CFA Level 3 Exam Pass Rates On average, over the past 10 years, approximately 52% of level 3 examinees passed the exam. The 10-year average of passing the CFA Level 3 exam is now 52%. Even though the Level 3 exam is the last of the CFA exams, the pass rate isn't very impressive yet. This is better than last year's very high approval rate of 42%, but no a lot.
The historical average approval rate for CFA Level III was 56%. The program has struggled to attract the same number of candidates at all three exam levels as it had before the pandemic. Candidates for the appointment of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) who took the first exam of the program's three-step process in February passed it at a rate of 38%, two percentage points higher than in November. Below are the passing rates of level I to III exams of the CFA Program for each of the exams most recent ones made.
Oddly enough, for many years, the passing score for the level 1 CFA exam was around 43%, but the pass rates for level 1 declined when the CFA exam became a computer-based exam. The approval rates for levels II and III fell to 40% and 42%, respectively, from 55% and 56% the previous year. After this date, candidates will be able to demonstrate their membership in the CFA Program by generating and downloading a verification letter from the Verification Letter section of their account profile. Before the pandemic, the CFA Institute offered two level I exams per year, one in June and one in December.
The numbers only confirm that it's not easy to pass the CFA exam on the first attempt, regardless of the exam level. The CFA certification, which is perhaps the most prestigious designation in the portfolio management and investment sectors, requires candidates to pass each of the three successive exams that cover a variety of financial, economic, mathematical and ethical topics. In theory, CFA exams require at least 300 hours of study, and most of those who failed to pass the exam said they had studied at least 500 hours. However, the number of people taking the exam decreased, which spread as a result of the pandemic, even though the program now offers more opportunities to perform all three levels of its rigorous exams.
Following last month's revelation that the most recent pass rate for CFA level II exams was a comparatively miserable 40%, the CFA Institute today revealed that the pass rate for CFA III exams taken in August was 48%. Whether you're still a Level 1 candidate or are about to move to the next levels of your CFA exam, you might be interested in the passing rates of Level 2 exams and 3.
