Second Administration Q & A

Beginning in 2003, AIMR will offer Level I of the Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®) examination twice each year. AIMR will continue to offer the Level I CFA examination in June, at the same time as the Level II and III examinations.  In December, a second administration will be available exclusively for Level I candidates.

In December 2003, Level I CFA candidates will be able to select from one of 26 test centers around the world.  AIMR selected these centers to provide a measure of geographic diversity and to serve the largest populations of CFA candidates. The 26 test centers that AIMR has selected for the December 2003 Level I examination served more than 67 percent of CFA candidates in June 2001. AIMR normally offers the June CFA examination at more than 140 test centers around the world, and may expand the number of December test centers after 2003 when and where there is sufficient demand.

What was the motivation behind offering the Level I examination twice each year? Increasingly, participation in the CFA Program and/or earning the right to use the CFA designation have become conditions of employment for investment professionals around the world. In addition, some regulators—particularly in the United Kingdom—use the Level I examination as a substitute for regulatory examinations. Recognizing that the rigor of the CFA Program results in a substantial percentage of candidates failing the Level I exam on their first attempts and that successful completion of Level I of the CFA Program and obtaining the CFA charter can be of such importance to investment professionals, the AIMR Board of Governors called for a study of the feasibility of a second administration of the CFA examination each calendar year.

The study—completed in 2001—shows that while a second administration of the Level I examination would be entirely possible, a second administration for Levels II or III would not.

“What makes a second administration of the Level I CFA examination possible is that the Level I examination format is fully automated,” said Thomas A. Bowman, CFA, AIMR President and CEO. “The entire examination is multiple choice, which means that individual examinations are graded by machine and results can be released to candidates in a relatively short time frame, especially now that candidates can access examination results electronically.”

By contrast, half of the Level II and III CFA examinations have an essay format and must be graded by CFA charterholders. “Evaluating essay questions is an intensive process that takes many months of coordination and requires in-person participation from hundreds of charterholders,” said Mr. Bowman. “Duplicating this process a second time each year, while maintaining uncompromising standards of fairness and security, just would not be possible.” AIMR, therefore, has no current plans to offer Levels II and III of the CFA examination twice annually.

The December Level I CFA examination will be available to both new and re-enrolling candidates. “If you fail the Level I examination in June 2003, you will be able to sit for the examination again in December,” said Mr. Bowman. “If candidates are sick, or for some other reason can’t sit for the Level I examination in June, they won’t have to wait a full year for their next opportunity to sit for the examination as is now the case.”

Another benefit for those who fail the Level I examination in June is that the curriculum and readings for the June 2003 and December 2003 examinations will be identical, meaning that preparation for the June examination will be directly applicable to the December examination. Any changes to the Level I curriculum will take place between the December and June examinations. That is, the curriculum for December 2003 and June 2004 may vary slightly in the same way that the Level I curriculum now varies from year to year.