Can I do CFA Level 1 without coaching?

The Learning Outcome Statements and core concepts in the CFA® Program are built on the Candidate Body of Knowledge™ (CBOK), a practice-based curriculum that is determined by thousands of CFA charterholders from around the world.

All CFA exams are only offered in a computer-based format.

Level I

Candidates concentrate on the tools and concepts related to investment valuation and portfolio management, as well as an overview of how these processes fit within the guidelines of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. There are four Level I exam windows each year—February, May, August, and November.

Just a tip, in case you have less time and you are good to grasp new concepts - try preparing from Schwezer Notes and Videos for Level 1. But for Level 2 and 3 you have to put in the required efforts.

It is not difficult to crack CFA Level 1 without coaching. You just go through the curriculum topics one by one and do practice a lot of questions. Also in case you do not have much time, you can go through Schwezer notes for Level 1 through and practice the papers on CFA website.

In case you do not understand any particular subject, there are coachings available for particular subjects. You can opt for that rather than going for all the subjects. Plus there are video lectures available which help a lot.

And you want to do better than that!

The solution is simple:

respect the CFA exam plan to do better than an average candidate arrange ca. 400 study (and review!) hours to successfully prepare for your exam start your prep NOW, i.e. even 6 months before your exam.

This precautionary approach is what it takes to apply the 'Safety-First Rule for CFA Exam Prep'. So, join now and capitalize on the time you invest in your preparation:

Get Free Study Plan: Apply Safety-First Rule Get Free Study Plan

AVAILABLE FOR ALL LEVELS

Regular Review:Who Does It?

That’s the problem! Hardly anybody reviews study content regularly – on a weekly, or even daily, basis.

I don't know why.

Is it ill-defined self-confidence? Unawareness of how to best learn for such a huge exam? Or simply laziness? No matter the reason – regular review is what makes a difference!

Control Your Forgetting Curve

Forgetting curve is always present, whether you study for 6, 4 or 3 months before your exam. But if you start your preparation now, you will be able to plan some spaced review sessions. You should definitely use this possibility and make revision a part of your regular studying cycle to prevent the bad effects of the so-called forgetting curve:

As you can see – without reviewing – after one day, we remember only around 35% of what we read yesterday. To learn things and store them in our memories, we need to repeat them now and again. Spaced repetition gradually flattens your forgetting curve.

This simple rule is the reason why I tell my students to review parts of the study content systematically, at least once a week. That’s also why – when creating our CFA Exam Study Planner – I insisted on adding review sessions alongside study sessions. Because I strongly believe that frequent revision is the key to success and the topics review or the pre-exam revision, while important, are simply insufficient. The option of Proper Review-ON SystemTM is available in the paid version of the planner. In the free version, Topics Review and Final Review are scheduled, as you'll see below.

Are 6 Months Sufficient to Prepare for Level 1 CFA Exam?

6 months are definitely sufficient to prepare for your level 1 CFA exam. With 6 months, you can easily plan for roughly 400 hours of studying during your exam prep. You'll find lots of time for regular review sessions + you'll be secured against any unexpected events like busy periods at work, ill child or whatever else can make you give up your planned study hours.

I think it’s reasonable to say that even 60-70% of those who opt for 400-hour prep are likely to pass their exam. Bearing in mind that the average pass rate for level 1 is now low, I guess it’s worth a try. Therefore, if you can start your preparation now, go on and follow this safe study schedule:

Your Personalized CFA Exam Study Plan Your Personalized Study Plan

AVAILABLE FOR ALL LEVELS

Be careful, though!

Even if you decide to adopt the plan, there are 2 major threats that can seriously impede your preparation. The steep forgetting curve is one of them. The other is about inefficiently used study time.

Be Serious about Studying all Way Through

Be wary of ideas that would come to your head to tell you that since you started your preparation earlier than others, you have already gained an advantage that will surely pay off in the end. The thing is – it should, but it may as well not. To make this advantage work to your benefit, you have to study as diligently and efficiently as you can from the very beginning.

If you are too lenient with yourself instead of being competent and productive, your advantage will melt away. Even worse, your inefficiency may surprise you and leave you empty-handed.

So: you better fix your mind on your ultimate goal, which is to pass your CFA exam, and keep this goal in front of your eyes while studying!

Your 6-Month CFA Exam Study Plan Detailed

This is a sample 6-months level 1 study schedule. What you need to do is to customize it to your needs and expectations. One of the basic things you should decide is how difficult all the level 1 topics are to you. This will tell you exactly how many study hours from the range of 300 to 400 you actually need to prepare well. Also – to get your number of hours – you should decide if you want to follow the Proper Review-ON SystemTM and revise on a weekly, or even daily, basis. You know where I stand on this issue.

START on 14 Nov 2022

1st Study Block (14/Nov – 14/Dec)

• Quantitative Methods
• Portfolio Management
• QM+PM Review

2nd Study Block (15/Dec – 25/Jan)

• Financial Statement Analysis
• Corporate Issuers
• FSA+CI Review
• QM+PM Review

3rd Study Block (26/Jan – 25/Feb)

• Fixed Income
• Equity Investments
• FI+EI Review
• QM+PM+FSA+CI Review

4th Study Block (26/Feb – 12/March)

• Derivatives
• Alternative Investments
• DER+AI Review
• QM+PM+FSA+CI+FI+EI Review

5th Study Block (13/March – 9/Apr)

• Economics
• Ethics
• ECO+ETH Review

FINAL REVIEW: 10 Apr – 15 May 2023

END on 15 May 2023

The MAY 2023 level 1 exam window lasts from 16 to 22 May 2023. So, you can have from 5 to 6 weeks of – what we call – Final Review. Basically that's when you should do as many mock exams as possible!

Using our Study Planner, you can choose your topic sequence. In our sample level 1 study plan, all 10 topics are divided into 5 Study Blocks. Every block always ends with topics revision. Ethics may be done either at the beginning or at the end but don't forget about the ethics adjustment.

After you study & revise all the topics, there’s the Final Review. With all mocks and other practice tests, it’s usually the most intensive of all the study time. But this Final Review will be just a cherry on top if you review regularly not only after each quality-time Study Block but also as you move from one CFA exam reading to the other.

Below’s a timetable for this 6-month level 1 study plan. Upon creating your own study schedule, the dates will get adjusted and you'll be able to choose your START DATE and EXAM DATE (within your exam window).

6-Month Level 1 CFA Exam Study Plan Timetabled

Level 1 TopicsTopic & Review DeadlinesQuantitative Methods28 Nov 2022Portfolio Management12 Dec 2022QM+PM Review14 Dec 2022Financial Statement Analysis*9 Jan 2023Corporate Issuers*22 Jan 2023FSA+CI Review25 Jan 2023QM+PM Review25 Jan 2023Fixed Income7 Feb 2023Equity Investments19 Feb 2023FI+EI Review25 Feb 2023QM+PM+FSA+CI Review25 Feb 2023Derivatives3 March 2023Alternative Investments5 March 2023DER+AI Review12 March 2023QM+PM+FSA+CI+FI+EI Review12 March 2023Economics26 March 2023Ethics7 Apr 2023ECO+ETH Review9 Apr 2023Final Review15 May 2023

* Before 2022, CFA Program curriculum referred to Financial Statement Analysis as Financial Reporting and Analysis (FRA for short) and to Corporate Issuers as Corporate Finance.

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