How is the exam graded? Is there a percentage overall you must pass, or do you have to pass a certain percentage for each topic, functional area? Thank you for you response.
you have to get greater than 70% in total. you could fail any section as long as you exceed 70%. im sceptical of those that say if you are borderline, they will look at your ethics score, but you never know.
If you are giving the sample exam, then u have to score > 70% overall to pass. But the passing score on the actual exam varies from year to year. This is stated on the CFA institute website. The minimum passing score (MPS) is set every year based on cumulative performance, examiner ratings of the paper and a few other factors. So say for example, one of the factors is cumulative performance, CFA institute will take 70% of the score of the top 1% performers which is say 90 (assuming) so the MPS will be 63%. The final decision depends on the board of governors. http://www.cfaexamblog.blogspot.com/
djjk1 i believe you are incorrect… From the CFAI website… "Why doesn’t CFA Institute let candidates know what score is required to pass the exams, or let candidates know what score they achieved on the exam? The minimum passing score (MPS) for each level of the exam is determined by the CFA Institute Board of Governors each year after the administration of the exams. Neither the MPS nor individual candidate scores have ever been released. To set the MPS before the administration of the exams would require that an absolute standard be applied without regard to the difficulty of the exams; this could potentially be very unfair to candidates, especially across time. To release the MPS and individual scores would also be unfair to candidates; CFA Institute does not consider one passing candidate to be more (or less) accomplished than another passing candidate merely because of their ranking relative to either the MPS or other candidate scores. To release scores would inevitably lead to such ranking, which would be especially unfair for candidates taking the same level exam in different years. Find out more about the history of the exam. I received at least 50 percent on almost all topics on my results score matrix, but I still did not pass. How can that happen? Candidates should not attempt to interpret an overall passing or failing score from the results matrix information. The minimum passing score for the exam is determined by many factors, and is not a predetermined or specific percentage of the points either for individual topic areas or for the entire exam. Specifically, candidates should not necessarily interpret scores between 50 and 70 percent as passing. What is the “ethics adjustment”? The Board of Governors instituted a policy many years ago 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 pass score. 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 therefore always take into account the ethics adjustment for borderline candidates. "
thanks jmuc. i stand corrected. definately time for me to revisit the ethics section cos in my opinion that is 36 questions in the exam that are easy to get right if you know the material inside out.
It’s a mystery…