90-day CFA study plan: all weeks, hours and checkpoints

The complete 90-day calendar, for every level

Follow the column for your level; the other columns are visible for comparison. Each week includes question practice and error review. The topics describe study blocks, so use your exam-year outline for the exact modules and learning outcomes.

At Level III, “pathway” means your selected Portfolio Management, Private Markets or Private Wealth material. Practise written responses throughout. These are editorial planning allocations, not CFA Institute minimum hours or pass predictions.

Can you realistically prepare in 90 days?

Three months is a calendar length, not evidence of readiness. This example is intensive: 28 total weekly hours during the first ten weeks once PSM work is included. If you have 12 available hours, a spreadsheet with 28 scheduled hours is not an achievable plan.

Take a short diagnostic before adopting the schedule. Assess prerequisite gaps, work deadlines and the time needed to review explanations. A candidate revisiting familiar material may need a different allocation from someone learning reporting or valuation for the first time.

A weekly routine that funds all 26 study hours

This is one allocation you can rearrange around work. Keep learning, question practice and review in the same week so you discover misunderstandings before moving far beyond them.

What to check at days 28, 56 and 84

A checkpoint should change your next action. Completion percentages based only on pages read can hide large gaps in recall or application.

How to recover from a missed week

First measure the missing work: which outcomes were skipped, which practice was omitted and which scheduled reviews were lost. Recovering a week of new learning is different from recovering a missed mock and its diagnosis.

Reschedule the highest-value unfinished tasks into genuine spare capacity. Avoid doubling every following day on paper. If the plan no longer fits, review the official options and deadlines for your booked exam; the existence of a study schedule does not establish eligibility for a deferral.

1. STEP 1

   Keep the diagnostic work

   Retain fresh questions and error review so you can judge whether the compressed learning is working.

2. STEP 2

   Remove duplication first

   Drop repeated videos, copied notes or a second explanation source when the outcome is already understood.

3. STEP 3

   Protect the final rehearsal

   You still need evidence that pacing and recall hold over two sessions, not only in isolated questions.

Exam windows and expected results periods

Common questions

Is 12 weeks the same as 90 days?

No. Twelve weeks is 84 days. This calendar explicitly adds six final buffer and taper days, so no days disappear from the plan.

Does the schedule guarantee I can pass in three months?

No. It is a workload example. Background knowledge, available hours and performance on fresh timed practice determine whether that runway is suitable.

Can I use this for Level II or III?

Yes, use the visible topic column for your level. Level II practice centers on item sets; Level III requires written responses alongside MCQs and your selected pathway. The level pages provide the detailed weekly tasks.

Are PSM hours included in the 26-hour week?

No. In this example, two PSM hours are added in weeks 1-10, making 28 hours for those weeks. The remaining two weeks allocate 26 exam-study hours each.