FRM Part 1 Final Week Strategy: What to Study (And What to Skip) Before Exam Day

Kateryna Myrko
14 hours ago
4 min read

With just a few weeks left until the November FRM Part 1 window, your job isn’t to learn everything—it’s to convert what you already know into points. The quickest way to do that is to anchor to GARP’s official structure and learning objectives, manage the clock ruthlessly, and concentrate on the highest-yield skills that show up again and again.

Lock in the rules—and your pace

FRM Part 1 is a 4-hour, 100-question, computer-based exam. That’s about 2.4 minutes per question. Build your plan around that constraint:

Two-pass method. First pass: answer the quick/medium questions, mark the time sinks, and move on. Second pass: return to the marked set.
Pacing checkpoints. Aim to be around Q25 at ~60 minutes, Q50 at ~120 minutes, Q75 at ~180 minutes. If you’re behind, speed up by skipping long algebra and “back-solve” choices where you can.
Answer the full set. There’s no partial credit. Eliminate aggressively and record a best answer before moving on.

What to prioritize when you’re short on time

GARP’s Learning Objectives (LOs) tell you exactly what you’re responsible for. In the final stretch, emphasize objectives that include action verbs like “Calculate,” “Compute,” or “Derive”—these drive many of the scorable, repeatable questions. Here’s how to triage by topic:

1) Financial Markets & Products (FMP)

The most testable content in the final weeks is mechanics and pricing of plain-vanilla instruments and their risk exposures.

Forwards/futures/swaps: pricing with cost-of-carry, day-count, and no-arbitrage logic; how rates/dividends/convexity affect prices.
Options basics: put-call parity, intrinsic vs. time value, the Greeks conceptually, payoff diagrams (you should sketch these in seconds).
Fixed income essentials: yield measures, price–yield intuition, duration/convexity approximations for price changes.
“Do this now” drills: 15–20 timed problems on each: forward price, swap fixed rate, parity/breakeven, DV01/modified duration.

2) Valuation & Risk Models (VRM)

This is where risk measurement math converts to points.

VaR toolset: variance–covariance (Z-scores, portfolio σ with correlations), historical simulation, simple Monte Carlo logic; be able to switch confidence/horizon.
Expected Shortfall & backtesting: definitions, interpretation, what different exceptions say about a model.
Stress testing & scenario analysis: purpose, design trade-offs, and how to read results.
Correlation/aggregation: pitfalls of naïve diversification, thin-tails vs. fat-tails intuition.
“Do this now” drills: compute portfolio σ and VaR (single asset, two-asset, and small basket); scale VaR across time/confidence; quick ES intuition checks.

3) Quantitative Analysis (QA)

You won’t learn an entire statistics course in a week—but you can nail the questions GARP loves.

Foundations: random variables, moments, normal vs. lognormal, Bayes, and expected values.
Estimation & inference: sampling distributions, confidence intervals, hypothesis tests (Z, t), p-values vs. critical values.
Linear regression basics: interpretation of β, R², residual assumptions, and detecting problems (autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity) conceptually.
“Do this now” drills: 10-12 quick items each on distribution properties, one-sample tests, and simple regressions (read outputs fast).

4) Foundations of Risk Management (FRM “Foundations”)

Prioritize the points-rich fundamentals; avoid getting lost in long narratives.

Core frameworks: ERM, risk appetite vs. tolerance, governance lines-of-defense, incentive/risk culture.
Risk/return: CAPM intuition (β, market line), risk-adjusted performance measures (Sharpe, Information Ratio).
Behavioral and model risk: classic biases and model lifecycle basics.
“Do this now” drills: quick concept checks and vignette-style questions; keep reading bursts short and focused.

What to skip (or de-emphasize) this close to the exam

Low-yield rabbit holes: lengthy qualitative digressions and deep historical context that don’t tie to an LO with an action verb.
Exotic products and edge-case models: unless you’ve already mastered them, the payoff is poor versus plain-vanilla pricing and risk measurement.
Derivations and proofs: you need outcomes and applicability, not the full algebraic journey.

Use official materials for maximum ROI

GARP practice exams (Part 1): Do at least one full, timed paper now; then re-do all missed questions untimed, writing one-line “why I missed it” notes.
Learning Objectives as a checklist: For each reading, scan for Calculate/Compute/Derive LOs and ensure you can execute those cold.
GARP Learning (if registered): Let the platform’s item sets tell you where you’re leaking points; convert that into 30-question micro-sets each day.

A compact final-week plan

T-7 to T-5: One full timed practice exam; autopsy the misses. Deep dive on FMP and VRM calculation LOs.
T-4 to T-3: QA focus—distributions, hypothesis testing, regression. Mix in 20–30 VRM/FMP problems daily.
T-2: Foundations sweeps; formula flash-review; do 40 mixed questions at target pace (2.4 minutes).
T-1: Light touch only. Pack your kit, confirm test center logistics, and sleep.

FRM Part 1 Exam-day logistics that save points

Bring exactly what’s allowed: original government ID (passport or driver’s license) and a printed exam appointment confirmation.
Use an approved calculator: TI BA II Plus (incl. Professional) or HP 12C (incl. Platinum editions) are the workhorses; HP 10BII/10BII+/20B are also permitted. Know your keystrokes (NPV/IRR, amort, TVM, cash-flow, date math).
Scratch paper is provided: sketch payoffs, parity, and duration approximations quickly; don’t try to do it all in your head.
Stay clock-aware: when a question balloons, mark it and move. Most candidates earn or lose their score on time discipline, not on the single hardest item.

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