Mock exams expose students’ weaknesses and strengths unforgivably. CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) is a certification for post-graduate investment and financial professionals.
CFA mock exam mimics the kind of pressure you will encounter on the actual exam day. One should take such an exam early enough and identify areas of weakness to improve performance.
How Many Mock Exams for CFA?
One should attempt at least 4 mock exams for CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst). Research indicates that candidates who attempted more mock exams performed above average for the real exam.
On the contrary, more failures occur when candidates attempt fewer mock exams.
Taking or attempting many times increases one’s chances of performing well. We can relate success and failure to the number of mock CFA exams that one attempted.
How Many Mock Exams for different CFA Levels;
- Level 1: Candidates at this level should attempt at least 5 sets of mock exams.
- Level 2: Candidates should also attempt at least 5 sets of practice exams.
- Level 3: To be on the safer side, attempt at least 7 sets of mock exams.
How to Pass a CFA Exam
For a candidate to pass a CFA exam, it calls for proper planning and a disciplined approach. Planning well enables the candidate to study more efficiently and effectively. One can use the following tips to pass any level of CFA exam:
1. Begin Early
It is more sensible to start to study early since you have at least 300 hours ahead. The comfortable period is between five to six months before the exam period, so pace yourself reasonably.
Starting early prevents one from burning out before the due date. When you are preparing for the CFA exam, ensure you follow the syllabus guidelines.
2. Create a study schedule
All materials for level one are never complex for any savvy business person, although the amount is substantial.
This level also requires dedication since passing candidates require more than 280 hours of study.
It is critical to implement a strict study schedule to handle the mountains that are ahead of you.
One must be self-disciplined by sticking to all planned sessions successfully.
If you have the best time management skills, maximizing your efforts every hour will be easy. That means that you set aside your distractions and complete every preparation.
3. Focus on the most Tested Stuff
It is not necessary to understand every inch of the topic to pass these CFA exams. You can check the latest topic on their website.
For example, if you are on level one, you will encounter topics like ‘Derivatives or Technical Analysis.’ For this case, the most common topic that appears more frequently is ‘Ethical and Professional standards.’
More importantly, the Ethics option usually extends in all three courses. One should understand ethics on level one to have good background to handle it on other remaining levels.
The general rule is that it is hard to pass the exams without passing the Ethics portion. In the same vein, the Ethics topic can determine if a candidate will burn or crush.
4. Take a Preparation Course
The amount of time that you will require to handle the CFA exam can be challenging. Such could lead to misspent time, missed deadlines, overlooked details, or under-learned materials.
You do not have to go it alone. Go for a preparation course to help you to know how you will approach the entire issue and manage your time more efficiently.
5. Practice Exams Effectively
Practicing for the exam is the most crucial bit about the whole issue. Many tend to ignore the practice tests as they plan to study the material.
Such a blunder can lead to poor performance. Before doing your exam, take enough time to practice as many exams as you can.
The role of these practice tests is for you to discover the period you dedicated to studying paid off. Also, these practice test pinpoints your weakness and strengths.
Furthermore, you will use such sessions to know the time you can take to handle such issues. Thorough practice enhance your chances of success.
6. Focus on Time
If you are handling level one, remember to have limited time to tackle all the 240 questions. Level one has a high time restriction compared to the volume of questions that you should answer. Most times, students encounter the challenge of not completing them all.
If you experience the challenge of not finishing on the exam day, you can guess the rest since there is no penalty for guessing.
7. Aim Higher
One should aim at reaching 70% because the minimum passing score does not exceed that.
Do not get worried if you score lower since you can cover up the losses in other topics.
On practice exams, aim at 70 percent or beyond so that you remain confident on the test day. The actual exam success is at 70%, but getting below does not mess that you failed automatically.
8. Break
In case you get overwhelmed by studying for this exam, taking a break is inevitable. That is because you should rest your brain momentarily. If you feel overloaded, you can take a one or two hours break between the study sessions and refresh your memory.
Typically, all the topics in CFA are never hard. The only challenge is how much you can absorb. So, starting six months before the exam will give you a great advantage.
Why People fail the CFA Exam
Several factors explain why there is always an unsuccessful outcome for some students. This section enlightens you with awareness of some of the pitfalls that you ought to avoid. They are as follows:
Inadequate Study
If you fail to allocate enough hours of study, it becomes an automatic ticket of setback.
The institute estimates that one needs more than 300 hours to prepare for any level adequately.
Many find it hard to balance those hours between study, social life, and work.
Discipline is critical to ensure your success. For example, depending on the candidate’s prior knowledge and experience, the average level of time needed to study a particular level may differ dramatically.
The best idea is to begin earlier than other candidates and familiarize yourself with the content in good time. The purpose of studying is to maintain your strong areas and improve the weak areas.
2. Lack of Enough Practice
The secret to passing your CFA exam is to do as many mock exams as possible. Notably, even if you have better technical knowledge, you may struggle to apply the same knowledge during the exams if you fail to practice optimally.
Students become more successful by familiarizing themselves with more practice questions. There is no easy way of recalling a large number of materials without seeing the related questions.
Whenever you participate in sitting for mock exams, you will discover the areas where you have gaps.
3. Haste Preparations
Some candidates make the great mistake of studying late. That means that they may sleep late while tired in their minds. Generally, tired candidates make a lot of mistakes and errors during the exam.
You should relax and be at peace before you sit for any exam. Anxiety can lead to loss of concentration and therefore lead to poor grades.
Also, a candidate may underperform during the day of the exam. That is because one has to manage the nerves. If you prepare well, you will remain confident during the exam day.
Since one may be lacking an exam strategy, one may fail to complete the exam leading to panic mode. Suppose timing is an issue; you can work in a block of ten questions and set a time limit for each one.
