CFA Level I Syllabus & Topic Weights (2025): What to Study First
- Dimitri Dangeros, CFA, CAIA
- Aug 20
- 7 min read
If you’re sitting CFA Level I in 2025 (or planning early for 2026), this definitive guide lays out the official topic weights, the curriculum structure, and a practical, data-driven study order so you know exactly where to spend your time. All facts and figures here reflect the latest CFA Institute materials for 2025–2026, including the Level I exam outline and the combined topic-outlines PDFs.
How Level I is structured in 2025–2026 (quick orientation)
Format: 180 multiple-choice questions across two 135-minute sessions (90 questions per session).
Topics: Ten core areas with official weight ranges (see table below).
PSM requirement: You must complete one Practical Skills Module (PSM) to receive your result (e.g., Python Programming Fundamentals, Data Science & AI, or Analyst Skills; exact menu may vary over time). The PSM is required but separate from topic weights.
Why this matters for your plan: the exam’s scoring comes from the ten topics; the PSM is a compliance requirement—plan 10–20 hours for it outside your topic study.
Official Level I Topic Weights (2025–2026)
The CFA Institute publishes weight ranges (not fixed percentages) to keep exam blueprints flexible while signaling relative emphasis. These ranges below are the latest shown on the Level I exam page and curriculum overview.
Topic (Level I) | 2025–2026 Weight Range |
Ethical & Professional Standards | 15–20% |
Quantitative Methods | 6–9% |
Economics | 6–9% |
Financial Statement Analysis (FSA) | 11–14% |
Corporate Issuers | 6–9% |
Equity Investments | 11–14% |
Fixed Income | 11–14% |
Derivatives | 5–8% |
Alternative Investments | 7–10% |
Portfolio Management | 8–12% |
Note: These ranges apply to the 2025–2026 cycle and are the best current signal of topic importance. Always verify in your CFA Institute candidate tile as you register.
What to study first (and why): a prioritized roadmap
A smart sequence blends (1) weight, (2) foundational dependency, and (3) question density vs. effort. Below is a recommended order that balances those factors for 2025–2026.
Tier 1: High-weight, high-utility (start here)
Financial Statement Analysis (11–14%)
Why first: One of the three heaviest buckets; appears across industries and feeds Equity/Fixed Income valuation intuition.
Core learning outcomes (2025/2026): statement linkages, revenue/expense recognition, cash flows (direct/indirect), inventory, long-lived assets, pensions/stock comp, taxes, financial reporting quality.
Ethics (15–20%)
Why early (and late): Highest weight band; learning compounds with experience questions. Study early, revisit in the last 2–3 weeks to sharpen judgement.
Scope: Code & Standards, GIPS introduction, ethics frameworks.
Fixed Income (11–14%)
Why now: Heavy weight plus time-value/discounting mechanics that appear broadly.
Scope highlights: yields & spreads, price/yield dynamics, return drivers, credit basics, securitization.
Equity Investments (11–14%)
Why now: Another heavy bucket, natural follow-on to FSA for valuation logic.
Scope highlights: market structures/indexes, industry & company analysis basics, dividend/FCF metrics, basic valuation models.
Tier 2: Foundation builders that unlock others
Quantitative Methods (6–9%)
Why here: Underpins Portfolio/Derivatives/Fixed Income math. Early placement pays dividends.
2025/2026 LO examples: rates & returns, TVM, distribution properties, sampling/inference, hypothesis testing, simple regression, big-data/ML basics.
Portfolio Management (8–12%)
Why here: Builds on Quant; introduces risk/return measurement, investor needs, and portfolio construction.
Scope: CAPM intuition, risk budgeting, planner’s lens—use as glue between asset classes.
Tier 3: Medium weights with focused breadth
Economics (6–9%)
Why now: Macro/FX logic supports Equity, Fixed Income, and Portfolio questions; manageable if you pace it.
Scope: market structures, business cycles, fiscal/monetary policy, geopolitics basics, trade & FX.
Corporate Issuers (6–9%)
Why now: Capital budgeting, WACC, capital structure—bridges corporate finance with valuation.
Scope: governance & stakeholders, working capital, capital allocation & real options, WACC, business models.
Tier 4: Smaller weights, targeted wins
Alternative Investments (7–10%)
Why here: Moderate weight; conceptual breadth with less math than derivatives.
Scope: hedge funds, PE, RE, commodities, infrastructure; role in diversification
Derivatives (5–8%)
Why last: Lowest band and depends on time-value/return math; schedule once Quant & Portfolio are solid.
Scope: forwards/futures/swaps/options basics, arbitrage intuition.
Study hours & allocation model CFA Level I Syllabus & Topic Weights (2025)
Assuming a typical ~300 hours of prep time (a long-standing guidance reiterated on the Level I page), you can allocate hours proportionally to the midpoint of each range, then adjust for your strengths. Below is a pragmatic allocation using weight midpoints from the official ranges.
Topic | Weight Midpoint | Suggested Hours (≈300h) |
Ethics | 17.5% | 53 |
Quantitative Methods | 7.5% | 23 |
Economics | 7.5% | 23 |
Financial Statement Analysis | 12.5% | 38 |
Corporate Issuers | 7.5% | 23 |
Equity Investments | 12.5% | 38 |
Fixed Income | 12.5% | 38 |
Derivatives | 6.5% | 20 |
Alternative Investments | 8.5% | 26 |
Portfolio Management | 10% | 30 |
Total | 100% | ~312 |
Adjust up/down by ±10–20% per topic based on your background (e.g., accounting grads can trim FSA a bit and reallocate to Ethics/Fixed Income; engineers often trim Quant and move time to FSA/Ethics).
Topic-by-topic: where the points come from (2025–2026)
Below are succinct, exam-oriented checklists using learning-outcome themes from the 2025 and 2026 combined topic-outlines. Use these as “must-master” guides before you move on.
Ethics (15–20%)
Code & Standards; Professionalism; Integrity of Capital Markets; Duties to Clients/Employers; Investment Analysis/Recommendations/Actions; Conflicts; Responsibilities of Supervisors; intro to GIPS. CFA Level I Syllabus & Topic Weights (2025)
Tactics: spaced repetition of Standards; do end-of-chapter scenarios; re-read in final 10–14 days.
Quantitative Methods (6–9%)
Rates/returns; TVM; descriptive stats (location/dispersion/skew/kurtosis); probability (trees, Bayes); sampling & CLT; hypothesis testing; simple linear regression; simulation & bootstrapping; safety-first.
Economics (6–9%)
Firm & market structures; business cycles & indicators; fiscal vs monetary policy; central bank tools & limits; trade theory & restrictions; FX regimes; cross rates and forward pricing; intro to geopolitics & risk.
Financial Statement Analysis (11–14%)
Analysis framework & sources; income statement (revenue/expense recognition; EPS), balance sheet (intangibles, goodwill, financial instruments, non-current liabilities), cash flow (direct/indirect; FCFF/FCFE); inventory; long-lived assets; pensions/stock comp; deferred taxes; reporting quality.
Corporate Issuers (6–9%)
Governance & stakeholder conflicts; working capital & liquidity; capital budgeting (NPV/IRR/ROIC/real options); WACC and capital structure; business models.
Equity Investments (11–14%)
Market organization; indexes; industry & company analysis basics; equity valuation intro (DDM/relative/FCF).
Fixed Income (11–14%)
Bond characteristics & markets; yield measures; price-yield math; drivers of return & risk; credit analysis foundations; securitization.
Derivatives (5–8%)
Forwards/futures/swaps/options features; no-arbitrage price relations; payoff diagrams in words; terminologies; margining basics.
Alternative Investments (7–10%)
Hedge funds, private equity, real estate, commodities, infrastructure; roles in diversification; fee structures & benchmarking basics.
Portfolio Management (8–12%)
Investor objectives & constraints; risk/return measurement; CAPM intuition; portfolio planning and construction, including policy statements and solution sets.
A 6-step weekly routine (proven to work with the 2025–2026 curriculum)
Concept blocks first, questions daily: Read a learning module (LM), then immediately do 15–25 targeted questions. The Level I page links to sample questions and the Learning Ecosystem—use them from Day 1.
Interleave Quant with Fixed Income/Portfolio: Rotating these builds retention (TVM ⇒ bond pricing ⇒ CAPM/metrics).
Close each week with mini-mocks (45–60 mins): Mix 30–40 questions from two topics to practice switching contexts like the real exam.
PSM sprints: Reserve two 90-minute sessions per week for your PSM so it doesn’t crowd your final month. You must complete one PSM to receive your result.
Ethics twice: Do Ethics once in the first 4–6 weeks, then again in the last 2–3 weeks. The retake payoff is real at 15–20%.
Errata check: Before your last month, quickly check the curriculum errata link on the Level I page so you’re not memorizing a corrected formula the wrong way.
Milestone plan (12–16 weeks)
Weeks 1–4: Quant foundations → FSA I (IS/BS/CF) → Fixed Income basics → start PSM.
Weeks 5–8: FSA II (inventories, long-lived assets, pensions, taxes, quality) → Equity → Portfolio.
Weeks 9–10: Economics + Corporate Issuers integration; begin Alternatives; Derivatives intro.
Weeks 11–12: Ethics full pass; Derivatives wrap; full-length mock #1; start formula sheet.
Weeks 13–14: Weak-area sprints; full-length mock #2; Ethics re-read; PSM completion.
Final 1–2 weeks: Review pack, 2–3 shorter mocks, Ethics final pass, rest plan.
Expect 2 × 135-minute stamina; practice with session-length sets (90 questions) at least twice before exam day.
High-yield formulas & skills by area (shortlist)
FSA: FCFF/FCFE, DuPont decompositions, EPS (basic/diluted), inventory/PP&E effects, deferred tax mechanics.
Fixed Income: discount factors/spot rates, YTM vs price, duration/convexity intuition, spread concepts.
Equity: Gordon growth, multi-stage dividend/FCF logic, comparables caveats.
Quant: TVM identities, probability trees/Bayes, hypothesis tests & Type I/II, simple regression interpretations.
Portfolio: expected return/variance of portfolios, beta/market model intuition; IPS basics.
Derivatives: no-arbitrage forward pricing, payoff relationships (calls/puts/put-call parity) conceptually.
Economics/FX: cross rates and forward points; policy mixes & cycle indicators.
Common pitfalls (and what to do instead)
Cramming Ethics at the very end only. Do an early pass so Standards become “muscle memory,” then refresh near the finish.
Skipping the PSM until the last week. It’s required for results—finish it before your final mocks.
Over-investing in low-weight topics first. Resist the urge to start with Derivatives; bank the heavyweights (FSA/Fixed Income/Equity/Ethics) early.
Not practicing session-length blocks. Build endurance for two 135-minute sessions with realistic timing and transitions.
2025 vs 2026: what actually changes for Level I content?
For Level I study planning, the topic weight ranges remain consistent across the current 2025–2026 materials posted by the CFA Institute. The Institute also publishes combined topic-outlines PDFs for each year (2025 and 2026), which detail learning outcomes within each topic. Use the latest PDF for your sitting to catch any nuance in wording or emphasis.
Actionable takeaway: If your exam is in 2026, build from the 2026 combined topic-outlines PDF; if you’re in 2025, anchor to the 2025 PDF. Both align with the weight ranges shown on the Level I page.
Final 2-week checklist
Ethics re-read + 60–90 problems; know the Standards’ intent and typical traps.
Formula sheet across Quant/FSA/Fixed Income/Portfolio; do 20–30 quick-calc drills daily.
Full-length mock(s): at least one full 2-session mock, ideally two.
Weak-area fix: 6–8 targeted LMs with the lowest recent scores.
PSM: confirm completion status; do not leave this outstanding.
Errata glance: scan Level I page for errata before final review.
The bottom line
Weights drive the plan. Prioritize FSA, Ethics, Fixed Income, and Equity—together they represent the largest share of points.
Sequence matters. Build Quant early, then use it to accelerate Fixed Income and Portfolio—but don’t delay Ethics.
Stay official. Cross-check any third-party notes against the CFA Institute Level I page and the 2025/2026 topic-outlines PDFs—these are the source of truth for current weighting and learning outcomes.
Make this your master plan: front-load the heavyweights, integrate Quant throughout, schedule the PSM deliberately, and finish with an Ethics-focused polish. That’s how you convert the 2025–2026 syllabus into a study path that maximizes score per hour—without guesswork.
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