CFA® Program
CFA® pass rates by level and by session
Over the ten years 2017 to 2026, 40.5% of Level I candidates passed, 45.2% at Level II and 50.4% at Level III. The tool turns a rate into the number of sittings, or attempts, and fees to expect.
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What a CFA® pass rate means for your budget
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Tries needed to pass Level I, on average
2 to 3 tries
| Average attempts, exact | 2.47 |
| Pass rate used | 40.5% |
| Passed within two attempts | 64.6% |
| Passed within three attempts | 78.9% |
| Expected exam fees for this level | $2,817 |
CFA Institute results file, all candidates of the period counted together. The ten-year average is the one the CFA® cost page uses. An attempt is one try at one exam; a figure such as 2.47 is an average over all candidates, about 2 to 3 tries.
CFA Institute publishes the number of candidates who sat and passed each level in every session since the first exam in 1963. The latest sessions in that file give: Level I 43.2% (August 2026), Level II 44.8% (August 2026), Level III 46.8% (August 2026). Over the ten years 2017 to 2026 the pooled rates are 40.5% for Level I, 45.2% for Level II and 50.4% for Level III. The rate rises from one level to the next because each level is taken only by candidates who passed the one before, not because the later exams are easier. A pass rate is a fact about all candidates of a session, first-timers and repeaters together; it says nothing about how a well-prepared candidate fares. Used with care, it gives the average number of sittings, and so of fees, a level costs.
Fees read and totals checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method and sources
Session by session
| Session | Level I | Level II | Level III |
|---|---|---|---|
| February 2024 | 43.8% | not held | 49.4% |
| May 2024 | 45.8% | 58.6% | not held |
| August 2024 | 44.3% | 46.9% | 47.7% |
| November 2024 | 42.8% | 39.2% | not held |
| February 2025 | 45.0% | not held | 48.9% |
| May 2025 | 45.1% | 53.7% | not held |
| August 2025 | 43.0% | 44.0% | 49.8% |
| November 2025 | 42.6% | 41.8% | not held |
| February 2026 | 44.7% | not held | 50.1% |
| May 2026 | 38.5% | 42.7% | not held |
| August 2026 | 43.2% | 44.8% | 46.8% |
Level III appears only in February and August, Level II not in February. Each figure is candidates who passed divided by candidates who sat in that window; CFA Institute counts each sitting, so a candidate who sat twice appears twice.
Three ways to average
| Level | Sessions since Feb 2024 | 2017 to 2026 | 1963 to 2026 | Candidates who sat, 2017 to 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level I | 43.3% | 40.5% | 41.4% | 1,044,523 |
| Level II | 46.6% | 45.2% | 45.9% | 459,666 |
| Level III | 48.7% | 50.4% | 54.4% | 292,511 |
The pooled averages weight each session by its number of candidates, which is what a candidate drawn at random would face. The averages since 2024 reflect the current exam format and windows; the ten-year averages smooth out unusual sessions; the all-time figures go back to a time with far fewer candidates and are shown only for context.
What a pass rate does to the bill
A level with a pass rate of one half costs, on average, two registrations. The tool above uses that rule: pick a level and a rate, and it gives the expected number of sittings, the chance of being through within two or three sittings, and the fees at the window you choose. It makes no claim about you. If your mock-exam scores sit well above the pass line, your odds are better than the pooled rate; if you are short of study hours, they are worse.
CFA Institute’s policies allow 6 attempts per level, at most 2 in a calendar year, never in consecutive windows and never in windows six months or less apart. A low rate therefore costs time as well as fees.
How pass rates compare with other credentials
The CFA® exams pass fewer candidates than the CFP® exam, whose rates are on the CFP® pass rate page. The comparison is rough, because the candidate pools differ, but it explains most of the gap in expected retake costs between the two. For the CPA exam, whose section rates are published by the AICPA and not copied here, the CPA pass rates page shows how to turn the rate you read into tries and fees.
Reading the trend
Over the eleven sessions in the table, Level I ranged from 38.5% to 45.8%, Level II from 39.2% to 58.6% and Level III from 46.8% to 50.1%. Level II varies the most from one session to the next, Level III the least. No steady rise or fall shows across the period, so the averages are a fair guide to the next session; a single high or low figure is not. For budgeting, the choice between the three averages changes the expected program fees by a few hundred dollars at most, which the cost calculator lets you check.