It’s pretty odd that CFAI doesn’t send everyone paper explaining this. The way the passing scores on the CFA exams has been determined has changed through the years. At times, there were very specific formulaic ways of doing it. For years the standard was 70% of the score of the 95th percentile. Obviously with that way of doing it, a 70% would guarantee a pass. They don’t do it that way anymore but that 70% number has enduring power. The way it’s done now is that there are charterholders who are called standard-setters. The standard setters gather in Charlottesville and look at exams and discuss what a “minimally qualified” LII CFA candidate should know. Nobody really knows what that means, but essentially they just look at tests and come up with the passing score. CFAI calls this the “Angoff Method” (which I personally find an offensive corruption of what the Angoff method is supposed to be). That means that there is no passing score now. The score will be determined in late June and it will essentially be based on some subset of tests that are examined by the standard setters as well as whatever discussions go on around the conference table. However, it is very unlikely that the passing score will be greater than 70 and it’s very unlikely that the passing score will be below 60. There have been lots of scores posted on AF over the years and there is no exam and no year in which I think a reasonable argument could be made that the passing score was outside this range.
So this is a variation on the top 1% method, which at least sounds more objective.
The top 1% method (I wrote top 5% method above which is an error) is better IMHO. There is much less variability in the % passing if you use a quant method like that. One “take-charge” standard setter can really mess with the % passing this way - look at how last year’s LIII results seem wildly inconsistent with historical averages.
thanks for the info !! at least I know now 
Has anyone on the board ever been a part of that roundtable?
Not me although I’ve been a grader. To be a standard setter, you need to be a grader for a bunch of years.
Joey, a grader is only for L3, right?
Yes, although I’ve done only LII when that was graded.
i have a question, ppl say that CFA institution will pick a certain % of highest result to pass the exam. and i want to know whether they are based on regional candidate population or all candidate population ard the world, such as, they will pick up a certian % of highest result in different countries or states…etc?
There is no differentiation based on country, state, age, or anything else. Just a bunch of tests with candidate numbers on them.
So which means if asian candidates’ paper will be sent back to US rather than marked in their own regional offices?
Does CFA say some questions are weighted more than others in determining the passing scores by these so called standard setters?
gingerduck Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So which means if asian candidates’ paper will be > sent back to US rather than marked in their own > regional offices? Not clear on multiple choice, but all exams might be sent to Charlottesville to assist with standard setting.
pepp Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Does CFA say some questions are weighted more than > others in determining the passing scores by these > so called standard setters? No
Thanks Joey! Milos
I know this has been discussed to no end at this board. But as a candidate, I would prefer to know that all the effort that is being put into such an enormous undertaking is fairly judged with unambigious rules and policies. I think we need a CFA-Sox
The exam is geared toward The US securities market, and is written by people in the US. So, one would think that people who are born (native to this country) here in the US would have an advantage. However, that does not appear to be the case.
not true@ written by people in the US. i believe more than half the candidates are international
“written” here is in the American sense that means “authored” not in the un-American sense of “taken exam”
i know this is a globalized program, but this “writing” = “taking” business has to stop. i’m taking the exam on saturday, and doing very little writing in the process.