I have a doubt with regards to the application of the “Ethics Adjustment” to determine whether one passes or fails.
My understanding is that the first and most prominent criteria is the percentage of correct answers across all questions without any special considerations to Ethics.
A possible “Ethics Adjustment” only applies for candidates just below or above the MPS : i.e. a candidate that was just short of the MPS yet scored highly in Ethics might make it. Conversely, a candidate just above the MPS who did not score highly in Ethics might still fail.
My conclusion is that the Ethics score only plays a role when one is very close to the MPS? The reason I am asking is that I felt quite good overall with the exam (so solid >70%), yet I have a feeling that I may have scored below MPS in Ethics …
from the CFA website - it doesnt seem to imply that it only applies to L1:
_ 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.
_ Do I have to pass each of the individual topic areas in order to pass an exam level? _
No. As long as you achieve a total score above the minimum passing score (MPS) set by the CFA Institute Board of Governors, you would pass the exam regardless of your performance on any individual topic. However, we advise against any “test wise” strategy that recommends ignoring a topic in your study. Offsetting a zero score in a topic could be difficult. Also review the ethics adjustment FAQ for additional information.Most important, an objective of the CFA Program is to develop candidate knowledge and skills to a generalist level in all covered topics. Employers have found this is one of the competitive advantages of charterholders.
Also be sure that you have clearly stated your intended answers. Candidates who change an answer or copy material from a template to lined pages (or vice versa) should cross out any material they do not intend as part of their answer. Graders must consider all material you submit, and if there is confusion or contradictory information, you will not receive credit.
Ethics, no matter how I tried, mocks and practice tests always had a way to f** me up the a** and me asking for more… So my expectations were not very high. In the end, I picked the 3 Standards I struggled most with and thought were going to be tested (responsibilities of supervisors, fair dealing and the 11 elements of the objectivity standards) and memorized the sh** out of them, flashcards and all. But even then I can’t say I did extremely well, judging by 2-3 questions I had to leave over for late-game guessing. Problem for me with Ethics is that in practice/mock, I would answer stuff and be pretty confident about how what I answered made perfect sense, only to discover I got blown because of detail X or Y.
