CFA Result 2025: Understanding Exam Results

Explore here the new elements of the CFA scorecard and how to interpret the CFA exam results; 

Understanding CFA Results

The CFA Institute has changed the way it releases the CFA exam results. The institute has increased the transparency in the CFA scorecard to give more information on the candidate's performance in the CFA exam. The institute will now release a scaled CFA score, including overall performance of the candidate, performance in comparison to the minimum passing score (MPS) and the performance of the candidate as compared to other candidates who took the same CFA exam. The CFA scorecard will also display the group average performance of the candidate for each topic area. The move has been made to offer a clearer understanding of the CFA exam result and to help the candidate plan their CFA study strategy better. Read the article below to get a step by step guide on how to interpret CFA result, and use the detailed CFA result to improve the performance in the exam.

CFA Result 2025 Summary

As mentioned, CFA Institute will include the Minimum Passing Score (MPS) in the CFA scorecard. Earlier, students only recieved the CFA result indicating 'pass' or 'fail'. But now, students will get a detailed CFA result card. Check below to to kknow the CFA result summary. The CFA result will be released in the PDF format, and it will include the following details:

CFA Result Page 1

• Name of the candidate
• CFA Institute ID of the candidate
• Exam level and month
• Pass or Fail status
• Minimum Passing Score
• Score of the candidate

CFA Result Page 2

• Total available points in each topic area of the CFA syllabus
• 70% and 50% of the available points 
• Confidence interval
• Grey line or the actual scaled score of the candidate

Interpreting CFA Results: Elements of the Scorecard

The CFA Institute has always been secretive about the CFA exam result. Check below to know the important elements of the CFA result cum scorecard to understand them clearly:

What is the Minimum Passing Score (MPS)?

The first thing that is noticed in the CFA result card is a thin grey line. This represents the Minimum Passing Score or the MPS. This is used to indicate the minimum score that the candidate should have secured in the CFA exam to pass. Any score below the MPS will not pass, although borderline cases might be able to scrape a pass from the ethics adjustment. The MPS is determined by a custom methodology, called the Modified Angoff Method, devised by the CFA Institute. The scaled score for MPS is as follows:

CFA Level 1: 1600

CFA Level 2: 2600

CFA Level 3: 3600

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Confidence Interval

The light blue box in the CFA scorecard of the candidate is the confidence interval. The box represents the range by which the candidate would have passed or failed in the exam. The confidence interval is drawn around the candidate's CFA score, representing a 90% confidence interval. A candidate who has scored really well could have a high confidence interval that they would have passed under nearly any circumstances, and will have the grey line with the confidence interval box above the MPS. If the confidence interval and the score of the candidate (bold grey line) are below the MPS, it would be recommended to study better and prepare well for the future exam to pass. 

Another case is if a candidate with a score below the MPS but a confidence interval that overlaps the MPS might have passed under some circumstances, but in most cases would not. With a little more practice and focused preparation, such a student can pass the CFA exam. 

Interpreting CFA Results

CFA Result: Topic Breakdown

Along with the overall performance of the candidate, the CFA result will also display their performance in each topic area. The CFA result report shows the 70% and 50% points. The CFA Institute has not decided the MPS for each topic area; hence, the topic area is benchmarked against 70% (as a reasonable level of mastery). The topic areas will be represented graphically. If the blue box is near 70% and the bold grey line has crossed the 70% marker for a particular topic, then this indicates that the candidate has done really well in that topic area. 

The candidates often try to master one topic and tend to overlook the smaller ones. A poor performance in topic areas with lesser weightage can bring down the overall score of the candidate. Students can score well in the CFA exam only through practice. They should strategically plan their CFA exam preparation, dedicating the right amount of time to each topic. Consistent practice will help the candidate analyse the width of each topic area and how much time is required for the preparation of that topic. 

Also Read: CFA exam 2025-26: Cost, curriculum and difficulty level

CFA Scale Score

Raw CFA score is converted to a standardized score, called the CFA scale score. The process of transforming raw scores to scaled scores makes the scores more easily interpretable and comparable of different candidates and administrations. Scale scores represent how well a candidate did in the most recent CFA exam. Take a look at the table below to know the scaled score against the raw score:

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• CFA pass rate
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• How Hard is the CFA exam?