CFA Level 2 at a Glance
Quick answer: CFA Level 2 is the middle exam of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Program — and the one candidates call the real test. Instead of standalone questions, it gives you 22 item sets: mini case studies ("vignettes") with data exhibits, each followed by multiple-choice questions, 88 questions in all. The exam runs 4 hours 24 minutes, split into two equal sessions of 2 hours 12 minutes with an optional break.
Level 2 is offered three times a year — May, August and November. Registration costs USD 1,140 early or USD 1,490 standard, with no separate enrolment fee. You must have passed Level 1 first. In the newest published session, May 2026, 43% of candidates worldwide passed.
This guide covers the format, 2026 topic weights, who can register, dates, fees, results and how preparation changes after Level 1. Every fact comes from CFA Institute's own pages and PDFs, accessed 8 July 2026. New to the program? Start with what the CFA Program is.
What Makes Level 2 Different From Level 1?
Level 1 hands you one question at a time — 180 standalone questions across two 135-minute sessions, a fact or formula each, ninety seconds, done. Level 2 hands you a file. A vignette reads like a morning at a real analyst desk: a named portfolio manager, a company situation, paragraphs of narrative, then an "Exhibit 1" table of numbers. The questions test whether you can pull the right threads out of that file.
The rules of the game are official. Each item set "will begin with a statement of the topic and total point value", and — this is the discipline — "Multiple-choice questions in each item set must be answered based on the information in the vignette." Outside knowledge helps you read faster, but the answer evidence sits inside the case. CFA Institute's own sample sets are worth studying early: they show 12-point sets of four questions, with distractor data planted in the exhibits exactly the way real filings bury it.
What Is the Exam Format, Exactly?
The official specification, in numbers:
- 22 item sets, 88 questions. "The CFA Level II exam consists of 22 item sets comprised of vignettes with 88 accompanying multiple-choice questions" — four questions per vignette, each with three options (A, B, C).
- Two sessions of 2 hours 12 minutes. The exam "will be 4 hours and 24 minutes, split into two equal sessions of 2 hours and 12 minutes, with an optional break in-between." That is 132 minutes per session, 11 item sets in each.
- Not everything counts. "Twenty of these items are scored, and two are being trialed and will not be scored." By arithmetic, 80 of your 88 answers are scored — but the trial sets are not identified, so treat all 22 as real.
- Pace: about 3 minutes a question. 264 minutes across 88 questions — but that budget includes reading each vignette, so a set of four really works like a 12-minute block: read, then answer.
What Does Level 2 Test? (2026 Topic Weights)
The topics are the same ten you met at Level 1 — the depth is not. Here are CFA Institute's published Level 2 weights for the 2026 curriculum:
| Topic | Level 2 exam weight (2026) |
|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10–15% |
| Quantitative Methods | 5–10% |
| Economics | 5–10% |
| Financial Statement Analysis | 10–15% |
| Corporate Issuers | 5–10% |
| Equity Investments | 10–15% |
| Fixed Income | 10–15% |
| Derivatives | 5–10% |
| Alternative Investments | 5–10% |
| Portfolio Management | 10–15% |
Plain takeaway: five heavyweight topics — Ethics, Financial Statement Analysis, Equity, Fixed Income and Portfolio Management — can each run to 15% of your exam; none of the other five exceeds 10%.
Because every topic arrives as item sets, weights translate directly into vignette counts: a 10–15% topic is roughly two to three item sets on exam day. Equity and Financial Statement Analysis at Level 2 go deepest — full valuation cases and multi-exhibit statement analysis, the material we walk through in how to prepare for Level 2.
Planning for 2027? Level 2's topics and weights do not change. The 2027 update rewrites parts of Level 1 (Quantitative Methods, Equity, a new AI and data-science module); at Level 2 it only restructures Ethics — "Each Standard is now presented as its own module with targeted practice problems" — and enhances the Practical Skills Modules. Since Level 2 has no February window, the 2027 curriculum first hits Level 2 in the May 2027 window. Details in the 2027 curriculum changes guide.
Who Can Register for Level 2?
One hard gate: "Candidates must complete the three exams sequentially" — you sit Level 2 only after passing Level 1. There is no skipping, whatever your degree or experience.
Two more rules to check. If you entered the program as an undergraduate, the student ladder tightens: "To sit your Level II exam, you must be within 11 months of graduation." And every candidate still needs a valid international travel passport whose details exactly match their CFA Institute account. The complete entry rules — including the 23-month student window at Level 1 and the no-degree route — are in our CFA eligibility guide.
When Is Level 2 Held?
Level 2 runs in three windows a year. CFA Institute's registration guide: "Level I exams will be offered each quarter, Level II exams will be offered three times, and Level III exams will be offered twice per year." For Level 2 those windows are May, August and November — there is no February sitting, in 2026 or 2027.
Plan on one attempt a year in practice. CFA Institute's own candidate letter states that "Level II and III candidates may sit for only one exam each year", and its eligibility policy separately bars attempts in consecutive windows or windows less than six months apart. Between those rules, a failed May attempt realistically retries the following May.
Booking works like Level 1: register on the CFA Institute site (early deadline = cheaper fee), then pick a seat in the Prometric scheduling tool. Appointments are first-come, first-served, and rescheduling inside your window costs USD 250. Live registration deadlines and window dates for every upcoming cycle stay updated on our CFA exam dates hub. The screen-by-screen flow is in the registration guide.
How Much Does Level 2 Cost?
Level 2 registration costs USD 1,140 at the early deadline or USD 1,490 at the standard deadline — identical to Level 1 (Level 3 runs USD 1,240/1,590). The fee includes the full digital curriculum and study tools. There is no enrolment fee at any point: CFA Institute eliminated the one-time USD 350 charge from 29 April 2025.
The only common extra is the USD 250 rescheduling fee if you move your appointment within the window. For the complete cost picture in rupees — all three levels, taxes, retake scenarios, books and coaching — see the CFA fees breakdown.
Results, the MPS and the PSM
Results arrive by email "within 5-9 weeks after the close of your exam window" — in the May 2026 cycle, the window closed 23 May and Level 2 results landed 25 June. Your report shows pass or fail, topic-level performance, and a scale score against the minimum passing score (MPS). The MPS is set by CFA Institute's Board of Governors and never published as a percentage — no official "you need 65%" exists.
Do not forget the Practical Skills Module (PSM). One PSM is mandatory at each level, and the deadline rule is brutal in the nicest way: "If you do not complete a PSM by the time results are released, your exam result will be voided." At Level 2 in 2026 you choose from Python Programming Fundamentals ("Python I"), Python, Data Science & AI ("Python II"), or Analyst Skills — each budgeted at 10–20 hours, and you cannot reuse the module you did at Level 1.
How hard is Level 2 right now? The May 2026 session passed 43% of 18,111 candidates; November 2025 passed 42%. The first-time-versus-deferral gap is stark — 48% vs 25% in May 2026. Context, trends and how the MPS process works are in our CFA pass rates explainer.
How Should You Prepare for Level 2?
Level 1 preparation habits — read, memorise, drill single questions — get people to the Level 2 door and then fail them at it. What changes:
- Work in item sets from month one. Every practice session should end with at least one full vignette under the 12-minute clock. Single-question drilling builds recall; vignette drilling builds extraction — the actual exam skill.
- Go deep on the big five. Ethics, FSA, Equity, Fixed Income and Portfolio Management can be up to 15% each. FSA and Equity vignettes reward the same statement-reading muscles we build in financial modeling — the skills compound.
- Keep the same calculator discipline. Only the TI BA II Plus (incl. Professional) and HP 12C (incl. Platinum editions) are allowed, and your calculator is inspected at the centre.
- Front-load the PSM. Knock out the 10–20 hours right after registering, so results week is never hostage to an unfinished module.
Candidates report over 300 hours of preparation per level, and at Level 2 the hours are heavier per page because everything is applied. Our Level 2 preparation guide maps the study sequence, and if you want structured coaching through the vignette grind, see the CFA coaching programme.
CFA Level 2 FAQs
22 item sets — case vignettes with data exhibits — carrying 88 multiple-choice questions in total, four per vignette. The exam runs 4 hours 24 minutes as two sessions of 2 hours 12 minutes with an optional break. Twenty item sets are scored; two are unscored trial sets you cannot identify.
Level 1 asks standalone questions that test whether you know each tool. Level 2 wraps everything in case vignettes: you read a scenario and exhibits, then answer only from that information. Same ten topics — the test shifts from recall to application.
Level 2 runs three times a year — May, August and November. CFA Institute's candidate letter states Level 2 and 3 candidates sit only one exam each year, and its policy bars attempts in windows less than six months apart, so plan on one attempt per year. Live dates are on our CFA exam dates hub.
Yes — the exams must be completed sequentially. If you entered the program as an undergraduate, you must also be within 11 months of graduation to sit Level 2, and every candidate needs a valid international travel passport.
USD 1,140 with early registration or USD 1,490 standard, the same as Level 1, with no separate enrolment fee (eliminated 29 April 2025). Rescheduling your appointment within a window costs USD 250, and local taxes are extra.
43% in the May 2026 session, from 18,111 candidates worldwide — with first-time candidates at 48% versus 25% for candidates who had deferred. November 2025 passed 42%. Recent Level 2 windows cluster in the low-to-mid 40s.
Yes. You must complete one PSM by the results release date or your exam result is voided. In 2026 the Level 2 options are Python Programming Fundamentals, Python, Data Science & AI, or Analyst Skills — 10–20 hours online, and you cannot repeat the module you used at Level 1.
