CFA Level I 2027 Exam Blueprint and Topic Weights
Map CFA Program Level I's 2027 topic weights to a practical readiness checklist, with the official session structure and Finance Prep practice boundaries.
Use this map to check coverage before choosing your next practice set. The weights and session assignments below come from CFA Institute; the readiness prompts are independent study guidance. This page supports the 2027 curriculum, effective from February 2027. Use your registered year’s materials if your sitting is earlier.
Official 2027 topic weights
| Topic | Exam weight | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Ethical and Professional Standards | 10–15% | 1 |
| Quantitative Methods | 11–14% | 1 |
| Economics | 6–9% | 1 |
| Financial Statement Analysis | 11–14% | 1 |
| Corporate Finance | 6–9% | 1 |
| Equities | 11–14% | 2 |
| Fixed Income | 11–14% | 2 |
| Derivatives and Risk Management | 6–9% | 2 |
| Alternative Investments | 6–9% | 2 |
| Portfolio Construction | 8–12% | 2 |
Source: CFA Institute’s Level I exam page , checked October 5, 2026. These are ranges, not exact counts for a particular exam. Do not add all the upper or lower bounds and treat the result as a fixed allocation.
The official exam has 180 questions, with 90 questions in each 135-minute session. Each item has three choices and one best answer. All questions carry equal weight, and incorrect answers do not incur a penalty.
Turn coverage into evidence
For each area, attempt unfamiliar questions without notes. Mark your result as explain, partial or revisit: a correct guess belongs in the latter two categories until you can justify it.
| Area | A useful check before moving on |
|---|---|
| Ethics | Identify whose duty controls the decision and justify an action from the case facts. |
| Quantitative Methods | Match return, discounting or statistical methods to the question; explain the result’s limits. |
| Economics | Trace a policy or market change through to the investment consequence. |
| Financial Statement Analysis | Reconcile statement effects before interpreting a ratio; identify the reporting basis. |
| Corporate Finance | Compare a financing or investment decision using cash flows, incentives and constraints. |
| Equities | Connect valuation assumptions to the business evidence and distinguish value from market price. |
| Fixed Income | Explain how yield, cash-flow timing and credit conditions affect price and risk. |
| Derivatives and Risk Management | Separate contract value, payoff and profit; identify the exposure a hedge changes. |
| Alternative Investments | Compare structures and fees using consistent return measures and liquidity assumptions. |
| Portfolio Construction | Match portfolio choices to investor constraints and explain what diversification can change. |
Use the official 2027 Level I topic outline for the complete learning outcomes. The short checks above help diagnose gaps; they are not a replacement syllabus.
What changed for 2027
CFA Institute’s 2027 curriculum announcement highlights expanded Quantitative Methods work in estimation, simulation, portfolio optimisation and financial data science, plus more applied equity analysis and valuation. Ethics was also updated. This is why a 2026 checklist should not be reused unchanged.
When revising from older notes, compare each topic against the assigned 2027 outcomes. Keep useful foundations, but check missing material, changed terminology and current errata before using those notes to judge readiness.
Use the appropriate practice format
| Practice surface | Best use | Boundary to remember |
|---|---|---|
| Finance Prep topic practice | Repair a specific concept or calculation gap with explained answers. | Cover all ten topics; a strong favourite topic does not replace broad preparation. |
| Finance Prep mixed sets | Apply methods without a topic label telling you what to use. | Review guesses as well as incorrect answers. |
| Finance Prep timed mock | Practise concentration and pacing across a longer set. | The app currently uses one pausable 270-minute timer, not the official two-session structure. |
| Public practice exam | Try a fixed full-length set and inspect the explanations. | Topics are mixed across both blocks; it does not reproduce official session assignments. |
The public set’s topic counts are an editorial allocation within the official ranges. Neither its score nor an app score is a validated pass prediction. Use fresh questions, your reasoning and your coverage record together when deciding what to revisit.
Use the study plan to schedule that work and the cheat sheet for concise recall. CFA Institute’s current documents remain authoritative for exam policies and curriculum requirements; see Official Resources .