CFA Frequently Asked Questions

No. In order to enrol in Level II, you need to have succeeded in Level I. Likewise, you must pass Level II before enrolling in Level III.

There is no time limit for the CFA exams. We would recommend studying Levels II and III soon after succeeding in the previous level, as much of the knowledge gained at each level is useful as you advance to the next level. However, once you have passed an exam, this will remain to your credit indefinitely.

To enrol in CFA Level I you need one of three requirements: (1) a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent), (2) be studying for a bachelor’s degree (your Level I exam must be no more than 23 months before your graduation month, which is just after the end of the first year of a three-year programme), or (3) have 4,000 hours of professional work experience, not necessarily finance-related, before you register for the exam. You will also need a passport and be prepared to take the exam in English. You will not be able to enrol if you live in certain regions under US sanctions.

In general, the CFA Program takes three to five years to complete. It is possible to succeed in all three levels within less than two years, though only a small minority of candidates will have the available study time in order to achieve this.

The CFA charter in many respects is broadly equivalent to an MBA. The comparison is complex though, as there are thousands of MBA courses around the world, of widely varying acclaim. One of the key benefits of the CFA Program is its uniformity and uniqueness: you can sit the exam in any of hundreds of cities, but the benefit of passing is the same, regardless of your exam centre.

You cannot skip topics. As the exam questions are taken from across the breadth of the curriculum, you will lose marks by missing out areas. The good news is that many questions will be simple enough to answer with a light understanding: please don’t sacrifice these easy marks! If you are in the final revision phase and struggling, then please speak to your tutor.

You cannot ignore the curriculum. Our workbooks, Summary Revision Notes and Q Sheet contain clear explanations and examples of all concepts likely to be in the exam. These are a complement to (not a substitute for) the CFA curriculum: via your Learning Ecosystem with CFA Institute you will have extensive technical content and question banks that you should use during your studying.

There is a lot that you need to learn for your CFA exams. In general, the more you understand, the less you need to learn. Quartic provides inspirational education that helps you to understand the concepts behind financial analysis. The Quartic Q Sheet is a summary of all key concepts and formulae, used by many candidates during their exam revision.

You won’t like this response. For most candidates, the social life needs to be heavily restricted for a number of months before your exam. If you can find sufficient time in the day for all your studying as well as your work commitments, social life, family, eating, and even sleeping, then you have better time management than most of us! The CFA Program is a serious commitment and it needs to take a high priority in your day. Your friends will still remember you when you come out from your exam.

At Quartic we speak to many of our candidates one-to-one regularly throughout their studying: without doubt, the candidates most likely to succeed are those that carve out a regular studying period every day, every week. These need to be quality hours, but whether they are early morning, late evening or during the day will depend on your other commitments.

The word on the street is around 300 hours per level. However, each candidate has a different background and skillset, not to mention strengths and weaknesses. While more experienced candidates may need rather fewer hours, those with less experience or less relevant backgrounds may wish to spend longer studying. Quartic can help provide advice relating to your own personal circumstances.

Yes you can. In fact many candidates begin their CFA journey either as an undergraduate student or while working in a different profession. Once you have started to study for the CFA Program you will gain both the knowledge of how the world of finance works, and the skills with which to succeed in moving into a suitable role in the industry.

There are lots of numerical questions, though most of these require analytical skills rather than calculations. We estimate that around one in six exam questions will need you to calculate an answer. Quartic’s calculator tutorial will help you to understand how to use your CFA calculator efficiently in those questions where it’s needed.

The CFA Program includes quite a bit of maths and accounting. The maths involves some algebraic notation and manipulation, but does not require any advanced concepts such as calculus. The accounting will become quite advanced by Level II CFA, but you will be taken carefully step by step through the basics. Quartic offers introductory courses on both financial maths and accounting, which means that you can confidently enrol without any accounting knowledge.

The CFA Program generally suits people early in their finance career, with many candidates starting while still a student. You can enrol and sit Level I while still studying for a bachelor’s degree (or equivalent): the exam must be no more than 23 months before your graduation month. For a three-year degree programme, this means you can sit Level I soon after the end of your first year. You can sit Level II a year later, no more than 11 months before graduating (i.e. just after your second year of three). For Level III you must either have graduated or accumulated 4,000 hours of professional work experience (not necessarily finance-related).