Your one-stop guide to everything you need to know about CFA Level I
What CFA Level I Aims to Build
Level I builds a rigorous foundation across investment tools, asset classes, portfolio management, and professional ethics. It tests whether you understand how financial markets work, how assets are valued, how risk is measured, and how professionals are expected to behave. CFA L1 goes deep into the quantitative and analytical foundations that underpin investment decision-making.
By the time you clear Level I, you are expected to be comfortable reading financial statements, understanding fixed income pricing, applying basic valuation models, and applying the CFA Code of Ethics to real-world scenarios.
Exam Pattern
CFA Program exams happen four times a year usually in February, May, August, and November.
The CFA Level I exam consists of 180 multiple-choice questions, divided into two sessions of 2 hours 15 minutes each.
Question Format
Each multiple-choice item on the CFA Level I exam consists of a stem (a question, a statement, and/or table) as well as three answer choices (A, B, or C).
Two basic formats are used:
- Sentence completion with three unique choices
- Questions with three unique choice.
Eligibility Requirements
1. Education / Work Experience
You must meet at least one of the following:
- Have a Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent)
- Be a university student
- Your exam must be within 23 months of your graduation date
- Have 4,000 hours of professional work experience (minimum 3 years)
- OR a combination of work experience + higher education totaling 4,000 hours.
2. Valid Passport (Mandatory)
You must have a valid international travel passport to register and appear for the exam
| Subject | Weightage |
|---|---|
| Ethical and 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% |
From my personal experience, Ethics can be daunting, so if you are looking for additional guidance, please do read the post below!
How to study Ethics for CFA Level I
