FRM 90-day study plan: weekly tasks for either part
Use the first 84 days for twelve study weeks and the final six days as a buffer and taper. Follow the column for your next FRM part. At 20 hours each week, the example contains 240 planned study hours before the buffer.
| Week / days | Part I focus | Part II focus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 / days 1-7 | Foundations: governance and risk types | Market risk: measurement and backtesting |
| 2 / days 8-14 | Quant: probability and distributions | Market risk: stress, volatility and model limits |
| 3 / days 15-21 | Quant: estimation, regression and time series | Credit risk: exposure and loss |
| 4 / days 22-28 | Markets: bonds and interest rates | Credit risk: dependence and mitigation |
| 5 / days 29-35 | Markets: forwards, futures and swaps | Operational risk: governance and controls |
| 6 / days 36-42 | Markets: options and hedging | Operational resilience and third parties |
| 7 / days 43-49 | Valuation: VaR and expected shortfall | Liquidity and treasury risk |
| 8 / days 50-56 | Valuation: stress, credit and operational models | Risk and investment management |
| 9 / days 57-63 | Mixed coverage and weakest objectives | Current Issues synthesis and mixed repair |
| 10 / days 64-70 | Full mock 1 and diagnosis | Full mock 1 and diagnosis |
| 11 / days 71-77 | Repair, full mock 2 and diagnosis | Repair, full mock 2 and diagnosis |
| 12 / days 78-84 | Final review and exam logistics | Final review and exam logistics |
| Days 85-90 | Short recall, recurring errors and exam-day preparation. | Short scenario review, reading synthesis and exam-day preparation. |
- Study blocks
- 12 weeks84 days of planned study.
- Buffer
- 6 daysAbsorb disruption and taper.
- Capacity
- 20 h/week240 planned hours before the buffer.
Make the hours explicit
The 12-week example uses 20 hours per week, for 240 hours in total. GARP reports approximately 240 study hours as an average, with wide variation. That reference is not a minimum or a guarantee. The same 240-hour budget can be spread over 24 weeks at 10 hours.
| Phase | Learning / repair | Questions / mocks | Review | Weekly total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-8 | 10 hours | 6 hours | 4 hours | 20 hours |
| Week 9 | 6 hours | 8 hours | 6 hours | 20 hours |
| Weeks 10-11 | 4 hours | 8 hours, including one 4-hour mock | 8 hours | 20 hours |
| Week 12 | 4 hours | 6 hours of short familiar blocks | 10 hours including logistics | 20 hours |
Check the calendar against your real week
Count hours you can protect after work, sleep, travel and family commitments. Do not assume unused weekday sessions can always be recovered on a weekend. The six buffer days should absorb disruption, not hold the entire last topic.
Scale: 0 to 240 hours
- 10 hours/week120
- 15 hours/week180
- 20 hours/week240
Original worked example
You can protect 12 hours per week for twelve weeks. How does that compare with this 240-hour example?
12 × 12 = 144 hours, leaving a 96-hour difference.
Reduce the scope only if diagnostic evidence supports it, increase realistic capacity, or choose a longer preparation horizon. The arithmetic does not establish whether 144 hours is enough for you.
Use the buffer deliberately
This is an illustrative editorial plan, not a GARP timetable or a passing-score prediction. Adjust it to your starting knowledge and fresh practice results.
If you miss a week, reschedule the topic and its review together. Preserve at least one realistic mock and its diagnosis. For Part II, schedule the eight Current Issues readings across weeks 1-8, then synthesize them in week 9.
- 1
Behind on coverage
Recalculate the remaining work and available hours before committing to a catch-up promise.
- 2
Behind on practice
Use shorter mixed blocks and review them fully; do not count rushed guesses as completed learning.
- 3
On track
Keep the final days light enough to arrive rested and prepared.
Check whether this calendar fits your starting point
The calendar is an example of how to distribute work for one part. Before day one, compare its topics with the exam-year objectives and mark each as familiar, partially understood or new. Then attempt a small diagnostic across areas. Familiarity from a previous course can reduce some learning work, but it should not remove practice or coverage checks.
A candidate with broad prerequisite gaps may need a longer horizon even when 20 weekly hours are available. A returning candidate may use more of those hours for repair and timed practice. Keep the sequence flexible enough to reflect that evidence while retaining every domain and the final rehearsal. GARP’s preparation benchmark describes reported study time; it is not an individual prescription.
Protect review time inside the weekly budget. A question block creates follow-up work when answers are wrong, guessed or slow. If you schedule all available hours as new reading, the error record grows without a repair slot. The learning, practice and review columns above make those competing uses of time explicit.
Replan a missed week without borrowing imaginary hours
Suppose week four is lost to work commitments. At 20 hours a week, the original plan now has a 20-hour gap. The remaining weekends do not automatically contain spare time: their hours are already in the budget. List the unfinished tasks and estimate which can move, which require prerequisite work and which are essential to the planned mock.
You could redistribute specific tasks across later weeks if those weeks have genuine capacity, extend the preparation horizon, or use some buffer while preserving exam-day preparation. Do not remove an entire topic simply because its weight is lower. Record the revised commitment rather than keeping a calendar that no longer matches reality.
At the end of weeks four and eight, review coverage and recurring errors alongside the time budget. The purpose is to find a capacity problem while you can still respond. Use the final six days for short review and manageable spillover, not an unplanned first pass through several domains.
| Checkpoint | Decision to make |
|---|---|
| Before day 1 | Does the plan fit one part, my prerequisites and available hours? |
| End of week 4 | Which unfinished tasks must be moved, with real time assigned? |
| End of week 8 | Is there enough coverage to make the mock informative? |
| Days 85-90 | Which small repairs matter most, and are admission preparations complete? |
Common questions
- Does this plan prepare both parts in 90 days?
- No. Follow the column for one part. Each column is an alternative plan for your next sitting.
- Is 240 hours an official requirement?
- No. GARP reports an approximate average with wide variation. This plan uses it as an illustrative budget.
- When should I read Current Issues?
- Throughout Part II preparation. The example spreads the eight 2026 readings across the first eight weeks, with synthesis later.
Sources and editorial notes
By MiloPrep editorial team. Source check: . Official requirements and product information can change. Examples and planning allocations are independent teaching material, not official questions or passing standards.
- GARP: program and exams ↗
Exam counts, timing, topic areas, preparation benchmark and results policy.
- GARP: 2026 Learning Objectives download ↗
2026 syllabus, approximate weights and reading-level objectives; download page reports a December 1, 2025 last update.
MiloPrep is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by GARP or the named providers. FRM and provider names are trademarks of their respective owners. Editorial methodology.
Notes
- * Twelve-week capacity at different weekly commitments: Arithmetic examples, not pass probabilities or required minimum hours. ↩ Return to content