The CFA Institute said 40% of candidates passed its Level II exam in May and June, the first time it was given using computers.
The success rate was the lowest since 2010 and down from the 55% of applicants who passed the second level of the chartered financial analyst exam in December 2020, a 15-year high, according to the Charlottesville, Virginia-based institute. That was the last time the test was administered on paper.
Passing all three CFA exams can lead to higher salaries and better job opportunities for finance-industry workers. On average, candidates study 300 hours for each level of the exam and take four years to complete the series. The
The COVID-19 pandemic upended the normal test-taking timeline last year. Historically, the institute offered all three levels of the test on paper in June, and another chance to take the first part in December. After transitioning to computer-based testing, the institute now offers the exams more times throughout the year.
This year’s Level II pass rate was the third-lowest in CFA
This comes on the heels of the CFA Institute announcement last week that the level I pass rate was the lowest it has seen since 1963 when the test was first administered. Only 25 percent of applicants passed that level in May, down from 44% for those who sat for the February examination. The 10-year average pass rate is 42%.
Nearly 26,000 candidates sat for the Level I exam, which was administered at test centers around the world, the CFA Institute said in a statement.
“The degree of difficulty of the May Level I exam was consistent with previous Level I exam administrations, and this is the case whether we look back to paper-based testing or computer-based testing, which we introduced in February this year,” CFA Institute spokesman Matthew Hickerson said.
