The pass rate for the second level of the chartered financial analyst exam jumped to the highest in more than a quarter century, boosted by a smaller number of candidates who had deferred their tests.
In May, 59% of candidates passed the Level II test, up from the 44% inEC November and August and 52% in May last year, the CFA Institute said Tuesday. The latest results were well above the 10-year average of 45% and the lows from 2021, when pandemic-spurred test-taking disruptions hurt success rates. It’s the highest pass rate since 1998, when it hit 62%.
“Over time, we have seen occasional pass-rate spikes; however, the exam difficulty remains consistent,” Chris Wiese, managing director for education at the institute, said in a statement. The institute also saw less candidates who had previously deferred taking the exam sit for Level II, which “positively impacted the pass rate,” he said.
First-time testers scored significantly above the average pass rate, at 67%, while those who had deferred the exam had an average passing rate of 39%, the institute said in a statement. The latest results mirror the trend seen in other levels of the exam, which shows a lower success rate among candidates who defer an exam.
The CFA Institute also said that it’s seeing more people enroll in the program while they are in college. Those candidates perform well because they already have an academic mindset and study habits that lead to success, said Wiese.
The CFA is offered several times a year and can lead to new job opportunities and higher salaries in the finance industry. More than 14,000 candidates sat the Level II exam in May, which was administered at 471 testing centers around the world. Historically, the institute offered the exam on paper, but transitioned to computer-based testing during the pandemic.
Those who took Level I of the exam in May got their results last week, with 46% of test-takers passing, above the 40% average for the past decade.
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