CFA Level I study plan: 300 hours, ten topics, spaced over a working week
Published · Updated · by the Paced team
What the exam is, in CFA Institute's words
- Format. 180 multiple-choice questions in two 135-minute sessions of 90 questions each, about 90 seconds per question; all questions are equally weighted and there is no penalty for a wrong answer (CFA Institute, Level I exam page).
- Time. “Successful candidates report spending over 300 hours on average preparing for each level of the CFA exam” (CFA Institute, Level I exam page, FAQ).
- November 2025. 26,752 candidates sat Level I; 43% passed, against a 10-year average of 41%; first-time candidates 49%, candidates testing after at least one deferral 29% (CFA Institute, press release). The institute's comment on that gap: staying on schedule is one of the strongest predictors of exam success.
The ten topics and their weights
The weights depend on the exam window. Both current outlines are published on the Level I page; copied on 7 October 2026, check the page for your own window before you allocate hours.
| Topic (2026 name) | 2026 | Topic (2027 name) | 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 15–20% | Ethical and Professional Standards | 10–15% |
| Quantitative Methods | 6–9% | Quantitative Methods | 11–14% |
| Economics | 6–9% | Economics | 6–9% |
| Financial Statement Analysis | 11–14% | Financial Statement Analysis | 11–14% |
| Corporate Issuers | 6–9% | Corporate Finance | 6–9% |
| Equity Investments | 11–14% | Equities | 11–14% |
| Fixed Income | 11–14% | Fixed Income | 11–14% |
| Derivatives | 5–8% | Derivatives and Risk Management | 6–9% |
| Alternative Investments | 7–10% | Alternative Investments | 6–9% |
| Portfolio Management | 8–12% | Portfolio Construction | 8–12% |
300 hours in a working week
The same 300 hours look very different depending on the number of weeks. Three spreads, five study days a week:
| Weeks | Hours a week | Hours on each of 5 days |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | 18.8 h | 3.8 h |
| 20 | 15 h | 3 h |
| 26 | 11.5 h | 2.3 h |
Pick the row your calendar can hold on an ordinary week, not on a good one. In a survey of 324 undergraduates, scheduling one's study went with higher grades, and the students driven by deadlines were the ones who studied late at night (Hartwig & Dunlosky, 2012).
A plan with spaced recalls
Paced ships a CFA Level I starter template with eight sessions covering the ten topic areas (Derivatives, Alternative Investments and Portfolio Management are grouped). For a real plan, split each session into about three topics, one per group of learning modules, so that a first study fits in 2 h 30: that is 24 topics. The example below starts one topic every two study days over 12 weeks, on the Standard pace of Paced (D0, D+1, D+3, D+7, D+15, D+30, D+60, D+120, D+240), with the reviews past the exam dropped, for an exam 120 days out (18 weeks). Budget: two hours on six days (12 h a week). Our calculation, from the default review curve:
| Week | First studies | Reviews | Total | Fits? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 h | 2 h 48 | 7 h 48 | yes |
| 2 | 5 h | 3 h 54 | 8 h 54 | yes |
| 3 | 5 h | 4 h 48 | 9 h 48 | yes |
| 4 | 5 h | 4 h 48 | 9 h 48 | yes |
| 5 | 5 h | 5 h 30 | 10 h 30 | yes |
| 6 | 5 h | 5 h 30 | 10 h 30 | yes |
| 7 | 5 h | 5 h 30 | 10 h 30 | yes |
| 8 | 5 h | 5 h 30 | 10 h 30 | yes |
| 9 | 5 h | 5 h 45 | 10 h 45 | yes |
| 10 | 5 h | 6 h | 11 h | yes |
| 11 | 5 h | 6 h | 11 h | yes |
| 12 | 5 h | 6 h | 11 h | yes |
| 13 | 0 min | 3 h 12 | 3 h 12 | yes |
| 14 | 0 min | 2 h 06 | 2 h 06 | yes |
| 15 | 0 min | 1 h 12 | 1 h 12 | yes |
| 16 | 0 min | 1 h 12 | 1 h 12 | yes |
| 17 | 0 min | 30 min | 30 min | yes |
| 18 | 0 min | 1 h | 1 h | yes |
First studies cost 60 h and the recalls 70 h 45; the heaviest week is week 10 at 11 h. That is well under 300 hours on purpose: the difference is the curriculum reading and the question practice, which the recall layer sits on top of. Weeks 13 to 18 carry only recalls and mock exams. Change the start date, the pace or the hours in the schedule calculator.
Why recalls and not a third reading
Spreading study out improved retention across 317 experiments, with the best gap growing with the time to the test (Cepeda et al., 2006; Cepeda et al., 2008); recall beat rereading on tests a week later (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006); and a review of ten techniques rated practice testing and distributed practice as the two of high utility (Dunlosky et al., 2013). For Level I a recall is a set of questions on the topic, timed at 90 seconds each, then the formulas written from memory.
Paced plans the recalls of every topic on their days, inside the evenings and weekends your job leaves, moves what does not fit, and warns you before the week it will not fit at all. Start from the CFA Level I template or from the official outline.
CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. Paced is not affiliated with or endorsed by CFA Institute. Exam format, weights and the November 2025 figures are quoted from cfainstitute.org as read on 7 October 2026; the schedule is Paced's own planning advice.
Questions
How many hours does CFA Level I take?
CFA Institute's own answer: successful candidates report spending over 300 hours on average preparing for each level. Spread over 20 weeks that is 15 hours a week, 3 hours on five days; over 26 weeks, about 11.5 hours a week. The number of weeks should come from your free hours, not the other way round.
What is the Level I pass rate?
For November 2025, CFA Institute reported that 26,752 candidates sat and 43% passed, above the 10-year average of 41%; first-time candidates passed at 49%, candidates who had deferred at least once at 29%.
Which topics should get the most time?
The official weights are the starting point: for 2026, Ethical and Professional Standards 15–20% and Financial Statement Analysis, Equity Investments and Fixed Income 11–14% each; for 2027 the weights change (Quantitative Methods rises to 11–14%, Ethics falls to 10–15%). Check the outline for your exam window, then shift hours towards the topics your practice questions say are weak.
Can I prepare for the CFA exam while working full time?
That is the normal case, and it is the reason for the schedule on this page: a fixed budget of evening and weekend hours, topics small enough to first-study in one sitting, and recalls that fit between work days. The hard part is not the curriculum, it is the calendar.
Does Paced provide the CFA curriculum or practice questions?
No. Paced is a planner: bring the official curriculum, the Learning Ecosystem or your prep provider's material, and it schedules when to first-study and recall each topic inside the hours you have. It does not teach and it does not promise a result.
Sources
- CFA Institute (2026). CFA Program Level I exam. cfainstitute.org. Format (180 multiple-choice questions in two 135-minute sessions), topic weights for 2026 and 2027, and the FAQ answer that successful candidates report over 300 hours of preparation per level.
- CFA Institute (2026). CFA Program Level I exam results, November 2025. cfainstitute.org press room. 26,752 candidates sat Level I in November 2025; 43% passed (10-year average 41%); first-time candidates 49%, candidates who had deferred at least once 29%.
- Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380. Meta-analysis of 839 assessments in 317 experiments: the gap that maximises retention grows with how long you need to remember.
- Cepeda, N. J., Vul, E., Rohrer, D., Wixted, J. T., & Pashler, H. (2008). Spacing effects in learning: A temporal ridgeline of optimal retention. Psychological Science, 19(11), 1095–1102. More than 1,350 learners, review gaps up to 3.5 months, final tests up to a year later.
- Roediger, H. L., & Karpicke, J. D. (2006). Test-enhanced learning: Taking memory tests improves long-term retention. Psychological Science, 17(3), 249–255. On tests two days and one week later, practising recall beat restudying the same text.
- Hartwig, M. K., & Dunlosky, J. (2012). Study strategies of college students: Are self-testing and scheduling related to achievement?. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 19(1), 126–134. Survey of 324 undergraduates: self-testing and scheduling were associated with GPA; low performers studied late at night more often and all students were driven by deadlines.
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. Review of 10 techniques: practice testing and distributed practice rated high utility; rereading and highlighting low.