The ultimate guide to re-attempting the Level II CFA exam

Deciding where to start from can be a difficult choice disregarding which CFA Level you are preparing for. Use our three-step guide to focus on the areas where you need the most effort, and develop a plan for preparing to successfully retake the CFA Exam.

• Step 1: Identify how to improve your band

  Along with your result, if you have been unsuccessful, the CFA Institute will give you a band. One of the first things you must do is review your Ethics score. According to CFA Institute, your Ethics score plays an important role in determining whether you/ll pass or fail if your overall score is around the marginal passing score (MPS).

  The next step would be to check if you have completed all the required practice questions. You can use online question banks to replicate mock exams or refer to prep provider question banks that contain thousands of questions and allow you to custom build exams around specific LOS, readings, and study sessions.

• Step 2: Topic Performance Review

  Identify your strong and weak areas and design a retake plan accordingly. While creating your plan ensure that you give priority to your weak areas but don't ignore your stronger areas entirely; otherwise, you may find that you have just substituted weak areas (topics that you have scored less than 50%) for previously strong areas.

  Lastly, review the areas you received 50-70% in before reviewing the areas you achieved >70%. Below we have offered an in-depth study method for the respective bands.

  
  

   < 50%

  The best way to begin would be by learning the principles well. If you only studied from the prep provider materials earlier, it would be a good idea to review the CFA Institute material this time around. Tackle both the prep provider and CFA Institute end-of-chapter questions once you are done with a reading. When you score above 70% tackling questions on a specific reading, move to the next.

   < 50–70%

  Start with a quick review of the study material within your prep provider notes or CFA Institute texts. Ask yourself the question, “Do I feel comfortable with this material?”

   < 70%

  Achieving over 70% proves that you have a good understanding of these areas and can translate that knowledge into correct answers on the exam. The most common mistake that candidates do with these areas is that it's often neglected and, as a result, what was a strong area becomes a weak area.

  One best way to prevent this would be start with the end-of-chapter questions from CFA Institute and your prep provider, rather than reading the material again. If you get a poor score on the questions, it means that you need to re-learn the content. A poor score on these questions means that you need to go back and review the material. Constantly practice questions to refresh and maintain a high score in these areas.

Starting your retake plan late will prevent you from spending extra time to tackle material you find technically challenging. You can overcome the problem of an expensive entry fee by enrolling for the exam as early as possible. Dedicate at least one month for review of topics and mock exams.