New Level 1 CFA® Exam Topic Weights Compared To Past Years
soleadea
1 year 9 months 1 week
Last Updated: Feb 25, 2021
As 2021 CFA exams move to computer-based testing, level 1 CFA exam topic weights are the same as for Dec 2020 exam.
Dec 2020 level 1 CFA exam was the first exam with the new topic weights given in ranges (minimum % to maximum %). In the past, level 1 topic weights changed periodically but they were always given as single values. Ranges were applied only to level 2 and level 3 exams. But now topic weights are given in ranges also for the level 1 exam. See here how this change impacts your exam
Currently, there are 5 kinds of level 1 topic weight ranges: 15-20%, 13-17%, 10-12%, 8-12%, and 5-8%. We compare the new 2020/2021 and the old 2019 weights for each topic. The charts below present how the weights changed across the topics:
2020/2021 Changes in Level 1 CFA Exam Topic Weights
2020/2021 Minimum Weights vs 2019 Topic Weights
2020/2021 Maximum Weights vs 2019 Topic Weights
Important: For your 2021 level 1 CFA exam, topic weights differ from single-value topic weights applied in the past. Now – for each topic – they are given as a range of the minimum and the maximum %value. Click above to see the exact changes.
2019 Changes in Level 1 CFA Exam Topic Weights
In 2019, before the June 2019 CFA exam, level 1 topic weights changed as well. The weights took on the following values: 15%, 11%, 10%, or 6%. As you can see, these weights were close to what we have now in average terms. Before 2019, the weights ranged from 20% to 4%. The chart below shows this change:
2021 Level 1 CFA Exam Topics Ordered
According to the 2020/2021 topic weights, the new hierarchical order of level 1 CFA exam topics is as follows:
- Ethical and Professional Standards (Ethics) = 15-20%,
- Financial Reporting and Analysis (FRA) = 13-17%,
- Fixed Income (FI) = 10-12%,
- Equity Investments (EI) = 10-12%,
- Quantitative Methods (QM) = 8-12%,
- Corporate Finance (CF) = 8-12%,
- Economics (ECO) = 8-12%,
- Derivative Investments (DI) = 5-8%,
- Alternative Investments (AI) = 5-8%,
- Portfolio Management (PM) = 5-8%.
See what else you need to know about level 1 topics
We can further divide the level 1 CFA exam topics into 3 groups: most important topics, hardest topics, and easiest topics.
The most important level 1 topics include:
- Financial Reporting and Analysis (FRA),
- Ethical and Professional Standards (Ethics), and
- Quantitative Methods (QM).
You should devote around 40% of your study time to these 3 topics.
Read more about the 3 most important level 1 topics
The hardest level 1 topics include:
- Financial Reporting and Analysis (FRA),
- Fixed Income Investments (FI), and
- Derivative Investments (DI).
Learn why these are the 3 hardest level 1 topics
The easiest level 1 topics include:
- Equity Investments (EI),
- Corporate Finance (CF), and
- Portfolio Management (PM).
Find out when the 3 topics are the easiest