10 Week CFA® Study Plans for Every Type of Candidate

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FinQuiz Editorial Additions (2026 Update)

This section is written by FinQuiz editors. The guest post below was originally published in March 2016, counting down to that year’s June exam. The two plans still work—but the curriculum’s structure and the exam calendar have both changed, so use this translation guide first.

The one thing you must translate: the “18 study sessions” this post is built around no longer exist. The Level I curriculum is now organized into 10 topic areas divided into learning modules. Where Joseph says “two study sessions per week,” read “roughly one topic area per week”—split the biggest topics (like FSA) across two weeks—and his 9-weeks-of-coverage-plus-1-week-of-review structure carries over intact.

What has changed since 2016

  • No more June exam: the CFA exams are computer-based with multiple windows per year. In 2026, the remaining Level I windows are August 18 and November 11—a 10-week plan for November begins around September 1.
  • Exam format: Level I is 180 multiple-choice questions in two 135-minute sessions. That makes Joseph’s weekend “half test of at least 90 questions” exactly one real exam session—his benchmark aged perfectly.
  • Topic weights shifted: Ethics is now the largest Level I topic at 15–20%, so when the post says to spend extra time on “core topic areas like FSA,” put Ethics in that core group too.
  • The 300-hour benchmark still stands: CFA Institute still cites roughly 300 hours of preparation as typical, so the post’s math—300 hours over 10 weeks is a full-time job—is as true as ever.
  • One advantage 2016 candidates didn’t have: if 10 weeks genuinely isn’t enough, you can target the next window rather than sitting underprepared—often the smarter play for a “just starting” candidate with a full-time job.

How to run this plan in 2026

  • Head-start plan: keep the weekly 90-question half-test; treat your section-level scores as the map of where your remaining weeks go.
  • Just-starting plan: use his two 3-day blocks per week, but assign each block to a group of learning modules within one topic instead of a study session.
  • Both plans: the final-week intensive review he describes is still the highest-value week of the whole schedule—protect it.

Recommended Level I resources (FinQuiz)

Only Level I resources are promoted in the editorial areas of this page.

Practical pairing: Run Joseph’s weekend half-test using one 90-question session of the free mock, then let the section scores decide which topic gets your next two 3-day blocks.

Original Guest Post (Text Unchanged)

Disclosure: The guest author does not endorse FinQuiz products. The content below is displayed with no edits, no paraphrasing, and no reordering. No links have been added into the author’s text. Originally published March 28, 2016.

Two 10 week CFA study plans for candidates that haven’t started and for those with a head start

We’ve got 10 weeks left to the 2016 June CFA exams and this point always seems to be a milestone for candidates. Maybe it’s just that ten is such an easy, round number that cause people to reevaluate their CFA study plans or motivate others to finally get started.

I get emails from both types of candidates. Those that started months ago want to make sure they’re on the right track. They start thinking about what they can do to change up their study plan to avoid burnout and squeeze out those last points they need to pass the exams. The candidates that haven’t managed to get started yet finally get nervous enough to crack open the books but are worried they don’t have enough time to study.

I thought I would use this week’s blog post to share some ideas for 10 week CFA study plans, one for those that have been studying and one for those just getting started. You don’t necessarily need to change up your plans if you already have a good routine but take a look at some of the ideas below.

10 Week CFA Study Plan for Candidates with a Head Start

If you’re already well into your CFA studying then revising your plan now is all about constantly testing where you’re at and changing your study plan to fill in the gaps.

We reviewed the Finquiz CFA question bank a few weeks ago and how to use it to test your progress across study sessions. You should be doing practice problems when you finish every reading and then doing more a day or two afterwards to refresh what you learned. Consider taking a half test or at least 90 questions every weekend to test your retention across all 18 study sessions. This is going to help you see where you need more studying.

If you haven’t read through all the readings yet, finish the remaining material up first. After that, go back and spend some more time on the core topic areas (those with the most points on the exam like FSA) and those readings where you are not scoring as well on practice tests.

You don’t need to read the CFA curriculum as thoroughly as you did on your first pass. Scan the official readings for the key points while using study guide notes to reinforce the Learning Outcome Statements. For your review, try to get through at least two study sessions a week.

10 Week CFA Study Plan for Candidates Just Starting

If you haven’t started studying for the CFA exam yet, or only have a couple of weeks of studying done, you’ve got a lot of work ahead of you. That 300 hours studying that the average candidate spends ahead of the CFA exam is now like a full-time job spread over 10 weeks.

There is still a chance though if you devote yourself fully to the task. If you can make studying for the CFA your job, studying eight hours a day throughout the week, you can get the necessary studying in with no problem. If you have to do your studying after work or on the weekends, it is going to be more difficult but still doable.

The difference with this 10 week CFA study plan compared to the one above is that you don’t have as much time to read through the official curriculum. The CFA curriculum is the best resource for studying but it’s just way too long when you’re pressed for time.

If you are to save the last week for an intensive review, you’ll need to work through two study sessions each week just to finish all of them. Instead of reading through the curriculum then study notes, try reading through the study notes first. This will give you a good idea of the important points and will make the curriculum reading faster and you’ll pick out those key points more easily.

Split your week into two 3-day study sessions, each one to cover one of the 18 study sessions in the curriculum. Read through the study notes and the curriculum over the first two days then spend the third day doing practice problems and reviewing the study notes one more time. Three days isn’t much to cover each study session but you’ll get through the entire curriculum in nine weeks.

One of the most important ideas for this accelerated CFA study plan is to use your time efficiently. You absolutely must study in a place where there will be no distractions. Turn off your cell phone and disable the internet browsing on your computer. You need to study straight through and cannot afford to spend your time doing anything else. If you can reserve a private study room at the library, that’s usually your best option but any quiet and uninterrupted space will work.

Whichever study plan you follow, you’ll still want to take the last week off from work for studying if possible. I always loved my last week before the CFA exams, studying upwards of ten hours to get those last points before the exam. It’s a challenging week but well worth it when you go to the exam confident that you’ll pass.

‘til next time, happy studyin’

Written by Joseph Hogue, CFA

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FAQ (Global candidates)

Is 10 weeks enough time to prepare for the CFA Level I exam?

It can be, if you can commit roughly 300 hours—about 30 hours per week for 10 weeks. That works if studying can effectively become your job, or if you have unusually disciplined evenings and weekends. If you cannot realistically reach that volume, today’s exam calendar gives you an option 2016 candidates never had: multiple windows per year, so shifting to the next window is often smarter than sitting underprepared.

Do 'study sessions' still exist in the CFA curriculum?

No. The 18 study sessions this post refers to were retired when CFA Institute restructured the curriculum. Level I is now organized into 10 topic areas divided into learning modules. To run this plan today, replace “two study sessions per week” with “one topic area per week” (splitting the two or three largest topics, like FSA, across two weeks) and you end up with essentially the same 9-week coverage plus a final review week.

How many practice questions should I do each week during the final stretch?

Joseph’s weekend “half test of at least 90 questions” maps perfectly onto today’s exam: Level I is 180 questions in two 135-minute sessions, so 90 questions is exactly one real exam session. Start with the official practice questions and mock exams included with your CFA Institute registration in the Learning Ecosystem, then add timed mixed-topic sets. Every free FinQuiz account also includes one full-length 180-question mock for benchmarking under exam conditions.

When should I start a 10-week plan for the next CFA Level I window?

Count back 10 weeks from your exam window’s start date. For the November 11, 2026 Level I window, a 10-week plan begins around September 1. For the August 18, 2026 window, 10 weeks have already passed—if you are starting now, you are on an even more compressed version of the “just starting” plan below, or better served targeting November. Whichever window you choose, try to keep the final week free for intensive review, as the post recommends.