CFA Exam Exam Date:12 Nov' 25 - 18 Nov' 25
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.
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.
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% |
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.
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% |
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% |
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% |
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 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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