If you’re like some of our students, you may be wondering what happened with the CFA Exam pass percentage this year?
In today’s post, we discuss where the passing rate has been historically, where it is now, and what is to be expected going forward.
Tightening the Screws of the CFA Exam Pass Percentage
The CFA Institute publishes candidate exam results going back to 1963. Take a quick glance at them here. What you might find glaringly obvious is that the passing rate has dropped over the decades.
You might be even more surprised with the recent scores.
Let’s review.
The CFA exam pass percentage averaged a whopping 80%+ the first five years the exam was offered.
Students, on average, passing each level of the exam declined thereafter. However, the passing rate remained around 60% or higher through the 1980s. If you continue on, you’ll see that around the year 2000 an enduring drop persisted. The passing rate for the CFA Level 1 Exam for example, hovered between 35% and 45%. Scores ranged in that narrow band consistently for most years between 2000 and 2020.
So what were scores recently?
You’ll notice that the last two exams for CFA Exam Level 1 in May 2021, and July 2021, had a dismal passing rate of 25% and 22%, respectively.
So, What Happened?
Unfortunately, it’s hard to say really. A Managing Director from the CFA Institute commented in a statement put it out in September 2021 by the CFA Institute that “We continue to see the impact from the exam disruptions brought on by the global pandemic…”
While this may be true, it’s also worth pointing out one important thing. This drop in scores coincided with the introduction of computer-based testing. It’s certainly plausible to imagine that average scores were pulled down by geographic regions disproportionately hit by the pandemic. Hence, it’s not totally fair to say that the computer-based testing is responsible for the dip in scores. Or, at least, there is no evidence to prove this.
So Where Do We Go From Here?
Again, unfortunately it’s hard to say. The passing rate at every level of the CFA exam is down significantly from recent historical passing percentages, however the CFA Level 1 Exam has seen its passing rate almost cut in half. Passing rates were set to improve in the future, approaching pre-COVID levels — “so long as pandemic conditions subside.”
Such a statement certainly buys the CFA Institute some time if there are any issues with the computer based testing questions. But at Professional Exam Tutoring, we recommend sticking to what you can control. As that applies to students like you, and those on our email list, we certainly recommend that you increase you study hours or get some help just to be safe. Good luck!