipping the 50 mock hours is the most common failure mode.
Ethics is applied, not memorised
Ethics vignettes reward pattern recognition. Practise 200+ ethics questions in the last month. It's the highest-ROI activity before exam day.
Mock benchmarks
Sit 3 full-length mocks in the last 6 weeks. Score ruthlessly. Below 65% after mock 2 means extending the timeline, not sitting under-prepared.
FAQs
- How long should I revise for CFA Level 1?
- 300–400 hours across 4–6 months for first-time candidates.
- Which topics matter most?
- Ethics and FRA together are roughly 30% of the exam. Under-prep here is the biggest single cause of failure.
- Do I need a prep provider?
- No, but most self-studiers use at least a question bank. The curriculum alone is thin on practice questions.
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