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    CFA Level 1, 2 & 3 Pass Rate Trends: How Hard Is It to Crack CFA?

    CFA Level 1, 2 & 3 Pass Rate Trends: How Hard Is It to Crack CFA?

    Sansar Singh ChhikaraUpdated on 19 Mar 2025, 12:42 PM IST

    The Chartered Financial Analyst is among the toughest exams when it comes to finance certifications. The CFA exam is divided into three levels - CFA Level 1, CFA Level 2 and CFA Level 3. The upcoming CFA Level 1 Feb 2025 results are scheduled to be announced on April 3, 2025, meanwhile CFA Level 3 Feb 2025 results will be declared on April 22, 2025. Candidates who are currently pursuing CFA or thinking of giving it a shot must first understand the difficulty level of this exam. In this article we analyse the past few years pass rate trends of all CFA levels, historical pass percentage trends and more.

    CFA Level 1, 2 & 3 Pass Rate Trends: How Hard Is It to Crack CFA?
    CFA Level 1, 2 & 3 Pass Rate Trends

    CFA Historical Pass Rate (1963-2024)

    As of now a total of 3,916,818 students have taken the CFA exam and the historical pass rate for all three levels is 45%. A total of 272,630 candidates have passed all three exams of CFA till date. The table below shows the historical pass rate for all three levels of CFA.

    CFA Historical Pass Rate - Level 1, 2 and 3

    Level

    Number of students appeared

    Number of students passed

    Pass Rate

    CFA Level 1

    2,272,117

    938,644

    41%

    CFA Level 2

    1,039,920

    477,595

    46%

    CFA Level 3

    604,781

    332,151

    55%

    CFA Historical Pass Rate - Last 10 years

    In the last 10 years, a total of 1,872,246 took the CFA exams, out of which a total 43% passed. Statistics show that in the last 10 years the number of students approximately doubled in comparison to 1963 to 2015. The below given table shows the pass rate trends in the last 10 years for each of the CFA levels.

    CFA Last 10 Years Pass Rate - Level 1, 2 and 3

    Level

    Number of students appeared

    Number of students passed

    Pass Rate

    CFA Level 1

    1,085,540

    439,541

    40%

    CFA Level 2

    488,721

    221,628

    45%

    CFA Level 3

    297,985

    152,860

    51%


    CFA Pass Rate - Level 1, 2 and 3

    CFA Level 1 Pass Rate Trends - Last 5 sessions

    Session

    Total Candidates

    Passed Candidates

    Failed Candidates

    Pass percentage

    November 2024

    26,404

    11,293

    15,111

    43%

    August 2024

    24,937

    11,057

    13,887

    44%

    May 2024

    21,116

    9,666

    11,450

    46%

    February 2024

    16,932

    7415

    9517

    44%

    November 2023

    28,953

    10,104

    18,849

    35%

    CFA Level 2 Pass Rate Trends - Last 5 sessions

    Session

    Total Candidates Appeared

    Candidates Passed

    Candidates Failed

    Pass Percentage

    Nov 2024

    13,589

    5,324

    8,265

    39%

    Aug 2024

    8,872

    4,164

    4,708

    47%

    May 2024

    14,304

    8,386

    5,918

    59%

    Nov 2023

    14,585

    6,377

    8,208

    44%

    Aug 2023

    9,074

    3,999

    5,075

    44%

    CFA Level 3 Pass Rate Trends - Last 5 sessions

    Session

    Total number of students appeared

    Candidates passed

    Candidates failed

    Passing rate

    August 2024

    16,947

    8,081

    8,866

    48%

    February 2024

    13619

    6734

    6885

    49%

    August 2023

    16035

    7585

    8450

    47%

    February 2023

    14858

    7102

    7756

    48%

    August 2022

    10376

    5032

    5344

    48%

    CFA Pass Rate Trends - Key Takeaways and Future Predictions

    • CFA Level 1 is the toughest exam compared with the other two levels with a historical pass rate of 41%.

    • In the last 10 years, participation in CFA exams nearly doubled which shows a rising global interest in the designation.

    • The CFA pass rates have declined in the last 10 years, however they are still stable.

    • The CFA Level 1 pass rate is expected to stabilize between the 40-42% mark in the coming future.

    • No major fluctuations are expected in the CFA pass rates for all three levels.

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