The full format
That is the whole official format, and it is published by CFA Institute rather than inferred from past papers.
| Level I | Level II | |
|---|---|---|
| Total questions | 180 | 88 |
| Question type | Standalone | 22 item sets of 4 |
| Sessions | 2 | 2 |
| Questions per session | 90 | 44 |
| Time per session | 135 min | 132 min |
| Average time per question | 90 s | 3 min |
| Answer options | 3 (A, B, C) | 3 (A, B, C) |
| Penalty for a wrong answer | None | None |
How many questions are in each session?
90 questions per session, in two sessions of 135 minutes each.
The two sessions are sat on the same day with a break between them. Each is its own locked block: you cannot return to session 1 after the break, and you cannot start session 2 early to bank time.
Practise on the real exam timing
Create a free account and keep every question you miss in one review list.
How long do you get per question?
90 seconds, if you spend your 135 minutes evenly across 90 questions.
It is enough for a clean item and not enough for a messy one. The candidates who run out of time are rarely the ones who cannot do the maths.
Common mistake: spending three minutes on a question you were never going to finish, and then rushing the last fifteen. A usable rule: if you have not started an answer at 60 seconds, mark it, guess, and move on. You can return inside the same session. You cannot return to time you have already spent.
Try one against the clock. About 90 seconds is your budget.
A quantitative researcher extracts a random sample of 20 observations from a normally distributed asset return population whose true variance is completely unknown. To execute a valid hypothesis test concerning the exact value of the population mean, the most appropriate test statistic to apply is the:
Ten more free Quantitative Methods questions →How many questions per topic?
CFA Institute publishes a weight range for each topic, not a fixed question count.
The ranges are revised between cycles, so a page that tells you "exactly 27 Ethics questions" is inventing a number. In 2026 Ethics is the heaviest topic (15 to 20%) and Derivatives the lightest. From 2027 the ranges flatten: Ethics drops to 10 to 15%, Quantitative Methods rises to 11 to 14%, and four topics share that 11 to 14% band at the top, with Ethics just around them. The exact counts inside a range are not fixed. The current ranges, and the source, are on the topic pages.
| Topic | Weight | About |
|---|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10 to 15% | 18 to 27 |
| Quantitative Methods | 11 to 14% | 20 to 25 |
| Economics | 6 to 9% | 11 to 16 |
| Financial Statement Analysis | 11 to 14% | 20 to 25 |
| Corporate Finance | 6 to 9% | 11 to 16 |
| Equities | 11 to 14% | 20 to 25 |
| Fixed Income | 11 to 14% | 20 to 25 |
| Derivatives | 6 to 9% | 11 to 16 |
| Alternative Investments | 6 to 9% | 11 to 16 |
| Portfolio Construction | 8 to 12% | 14 to 22 |
Is there a penalty for guessing?
No. A wrong answer and a blank answer score exactly the same.
With three options a guess is already a one-in-three chance, and a blank is a guaranteed zero. There is never a reason to leave a question unanswered. Finish the paper.
If time runs short, put an answer on every question you have not reached rather than leave it blank. Better still, practise so it does not happen: sit at least one full 180-question mock in two timed sittings before you decide you are ready. See how to judge readiness.
How many practice questions should you do?
Most serious candidates land between 1,000 and 1,500 before exam day.
180 is how many you will sit. It is not how many you should have answered before you sit them. Coverage of every subtopic, plus two revisits of everything you got wrong, is what produces that range. The arithmetic, and why a raw count is the wrong target, is in how many practice questions you actually need.
You can see the item style for yourself: ten free questions per topic, three options, full explanations, no account.