Level II Study Plan and How to Get the Most Points

This page is split into two clearly separated parts: FinQuiz Editorial Additions and the Original Guest Post (Text Unchanged). Wondering which formulas deserve the drills? See Level II of CFA Program Formula Sheet & Guide

Read the Original Guest Post Level II Resources FAQ
On this page FinQuiz Editorial Additions (2026 update) Recommended Level II 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.
  • A promotional download line that had been inserted into the guest text has been removed; the author’s words are otherwise preserved exactly, with no links added.

FinQuiz Editorial Additions (2026 Update)

This section is written by FinQuiz editors. The guest post below was written in early 2016—“just under 21 weeks left” to that June’s exam—when Level II meant 18 study sessions, a single exam date, and a six-hour paper marathon. Every one of those anchors has moved. The plan built on them barely needs to.

The plan translates in one line: pick your exam window, count back about 21 weeks, and swap “one study session per week” for “one block of Learning Modules per week.” His engine—read the curriculum first, work the end-of-chapter questions, review notes, drill a question bank, finish with summaries and self-written flash cards, and save the last ~3 weeks for mock exams—is still the closing sequence that works. The remaining 2026 Level II windows are August 25 and November 18.

What has changed since 2016

  • No more single June date: Level II now runs in multiple computer-based windows per year at Prometric test centers, so “start now” means counting back from the window you choose—his ~21-week runway is a fine yardstick.
  • “18 study sessions” became Learning Modules: the curriculum has been reorganized and is refreshed regularly, so divide the current readings for your window into weekly blocks rather than reusing his count.
  • The six-hour test shrank: today’s exam is 88 questions in item sets across two 132-minute sessions—shorter, but his advice to rehearse the full testing day with one or two mocks a week in the final stretch is unchanged. Results arrive roughly 5–8 weeks after each window.
  • His 60-question checkpoints got easier to run: official practice now comes with your CFA Institute registration in the Learning Ecosystem, and an optional extra question bank makes assembling his every-six-weeks progress test a few clicks instead of a scavenger hunt through chapter ends.
  • His memory science aged well: the active-versus-passive learning point he builds the cycle around is the subject of our live post A Scientifically-Proven Way to Study for the CFA Exam—and 300 hours per level remains the standard study-time guidance, which his 12–15 hours a week over five months fits neatly.
  • What we removed: one promotional mock-exam download line inserted into the guest text in later years. Everything else—including his era’s references to reading “curriculum books” and “Smart Summary cards”—is exactly as published.

Recommended Level II resources (FinQuiz)

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

  • Level II Summary (Primary) — the condensed review pass his cycle ends each week with, in flow-chart form.
  • Level II Question Bank — run his end-of-week drills and every-six-weeks 60-question checkpoints. An optional extra alongside the official practice included with your CFA Institute registration.
  • Level II Notes — the post-reading review step of his cycle, aligned LOS by LOS with the curriculum.
  • Level II Formula Sheet — keep the week’s formulas in daily rotation as the plan compounds.
  • Free Full-Length Mock Exam — his final-three-weeks rehearsal, free with any account, in today’s item-set format.
  • Level II Premium Package — notes, summaries, formula sheet, question bank, and mocks together, saving 58% versus buying separately.
Practical pairing: Run his weekly cycle exactly as written—curriculum reading, end-of-chapter questions, notes review, question-bank drills, then summaries and flash cards—and log your checkpoint scores. The final three weeks belong to mocks, starting with the free one.

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. A promotional download line inserted into the guest text in later years has been removed; the author’s words are otherwise preserved exactly. Written in early 2016 for that June’s exam—see the editorial update above for how the timeline maps onto today’s exam windows.

With just under 21 weeks left to the 2016 CFA exams, now is a great time to get started on your Level II CFA Program study plan. What? You don’t have a study plan?!?

Don’t worry, a smart study plan to pass the CFA exam doesn’t have to be a complicated or stressful plan.

In fact, start now and follow the plan below and it could be a rather relaxed experience.

With nearly five months left to study, you can dedicate each week to a study session and will still have time for topic reviews and those all-important mock exams.

Other candidates will tell you to wait a few weeks, that you’ve got plenty of time before you need to start your 2016 CFA study plan.

Don’t believe them! Start now and be one of the candidates that pass the exams!

A Timeline for your Level II CFA Program Study Plan

The timeline for your 2016 CFA study plan is fairly simple.

We want to cover each of the 18 study sessions each week over the next eighteen.

Covering just one session per week gives you the time to really hit the material multiple times and commit it to memory.

Remember, most people need to see something upwards of seven times for it to be committed to long-term memory.

Some Level II CFA Program study plans will suggest reading the study sessions out of order, whether mixing easy and difficult topics or some other method.

I always just read the curriculum books in order but you can read in any order you choose.

The order of the books does a good job of building up to the more difficult material so you have the knowledge to tackle more complex ideas when you get to them.

Make sure you read the topic readings in order.

Every six weeks, you should take a 60-question exam on the sessions you’ve covered.

This can be done by putting together end-of-chapter questions or more easily with a question bank of practice problems.

This is going to help refresh the material and measure your mastery of the curriculum.

Cover each study session in a week and you’ll have nearly three weeks left over before the 2016 CFA exams.

You’ll use this time to work mock exams to measure your overall retention and review the most important material.

Taking one or two mock exams each week before the actual exams will help you prepare physically for the six-hour tests as well as guide your study plan for areas where you still need work.

How to Study for your Level II CFA Program Study Plan

The best study plan combines active and passive learning techniques in repetition. Passive learning involves activities like reading the curriculum or watching a video. It’s an easy way of studying but you don’t retain as much information as you do when you use active learning techniques like working practice problems and flash cards.

The best study plan always starts with reading the CFA curriculum. Resist the temptation to jump straight to condensed notes, they can’t offer all the material and you’ll end up missing some critical points.

After you’ve read through a study session, work the end-of-chapter problems to measure your retention level. Then review study notes on the section to reinforce the key points.

Use a test bank of questions to work another set of practice problems. These are the best resource you can use because they get you actively thinking about the material and mentally ready for the exams.

Review the study session one more time with brief Smart Summary cards of the material and work any difficult concepts on flash cards. You can buy pre-written flash cards but the most effective method is to write your own. You’ll remember more of what you write down yourself and will save money.

Do this cycle for each study session in your Level II CFA Program study plan, repeating it each week.

How long each study session takes will depend on how quickly you read and will vary on some of the more difficult topic areas. You will probably be able to read through Ethics relatively quickly but may need more time on derivatives and other topics. Do not rush through a study session and make sure you hit each step in the cycle.

This Level II CFA Program study plan won’t guarantee that you pass the exam in June but it will give you plenty of time to master the material. Covering each study session in multiple formats will help you commit it to memory and you should be able to recall everything on the exam.

‘til next time, happy studyin’

Written by Joseph Hogue, CFA

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FAQ (Global candidates)

Do the 18 study sessions in this plan still exist?

Not under that name. The curriculum has been reorganized into Learning Modules and is refreshed regularly, so the exact count of blocks changes with your exam window. The plan’s engine survives the renaming: divide the current curriculum into weekly blocks, run his read → end-of-chapter questions → notes review → practice-question → summary-and-flash-card cycle on each block, and checkpoint yourself with a timed question set every few weeks. Anchor the block list to the current readings for your window, not to his 18.

When is the Level II exam now, and how long is it?

There is no single June exam anymore. Level II is computer-based at Prometric test centers in multiple windows per year—the remaining 2026 windows are August 25 and November 18—and consists of 88 questions in item sets across two 132-minute sessions, with results roughly 5 to 8 weeks after each window. His six-hour paper marathon became a roughly four-and-a-half-hour testing day, but a full-length mock is still the right way to prepare physically for it.

Is his mock-exam cadence still right?

Yes—finishing the curriculum with about three weeks to spare and running one or two mocks per week in that window remains the standard closing sequence. The tooling improved: your CFA Institute registration now includes official practice and mock resources in the Learning Ecosystem, and optional extras like the free full-length FinQuiz Level II mock (included with any account) let you rehearse item-set pacing before you spend a real attempt.

How many hours should a Level II plan budget?

The standard guidance is still about 300 hours per level—the same figure that was standard when this was written. His five-month, one-block-per-week structure spreads that load at a sustainable 12 to 15 hours a week and leaves the final stretch for mocks and review, which is exactly why the plan translates so cleanly onto today’s calendar: pick your window, count back about 21 weeks, and start.