CFA Level I practice questions at the real ninety-second pace

CFA Level I at a glance, with the source for every line

Every row below is quoted from a document published by CFA Institute and carries the date we checked it. Where CFA Institute publishes nothing, the row says so instead of quoting a number from somewhere else.

Questions

180 multiple choice questions.Source: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

Session structure

Two 135-minute sessions of 90 multiple-choice questions each, which is approximately 90 seconds per question.Source: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

Total exam duration

4.5 hours of content, plus additional time for a software tutorial, a break and a survey.Source: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

Official Level I topic weights

Ethical and Professional Standards 15–20% · Financial Statement Analysis 11–14% · Equity Investments 11–14% · Fixed Income 11–14% · Portfolio Management 8–12% · Alternative Investments 7–10% · Quantitative Methods 6–9% · Economics 6–9% · Corporate Issuers 6–9% · Derivatives 5–8%.Source: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

Level I pass rate, February 2026

45% of the 24,006 candidates who sat passed. First-time candidates passed at 50%; candidates testing after at least one deferral passed at 30%.Source: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

Level I pass rate, May 2026

39% of the 31,566 candidates who sat passed.Source: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

How often it runs

CFA Program exams are offered four times a year, typically in February, May, August and November.Source: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

Passing score

Not published by CFA Institute. CFA Institute does not publish a numeric minimum passing score. The Board of Governors sets the MPS after an administration when there is significant curriculum or population change, and otherwise it is maintained through equating. Your score report shows you against the MPS without naming it.Checked against: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

Exam fee

Not published by CFA Institute. CFA Institute publishes total program fees across all three levels as a range rather than a single Level I price, so we do not quote a Level I figure. Check the dates-and-fees tool for your registration window.Checked against: CFA Institute, verified 7 August 2026

How long a Level I pass lasts

Not published by CFA Institute. CFA Institute’s Level I exam page states nothing about how long a Level I pass remains usable toward the charter: it uses “valid” only of the travel passport required on exam day.Checked against: CFA Institute, CFA Program Level I, verified 7 August 2026

Always verify: registration fees, exam windows and entrance requirements come from CFA Institute and change between cycles. Confirm the current figures with CFA Institute before you register.

What CFA Institute publishes as the official CFA Level I blueprint

These weights are CFA Institute's, quoted from the source below. They are the only weights on this page that describe the real exam.

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Source: CFA Institute, CFA Program Level I, verified 7 August 2026.

What our CFA Level I question bank covers

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

What actually trips people up on CFA Level I

Ethics and Professional Standards

At 15–20% it is the largest single topic on the exam, and it is the one candidates from a finance background under-prepare because it feels like common sense. It is not. The Standards are a numbered map (I Professionalism, II Integrity of Capital Markets, III Duties to Clients, and so on), and questions ask which Standard a scenario violates, not whether it feels wrong. Our bank puts 98 questions here, the largest of any topic.

Financial Statement Analysis

FSA is 11–14% and carries 97 questions in our bank. The volume is manageable; the trap is that inventory, long-lived assets and the cash-flow statement each behave differently under IFRS and US GAAP, and Level I tests the difference rather than either one alone.

Fixed income duration and convexity

Fixed income is 11–14% and the concepts are cumulative: par and coupon feed price-versus-yield, which feeds duration, which feeds convexity. Miss the first link and the last three are guesswork. Our 72 fixed-income questions are ordered so the chain builds rather than jumping straight to duration.

Quantitative Methods for the time it costs

Quant is only 6–9% of the exam but it is where candidates spend the most study hours per mark, because it is the most obviously “studyable” topic. Cap it. Time value of money, hypothesis testing and simple regression cover most of what gets asked.

How long to study: sixteen weeks, Ethics last

Sixteen weeks is the shape below, and the order matters more than the total. The exam gives you roughly 90 seconds per question, and our bank of 678 questions is weighted to the published topic ranges. Practicing slowly is practicing the wrong exam.

Weeks 1–4: build the base

Quantitative Methods, Economics and Corporate Issuers. These are the smallest weights but they underpin everything after them. Topic Drill each one to green, then leave them.

Weeks 5–10: the heavy three

Financial Statement Analysis, Equity and Fixed Income together are 33–42% of the exam. Give them the most time you have, and use the explanations on the questions you get right to catch the IFRS-versus-GAAP splits.

Weeks 11–13: Derivatives, Alternatives, Portfolio Management

Smaller weights and mostly definitional at Level I. Fast to close if you leave them until your math is solid.

Weeks 14–16: Ethics last and Ethics loud

Ethics is 15–20% and it is memory-plus-judgment, so it fades. Studying it last means it is freshest on exam day. Then run full timed simulations at the real 90-second pace.

Is CFA Level I hard?

CFA Institute publishes the pass rate every window, and it is consistently the hardest number in this family: 45% of the 24,006 candidates who sat in February 2026 passed, and 39% of the 31,566 who sat in May 2026 passed. First-time candidates in February did better at 50%; candidates who had deferred at least once passed at 30%, which says something about momentum.

The difficulty is breadth rather than depth. Ten topic areas are all examinable, each in ninety-second bites, and no single one is deep enough to be genuinely hard on its own. What is hard is holding all ten at recall speed on the same morning, which is why the study order matters more here than on any other exam in this group.

You also never learn the target. CFA Institute sets the minimum passing score after the administration and does not publish the number, so there is no “I need 70%” to aim at. The only honest proxy is consistency across every topic, which is exactly what a per-category readiness score measures.

How the CFA Level I differs from the exams beside it

Level I is the only exam in this family where the sponsor deliberately withholds the pass mark, and one of the few where a single topic, Ethics at 15–20%, outweighs every other. Compared with the CPA it is one sitting rather than four, and compared with Series 7 there is no sponsorship gate: anyone who meets the entrance requirements can register. What it costs you instead is breadth. Ten topic areas, all examinable, all in ninety-second bites.

Questions people actually ask about the CFA Level I

How many questions is CFA Level I?

180 multiple choice questions, split into two 135-minute sessions of 90 questions each. That works out at roughly 90 seconds per question, which CFA Institute states directly.

What is the passing score for CFA Level I?

CFA Institute does not publish one. The Board of Governors sets the minimum passing score after an administration when curriculum or candidate population changes significantly, and otherwise maintains it through equating. Your score report positions you against the MPS without naming the number.

Is CFA Level I hard?

Harder than most, on the sponsor’s own numbers: CFA Institute published a 45% pass rate for February 2026 and 39% for May 2026. The difficulty is breadth rather than depth. Ten topic areas are all examinable in ninety-second bites, and you never learn the mark you were aiming at.

What is the CFA Level I pass rate?

CFA Institute publishes it every window. 45% of 24,006 candidates passed in February 2026, and 39% of 31,566 passed in May 2026. First-time candidates in February passed at 50%; those testing after a deferral passed at 30%.

What are the Level I topic weights?

Ethics 15–20%, then Financial Statement Analysis, Equity and Fixed Income at 11–14% each, Portfolio Management 8–12%, Alternatives 7–10%, and Quant, Economics and Corporate Issuers at 6–9% each, with Derivatives at 5–8%.

How long should I study for CFA Level I?

We will not quote a total we cannot source to CFA Institute. Plan backwards from a window instead: exams run four times a year, typically February, May, August and November, so pick one and work to it. Our 678-question bank is weighted to the published topic ranges, and the sequence below leaves Ethics last because it fades.

How much does CFA Level I cost?

CFA Institute quotes total program fees across all three levels as a range rather than publishing a single Level I price on the pages we verify, so we do not quote one. Their dates-and-fees tool gives the figure for your registration window.

Are these real questions from the actual CFA exam?

No. Reproducing live exam items would violate exam security. These are original questions written to the same format, topic weights and difficulty, each with a full explanation covering the right answer and every distractor.