Step 1: Confirm you are eligible
Before anything else, check that you can sit Level I. CFA Institute requires one of the following: a completed bachelor's degree; final-year student status within about 11 months of graduation; or a qualifying combination of roughly 4,000 hours of work and higher-education experience. You also need a valid international passport. Most graduates, professionals and final-year students qualify. See our full CFA eligibility breakdown and verify the current rules on cfainstitute.org.
Step 2: Get your passport ready
This step trips up many first-time candidates. A valid passport is mandatory both to register and as identification at the test centre. If you do not have one, or it is expiring soon, apply or renew immediately — processing can take several weeks and you cannot sit the exam without it.
Step 3: Apply for a scholarship first
The single biggest way to reduce cost is to apply for a scholarship before you register and pay. The CFA Institute Access Scholarship can lower the enrolment and exam fee to a small nominal amount for candidates with financial need, and there are Women's, Student and other awards too. Deadlines vary by exam window and applications close before registration, so this must come early in your plan. Read the details in our CFA scholarships guide.
Step 4: Register for Level I
Once eligibility and any scholarship are sorted, create an account on cfainstitute.org and register for a Level I exam window. First-time Level I candidates pay a one-time enrolment fee of roughly US$350 plus a per-exam fee of about US$990–1,290 (approximately ₹1.5–2.5 lakh combined, depending on how early you register). Registering earlier usually means a lower fee. Our CFA exam fees and how to register for CFA guides cover this in detail — always confirm current amounts on the official site.
Step 5: Choose your exam window wisely
Level I runs in several computer-based windows across the year. Pick one that gives you a realistic runway — ideally at least five to six months of study time from registration to exam day. Do not register for a window that is only a few weeks away unless you can genuinely commit the hours. See CFA exam dates and windows for how the scheduling works.
Step 6: Build your Level I study plan
Now the real work begins. Plan for around 300 hours of study, which is roughly 12–15 hours a week over five to six months. A sensible structure looks like this:
| Phase | Duration | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Learning | First 3–4 months | Work through all ten topic areas of the curriculum |
| Practice | Following 4–6 weeks | Topic-wise question banks and item-set practice |
| Revision | Final 3–4 weeks | Full-length mock exams and weak-area review |
Get the topic breakdown in our CFA Level I guide and study-time planning in CFA study hours.
Step 7: Practise with mock exams
Passing the CFA is as much about exam technique as knowledge. Use official mock exams alongside third-party practice questions to get comfortable with the item-set format and timing. Our CFA mock tests and practice questions guide explains why this stage is non-negotiable.
Do the scholarship and passport steps before you register — reversing the order can cost you money and a whole exam window.