Key takeaways
- Every level is two exam sessions with an optional 31-minute break. Level I sessions run 135 minutes; Level II and III run 132.
- Level I is 180 standalone questions. Level II is 22 item sets. Level III mixes 11 item sets with 11 essay sets that students type.
- Only two calculator families are allowed: the TI BA II Plus and the HP 12C. Students should use one in every mock.
- CFA Institute links to a free Prometric tutorial of the exam software. Set it as homework, early.
- Build mocks from your own questions. CFA Institute's questions are its copyright, and its prep provider rules ban its mock exam questions.
Saturday evening in Andheri, Mumbai. A Level I batch finishes its third full mock on paper, marks it, and goes home pleased. On exam day there is no printed question paper. The CFA® exam is taken on a computer at a test center, in two timed sessions, with a calculator the candidate brings from home.
Candidate blogs describe that day well. This guide is for the people who prepare candidates for it: what to train at each level, and how to run that practice online.
Exam day, section by section
CFA Institute publishes the order of the exam day. A pledge and a short software tutorial come first. Then Session 1, an optional break, Session 2 and a survey.
CFA Institute timings
One exam day: 331 minutes at the desk (Level I)
- 1. Tutorial and pledge19 min
- 2. Session 1135 min
- 3. Optional break31 min
- 4. Session 2 intro1 min
- 5. Session 2135 min
- 6. Survey intro1 min
- 7. Survey8 min
- 8. Finish1 min
Add it up: 19 + 135 + 31 + 1 + 135 + 1 + 8 + 1 is 331 minutes, five and a half hours in one chair. A single 135-minute paper trains half of that. A full mock is two sessions with a break, on the same day.
Teach one rule early. The Prometric tutorial warns that a finished section cannot be reopened. Check flagged questions before pressing Finish.
Level by level: what changes
The software is the same at every level. The question format is not.
| Level | Questions | Per session | What to train |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level I | 180 standalone multiple-choice questions, three choices (A, B, C) | 90 questions per 135-minute session | Pace: about 90 seconds a question. No penalty for a wrong answer, so no blanks. |
| Level II | 22 item sets: a case (vignette) with four questions each, 88 questions in all | 11 item sets per 132-minute session; 2 sets are unscored trials | Read the case once, answer four. Each case opens with its topic and total points (CFA Institute's example: 12 points). |
| Level III | 11 item sets and 11 essay (constructed response) sets, 12 points each | 6 item + 5 essay sets or 5 + 6 per 132-minute session; 2 sets unscored | Typing answers to a case under time. The pathway you teach is 30 to 35% of the exam. |
Sources: CFA Institute’s Level I, Level II and Level III exam pages.
At Level I, Ethics, Quantitative Methods, Economics, Financial Statement Analysis and corporate topics sit in Session 1. The investment topics sit in Session 2. Split your Level I mocks the same way.
Teaching a 2027 batch? The 2027 Level I topic outline moves weight around:
| Level I topic (2026 → 2027 name) | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 15-20% | 10-15% |
| Quantitative Methods | 6-9% | 11-14% |
| Corporate Issuers → Corporate Finance | 6-9% | 6-9% |
| Equity Investments → Equities | 11-14% | 11-14% |
| Derivatives → Derivatives and Risk Management | 5-8% | 6-9% |
| Alternative Investments | 7-10% | 6-9% |
| Portfolio Management → Portfolio Construction | 8-12% | 8-12% |
Topics with no change are left out.
Level III’s typed answers need their own plan; see CFA Level III constructed response: practice and marking.
Physical calculators only
Those are the only approved calculators, and the candidate brings one. A student who practices on a phone calculator is practicing for a different exam. Ask for the exam-day model at every timed mock, from the first.
Use CFA Institute’s free tutorial with students
CFA Institute’s hardware and software page links to a free Prometric tutorial of the exam software. The same page explains what students will see. On a standard 17-inch monitor, the case sits beside the answer screen. A numerical entry box takes only numbers, commas and a decimal point, with no room for working.
Week 1
Walk through it in class, on a projector.
Mid-course
Set it as homework, on a laptop.
Two weeks out
One last run before exam day.
CFA Institute’s paid Practice Pack includes a mock exam in the Prometric interface for Level I and Level II. The page does not list one for Level III.
Running CFA prep in Vacademy
To be clear: Vacademy has no CFA-style exam screen. Students take mocks on the standard Vacademy test screen. Vacademy runs everything around the screen.
Watch time per question at Level I. Two minutes against a 90-second budget is a pace problem, not a knowledge problem. More on building the bank in how Vacademy creates quizzes and assessments. Firms running CFA study groups for staff can see Vacademy for corporate training.
Three rules before you advertise CFA prep
- CFA Institute says CFA logo use is forbidden for any and all prep providers. Write the name in plain text.
- Its best-practice rules for prep providers ban advertising your customers’ pass rates and asking candidates to share exam questions after the exam.
- Its 2027 prep provider agreement forbids CFA Institute’s official mock exam questions inside prep products. Your bank should hold your own questions.
Honest limits
- Vacademy does not supply CFA questions. The bank is what your teachers write or upload.
- Rank and percentile are within your own batch, not across all CFA candidates.
Vacademy is not a CFA Institute Prep Provider and is not affiliated with CFA Institute. CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy or quality of the products and services offered by Vacademy. CFA Institute®, CFA® and “Chartered Financial Analyst®” are trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
Questions prep providers ask
Is the CFA exam computer-based at every level?
Yes. CFA Institute runs Level I, Level II and Level III as computer-based exams at test centers. Each level has two exam sessions with an optional 31-minute break between them, plus a short tutorial at the start and a survey at the end.
How long is the CFA Level I exam?
Two sessions of 135 minutes, each with 90 multiple-choice questions. With the tutorial, the optional break and the survey, the day is about 331 minutes.
Which calculators are allowed in the CFA exam?
Only two families: the Texas Instruments BA II Plus (including the BA II Plus Professional) and the Hewlett Packard 12C (including the 12C Platinum, the 12C Platinum 25th anniversary edition, the 12C 30th anniversary edition and the 12C Prestige).
Is there free CFA exam software for practice?
Yes. CFA Institute links to a free Prometric tutorial that shows the exam software. Its paid Practice Pack also includes a mock exam in the Prometric interface for Level I and Level II.
Can I use CFA Institute mock exam questions in my own test series?
No. The questions are CFA Institute's copyright, and its prep provider rules bar even signed-up providers from putting CFA Institute mock exam questions in their products. Build your test series from your own questions.
Try Vacademy for your CFA batches
Bring one of your question papers. We will upload it, set it as a timed mock and show your team the report.