FRM Part 1 2026: The Exam Date Is Closer Than You Think — Start Now

FRM Part 1 2026: The Exam Date Is Closer Than You Think — Start Now

The 2026 FRM Part I calendar is already working against late starters. The May 2026 window runs May 9–15, followed by Aug. 7–8 (AM session) and Nov. 14–20.  If you are targeting May, you are no longer “planning”—you are executing. And if you are targeting August or November, the advantage of starting now is not motivational; it is mathematical.

GARP states that candidates spend about 240 hours on average preparing (with survey responses ranging from under 100 to over 400).  Treat 240 as a baseline capacity requirement. Now translate that into a schedule: if you have ~14 weeks to May, you need ~17 hours/week. If you have ~27 weeks to August, you still need ~9 hours/week—with enough margin for travel, deadlines, illness, and inevitable low-productivity weeks. The “start later and sprint” strategy fails because Part I is not a pure content exam; it is a time-constrained application exam.

What the delay really costs: competence, not just time

1) You lose compounding on problem-solving speed.Part I is 100 equally weighted multiple-choice questions in four hours delivered via CBT.  That is 240 minutes / 100 = 2.4 minutes per question, including reading, calculation, and second-guessing. Candidates who pass repeatedly emphasize that the exam punishes slow confidence-building—because you do not have time to “think your way into” every question. Your speed comes from early repetition under a clock, not from finishing readings.

2) You increase the risk of “false mastery.”A common pattern in candidate write-ups: they feel prepared after reading, then discover in timed practice that they cannot retrieve formulas, interpret prompts quickly, or avoid trap answers. One widely upvoted approach is blunt: do lots of practice, track what you miss, and repair the specific gaps rather than re-reading everything.

3) You turn the exam into an endurance event (and endurance is expensive).GARP explicitly notes the exam is conceptual and requires knowing formulas—no formula sheet is provided.  Late starters typically respond by cramming formula lists and grinding long weekend sessions. That can raise short-term familiarity while eroding accuracy and focus in the final month, when practice should be driving your score.

The reality check: how hard is FRM Part 1 2026?

GARP’s latest published pass-rate snapshot shows November 2025 FRM Part I: 47%.  That number matters less as a “difficulty headline” and more as a planning signal: a meaningful fraction of candidates with serious intent still fall short. The differentiator is rarely motivation—it is the structure of preparation.

What candidates say works (and what they regret)

Across candidate communities, the same non-obvious themes recur:

• The exam can feel more qualitative than expected. Candidates report fewer “pure calculator” questions than mocks suggest, and more questions where you must understand why a model works, not just plug inputs.

• Official practice is disproportionately valuable. One candidate reported seeing at least one question that was identical or very close to the official practice exam, and recommended taking it at least a month before the sitting to calibrate pacing and weak areas.

• Mock difficulty mismatch is a real trap. Candidates who required multiple attempts often warn that some third-party mocks can feel easier than the real exam, creating a dangerous sense of readiness if you do not pressure-test with timed sets and post-mortems.

A professional plan you can start this week

Use a three-loop system that forces retention, speed, and integration:

Loop 1 — Build (Weeks 1–6):

• 60% learning, 40% questions.

• After each reading block: immediately do end-of-chapter questions and write an “error log” (concept gap vs. setup error vs. algebra/slip vs. misread).

• Create a minimal formula deck only for formulas you actually use in questions.

Loop 2 — Convert (Weeks 7–10):

• Flip the ratio: 30% learning, 70% questions.

• Twice weekly: timed sets of 25 questions in 60 minutes. Your goal is not score—it is reducing variance in time-per-question.

• Weekly: one “mixed” session pulling questions from all prior topics to prevent siloed forgetting.

Loop 3 — Prove (Final 4–6 weeks):

• Full-length mocks under strict timing; review should take longer than the mock.

• Every wrong answer must produce a rule you can reuse (e.g., “When the question says derive, I must know the formula; when it says interpret, I must know what changes the output directionally.”).

Finally, use the tools you already have access to: GARP provides a digital learning platform (“GARP Learning”) and practice resources; Part I access is complimentary for Part I candidates and ends at the last day of your registered exam window.  Build your plan around what you can measure weekly: timed accuracy, error-type counts, and topic-weight coverage.

Starting now is not about being early. It is about buying enough repetitions to make four hours feel spacious rather than hostile.