In May 2023, 52% of the 15,895 candidates worldwide who sat for the Level II CFA® Program exam passed, above the 10-year average of 45%,^[1] the CFA Institute said. That was the highest percentage since the 2020 test when pass rate dropped to as low as 29% during the pandemic in August 2021. The May result also represents an improvement on the 44% success rate^[2] for those who sat for the exam in November 2022.

Chris Wiese, CFA, Managing Director, Education at CFA Institute, congratulated the successful Level II candidates. “The Level II pass rate continues to normalise from the depths of the pandemic as candidates’ study schedules get back on track. The May Level II cohort returned a notable pass rate of 52%, which comes in above the 10-year average. Over time, we have seen that pass rate spikes do occur, and it’s nice to see more candidates making good progress through the CFA Program.”

Lisa Carroll, CEO of CFA Societies Australia, said: “Congratulations to all successful candidates in Australia. Locally, we have seen the pass rate improve too as financial professionals’ learning normalises. We saw a double-digit percentage increase in the number of candidates in Australia who sat for the Level II exam in May compared to the previous sitting last year. This is also the largest number of Level II candidates since pandemic-related lockdown measures were implemented across Australia in late 2021.

“We have been pleased to congratulate and welcome nearly 300 new charterholders in Australia in the past year as our membership continues to grow. We are very encouraged by these signs of green shoots, as more candidates realise their career aspirations and potential,” Carroll said.

“Importantly, being a CFA charterholder can help professionals move ahead of their peers with competency-based education in essential areas such as financial markets functioning, quantitative analysis, portfolio and risk management, financial statement analysis, derivatives and alternative investments. Ethics education too enables professionals to resolve ethical dilemmas in the best interest of their clients, which is crucial to maintaining trust in, and the robustness of, the financial services industry,” she said.

Candidates for the May Level II CFA Program exams attended in person at one of 471 proctored computer-based examination venues located in 361 cities in 102 markets worldwide. Exam Levels I and II were held during the May testing period.

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[1] https://www.cfainstitute.org/-/media/documents/support/programs/cfa/cfa-exam-results-since-1963.pdf
[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-19/cfa-level-ii-pass-rate-rises-to-44-closer-to-historic-average

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