Ethics adjustment

CFA Level II
#1

I thought that it was a legend ethics ajustment but apparently not;

"What is the “ethics adjustment”?

The Board of Governors instituted a policy to place particular emphasis on ethics. Starting with the 1996 exams, the performance on the ethics section became a factor in the pass/fail decision for candidates whose total scores bordered the minimum passing score. The ethics adjustment can have a positive or negative impact on these candidates’ final results.

CFA Institute has a policy of not releasing either the minimum passing score or individual candidate scores. Consequently, CFA Institute does not release specific information about the ethics adjustment or the candidates who were affected. The adjustment has had a net positive effect on candidate scores (and thus pass rates) in most exam sessions. The published pass rates always take into account the ethics adjustment for borderline candidates. "

http://www.cfainstitute.org/utility/faq/Pages/index.aspx

#2

Unfortunately it is true. It scared me because I knew I had bombed the ethics but felt pretty good about everything else. Turns out I got <50% in ethics but did well enough in the rest of the exam to pass. My guess is this applies only when you are really borderline.

#3

It’s true. Believe it. Be scared of it.

Look through the pass and fail matrices and it is obvious. If you get < 50 in ethics you need to kick ass in everything else to pass.