CFA® Level 1 Passing Score and How to Use It

This page is split into two clearly separated parts: FinQuiz Editorial Additions and the Original Guest Post (Text Unchanged). Wondering what today’s score report shows? See CFA Results and How to Deal with a Fail

Read the Original Guest Post Level I Resources FAQ
On this page FinQuiz Editorial Additions (2026 update) Recommended Level I resources Original Guest Post (Text Unchanged) FAQ

Disclosure

  • The guest author does not endorse FinQuiz products.
  • FinQuiz editorial additions are separate from the original guest post.
  • The author’s words are preserved exactly as written, with no links added into the guest text.

FinQuiz Editorial Additions (2026 Update)

This section is written by FinQuiz editors. The guest post below was published on October 6, 2016, when the passing score was a genuine mystery: candidates saw only topic ranges (<50%, 51–70%, >70%) and had to reverse-engineer a target. The scoring system has been rebuilt since—but the strategy he derives from the mystery is exactly the strategy that still works.

The mystery has been solved: he wrote that CFA Institute “does not publish the score needed to pass”—today it effectively does. Since 2025, your result shows a scaled score plotted against the Minimum Passing Score for your sitting: Level I is reported on a 1,000–1,900 scale with the MPS at 1,600, plus a topic-by-topic chart. Yet his two operating rules translate untouched: aim above the bar on practice (his 70% target with a margin), and outwork the average candidate. Only the guesswork is gone.

What has changed since 2016

  • The score report was rebuilt: the topic ranges and the invisible passing standard are gone. You now see your scaled score against the MPS, and Level III passers receive pass/fail only. Our restored post on decoding results and handling a fail covers the modern report in full.
  • The exam itself changed: his “three points per question, 360 points possible” arithmetic belonged to the paper exam. Level I is now 180 multiple-choice questions across two 135-minute computer-based sessions at Prometric, in multiple windows per year—the remaining 2026 Level I windows are August 18 and November 11, with results roughly 5–8 weeks after each window.
  • His pass-rate observation still holds: “less than half of the candidates now passing” remains fair—2025 average pass rates were roughly 44% at Level I, 42% at Level II, and 50% at Level III.
  • The 70% practice heuristic survives: his era’s rule that no one failed at 70%+ can’t be restated on today’s scaled scale, but as a practice-question and mock-exam target with a safety margin, it remains the benchmark candidates use.
  • Borderline scores get automatic care: exams near the MPS are re-graded before release, and the ethics adjustment for borderline candidates still applies—while retabulation has been discontinued entirely (no reviews, no appeals; our retabulation post has the story).
  • 300 hours is still 300 hours: the average-study-time guidance he cites is unchanged a decade later, and so is his warning about starting late.

Recommended Level I resources (FinQuiz)

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

  • Level I Question Bank (Primary) — the “test bank” he hopes you have: track topic-level accuracy against your 70%+ target. An optional extra alongside the official practice included with your CFA Institute registration.
  • Level I Summary — high-yield flow-chart review to lift the topics your tracking flags below target.
  • Level I Notes — rebuild weak topics from the ground up with LOS-aligned coverage.
  • Level I Formula Sheet — compact daily recall so formulas never cost you points twice.
  • Level I Full Course Playlist — free video-led coverage with guided pacing.
  • Free Full-Length Mock Exam — one complete 180-question mock (two 90-question sessions) free with any account.
Practical pairing: Build the “confidence interval” Joseph describes: log your question-bank accuracy by topic each week, then confirm it under exam conditions with the free mock. Consistently above 70% with a margin, topic by topic, is his green light—and it still is.

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 October 6, 2016; the score ranges and point arithmetic it describes belonged to the paper-exam era—see the editorial update above for how scores are reported today.

Candidates will soon be heading to the December exam and questions about CFA Level 1 passing score will follow. While the Institute does not publish the score needed to pass the exams, there are some important lessons to learn from what we do know.

CFA Level 1 Pass rates and CFA Level 1 passing score

When you see your score, it will not be a single point percentage but a range of <50%, 50% to 70% or >70% across each of the topic areas. Not sure exactly why the Institute does this but it doesn’t matter too much, the ranges will serve our purposes here.

CFA Level 1 passing score should not be confused with the exam pass rates which are the percentage of test takers that pass their level exam each year. These have been trending down over the last several decades with less than half of the candidates now passing. Everyone has their own theory on why this is happening but the fact is that these are some tough exams and you’ll need to prepare to do well.

So how many points do I need?

Each multiple choice question on the exams is worth three points with 360 points possible. CFA passing score varies from year to year and is determined after all the exams are graded for a particular level. Since the Institute does not publish an actual passing score, the only thing we do know is that no candidate has ever failed with a score of 70% or higher.

There are two important points that I always tried to remember when taking the exams. First, if I aimed for (and scored) at least 70% on the exams then I would pass the exam. Second, because the actual passing score is adjusted up or down on the distribution of actual scores and approximately 50% of candidates passed the exam, I needed to work harder than the average candidate to come out ahead in CFA Level 1 passing score.

Targeting a score of 70% or higher is something we’ve talked about on the blog. Whether you have a test bank or use end-of-chapter questions (or hopefully both), it’s pretty easy to track your progress and build a confidence interval around your performance. On these practice problems and mock exams, I would aim for something higher than 70% just in case the actual exam questions turned out to be more difficult.

Working harder than the average candidate is not as easily quantifiable. It isn’t that you are competing against other candidates, but you do need to understand that the charter isn’t for the ‘average’ finance professional, it is for those willing to go that extra mile for their career and their clients. While there are not a lot of ‘average’ candidate stats to go on, we know that 300 hours is an average for time spent studying. I would say that the average candidate also waits to start studying until late January, at the earliest.

Pass or fail, your score is more important than you know

The CFA exams are extremely tough and it’s understandable that candidates would want to know exactly what they need to do to pass but your score is more important than just passing the exam.

If the passing score is under 70%, that means candidates can miss almost a third of the information and still be on their way to being charter holders. No one is expecting you to remember 100% but working in the industry carries a great deal of responsibility. Think about it for a second and ask yourself if you would want someone planning your financial future that scored less than two-thirds on their professional exams.

For many candidates, seeing the result of their CFA exam is a sobering experience. Knowing that you scored less than 50% in a topic area should be a wake-up call and guide your studies in the future. I won’t say that I have used the entire curriculum since earning my charter but I have used a great deal of it and am glad for the time I put in to learn it.

I know that passing the exams is the first and last thing on your minds right now, just getting this three-year study-fest over with so you can reap the rewards, but try to remember why you are taking the exams in the first place. The CFA curriculum will make you a stronger professional and will help you for decades after you’ve passed the exams. While a passing score is important, reach higher and be better for it.

‘til next time, happy studyin’

Written by Joseph Hogue, CFA

Related Blog Posts

FAQ (Global candidates)

What is the CFA Level 1 passing score in 2026?

CFA Institute still sets a Minimum Passing Score (MPS) for each administration after grading—but you no longer have to guess where it sits. Since 2025, your result shows a scaled score plotted directly against the MPS for your sitting: Level I is reported on a 1,000–1,900 scale with the MPS at 1,600, alongside a topic-by-topic performance chart. The old <50% / 51–70% / >70% topic ranges this post decodes are gone; the mystery the author worked around has largely been solved.

Is the 70% practice target still the right rule of thumb?

Yes—as a practice benchmark, his method translates intact. Track your accuracy by topic on practice questions and mock exams, and aim above 70% to leave a margin in case exam-day questions run harder, exactly as he prescribes. The tools are just better now: the official practice in the CFA Institute Learning Ecosystem, plus an optional extra question bank like FinQuiz’s, make it easy to build that “confidence interval around your performance” topic by topic.

What percentage of candidates pass the CFA exams now?

His “less than half” framing still holds. The 2025 averages were roughly 44% at Level I, 42% at Level II, and 50% at Level III, and ten-year averages sit in the same neighborhood. His second rule—work harder than the average candidate—also survives: the standard guidance of about 300 hours of study per level is unchanged from when he wrote this.

What happens if my score lands right at the passing line?

Quality controls are built into scoring: exams near the Minimum Passing Score are automatically re-graded before results are released, and an ethics adjustment can still tip borderline candidates. What you can no longer do is appeal—CFA Institute has discontinued retabulation entirely, with no reviews and no appeals process. Our restored post on CFA retabulation tells that whole story.