CFA Level II Study Schedule: A 350-Hour Plan for Working Professionals

Time is the fundamental constraint for CFA Level II candidates who have full-time jobs. You cannot study 8 hours a day like a full-time student. You are competing with people who work the same hours you do — and the ones who pass have found a way to consistently get 13–15 quality hours per week for six months.

This schedule gives you a week-by-week plan to reach 350 hours across 26 weeks, with realistic daily targets, clear phase objectives, and adjustment strategies for when life inevitably disrupts your plan.

Key Facts

• Total target hours: 350 (range: 300–400 for most passers)
• Study weeks: 26 (approximately 6 months)
• Average weekly hours needed: 13.5
• Weekday target: 2 hours per day, 5 days
• Weekend target: 5.5 hours per day, Saturday and Sunday
• Mock exams planned: 4–5 full sessions in the final 8 weeks

Table of Contents

• The Three-Phase Framework
• Time Budget by Topic
• Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1–12)
• Phase 2: Deep Work (Weeks 13–20)
• Phase 3: Integration (Weeks 21–26)
• Weekly Hour Targets and Daily Routines
• How to Build Flexibility Into the Schedule
• What to Do When You Fall Behind
• Technology and Tools That Support the Schedule
• FAQ

The Three-Phase Framework

The 350-hour plan is divided into three phases with distinct purposes:

Phase 1 — Foundation (Weeks 1–12, ~140 hours) Purpose: Complete all readings and build conceptual understanding across all ten topics. Do end-of-chapter (EOC) practice questions after each reading. Do not attempt full vignettes yet.

Phase 2 — Deep Work (Weeks 13–20, ~120 hours) Purpose: Master the most complex topics through targeted practice. Build computational fluency in Equity, Fixed Income, Derivatives, and Quantitative Methods. Begin topic-level vignette practice.

Phase 3 — Integration (Weeks 21–26, ~90 hours) Purpose: Full mock exams, vignette-only practice under timed conditions, weak area repair, and final Ethics review. This phase determines your exam result.

Time Budget by Topic

| Topic | Phase 1 Hours | Phase 2 Hours | Phase 3 Hours | Total | |-------|--------------|--------------|--------------|-------| | Equity Investments | 20 | 20 | 15 | 55 | | Fixed Income | 18 | 18 | 14 | 50 | | Financial Statement Analysis | 20 | 15 | 10 | 45 | | Derivatives | 14 | 16 | 10 | 40 | | Portfolio Management | 12 | 10 | 8 | 30 | | Quantitative Methods | 12 | 10 | 8 | 30 | | Economics | 10 | 8 | 7 | 25 | | Ethics | 8 | 8 | 9 | 25 | | Alternative Investments | 8 | 8 | 4 | 20 | | Corporate Issuers | 8 | 7 | 5 | 20 | | Mock Exams / Review | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | | Totals | 140 | 120 | 90 | 350 |

Phase 3 hours are spent on cumulative review and mocks rather than new topic study.

Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1–12)

Goal

Complete all readings across all ten topics. Understand the key concepts, frameworks, and formulas in each topic. Complete all Blue Box examples and end-of-chapter questions from the official curriculum (or their third-party equivalents).

Week-by-Week Plan

Week 1 (Hours: 13) Topic: Quantitative Methods — Part 1 (Multiple Regression)

• Read: LOS covering regression assumptions, coefficient interpretation, hypothesis testing
• Practice: All EOC questions, Blue Box examples
• Daily target: Weekdays 2h, Saturday 6h, Sunday 3h rest/admin

Week 2 (Hours: 14) Topic: Quantitative Methods — Part 2 (Time Series, ML Intro)

• Read: AR models, ARCH, machine learning applications
• Practice: EOC questions, construct a regression table from scratch
• Do: First quick-check on where you stand by topic (self-assessment quiz if available)

Week 3 (Hours: 13) Topic: Economics — Part 1 (Growth Models, Trade)

• Read: Economic growth, international trade, FX parity conditions
• Practice: EOC, focus especially on FX forward premium/discount calculations

Week 4 (Hours: 13) Topic: Economics — Part 2 (Currency Exchange, Economic Forecasting)

• Read: Currency determination models, economic indicators for investment decisions
• Practice: EOC, mini-vignette on FX if available in prep materials

Week 5 (Hours: 14) Topic: Financial Statement Analysis — Part 1 (Intercorporate Investments)

• Read: Equity method, proportionate consolidation, IFRS vs GAAP differences
• Practice: EOC, build a practice consolidation table

Week 6 (Hours: 14) Topic: Financial Statement Analysis — Part 2 (Pensions, Inventory, Long-Lived Assets)

• Read: Defined benefit pension adjustments, LIFO-FIFO conversions, asset impairment
• Practice: EOC, work through the pension footnote adjustment process from scratch

Week 7 (Hours: 13) Topic: Financial Statement Analysis — Part 3 (Multinational Operations, Quality)

• Read: Translation methods (current rate vs. temporal), earnings quality indicators
• Practice: EOC, identify earnings quality flags in a sample financial statement

Week 8 (Hours: 14) Topic: Corporate Issuers

• Read: Capital structure theory, dividends and buybacks, ESG considerations
• Practice: EOC, Modigliani-Miller proposition problems

Week 9 (Hours: 14) Topic: Equity Investments — Part 1 (Industry and Competitive Analysis, DCF Foundations)

• Read: Porter's 5 Forces, competitive position, free cash flow derivations (FCFF, FCFE)
• Practice: EOC, compute FCFE from net income and from CFO

Week 10 (Hours: 14) Topic: Equity Investments — Part 2 (DDM, Residual Income)

• Read: Gordon Growth Model, multistage DDM, residual income model, economic value added
• Practice: EOC, derive residual income from ROE and book value

Week 11 (Hours: 13) Topic: Equity Investments — Part 3 (Market-Based Valuation, Private Company Valuation)

• Read: P/E, P/B, EV/EBITDA justification and application, private company discounts
• Practice: EOC, build a sum-of-the-parts valuation table

Week 12 (Hours: 12) Topic: Ethics (First Pass)

• Read: All Standards of Professional Conduct, CFA Institute Code, GIPS
• Practice: EOC, at least 30 standalone Ethics MCQs from your question bank
• Buffer: Use any extra time this week to shore up weeks 1–11 weak spots

Phase 1 Milestone Check

By the end of Week 12, you should have:

• Completed readings for all LOS in Quant, Economics, FSA, Corporate, Equity, and Ethics
• Done EOC practice questions for all readings above
• Identified your 2–3 weakest topics through performance tracking
• Accumulated approximately 140 hours

Phase 2: Deep Work (Weeks 13–20)

Goal

Deepen quantitative mastery in the most demanding topics. Begin topic-specific vignette practice. Start your error log.

Week 13 (Hours: 14) Topic: Fixed Income — Part 1 (Term Structure, Duration)

• Read: Spot rates, forward rates, term structure theories, key rate durations
• Practice: Duration calculations, construct a yield curve problem from scratch

Week 14 (Hours: 14) Topic: Fixed Income — Part 2 (Credit Analysis, MBS, Asset-Backed Securities)

• Read: Credit default swaps, securitization mechanics, OAS analysis
• Practice: OAS vs. Z-spread comparisons, credit spread problems

Week 15 (Hours: 14) Topic: Derivatives — Part 1 (Forwards, Futures, Options Basics)

• Read: Forward pricing for equities, fixed income, currencies; futures mechanics
• Practice: Forward pricing computations, put-call parity problems

Week 16 (Hours: 15) Topic: Derivatives — Part 2 (Option Pricing, Swaps, Swaptions)

• Read: Binomial option pricing, Black-Scholes, interest rate swaps, currency swaps
• Practice: Build a two-period binomial tree from scratch; price a swap using both legs

Week 17 (Hours: 14) Topic: Portfolio Management — Part 1 (IPS, Asset Allocation)

• Read: Investment policy statement construction, mean-variance optimization, risk factors
• Practice: IPS construction template, efficient frontier problems

Week 18 (Hours: 14) Topic: Portfolio Management — Part 2 (Factor Models, Risk Management)

• Read: Multifactor models, active risk and return, risk management frameworks
• Practice: Tracking error calculations, information ratio problems

Week 19 (Hours: 14) Topic: Alternative Investments

• Read: Private equity (LBO, venture), real estate valuation, hedge fund strategies
• Practice: PE return calculations (IRR, MOIC), cap rate real estate problems

Week 20 (Hours: 13) Topic: Comprehensive Review + Ethics (Second Pass)

• Revisit: Your 3 weakest topics from Phase 1 based on your error log
• Ethics: Full re-read of Standards, focus on the cases you got wrong in Phase 1
• Begin: 2–3 topic-level vignette sets in your weakest areas

Phase 2 Milestone Check

By Week 20 you should have:

• Completed all topic readings across the entire curriculum
• Done topic-level vignette practice in at least five topics
• Updated your error log with identified weak formulas and concept gaps
• Accumulated approximately 260 hours total

Phase 3: Integration (Weeks 21–26)

Goal

Vignette-only timed practice, full mock exams, error log review, and final consolidation. No new readings unless they target a specific identified gap.

Week 21 (Hours: 15)

• Do: 12–15 topic vignettes under timed conditions (3 min/question)
• Review: Every wrong answer for root cause (content gap vs. execution error)
• Focus: Equity and FSA integration vignettes

Week 22 (Hours: 15)

• Do: 12–15 vignettes (Fixed Income, Derivatives focus)
• Review: Error log — are you improving on previously weak areas?
• Full Mock 1: Take under strict exam conditions (AM and PM in same day if possible)

Week 23 (Hours: 16)

• Full Mock 1 review: 4 hours analyzing every wrong answer
• Do: 10–12 more vignettes on topics where Mock 1 showed weakness
• Full Mock 2: Take under exam conditions

Week 24 (Hours: 16)

• Full Mock 2 review: 4 hours
• Do: 8–10 targeted vignettes on remaining weak spots
• Full Mock 3: Take, with emphasis on pacing and session management

Week 25 (Hours: 15)

• Full Mock 3 review: 3 hours
• Ethics: Full targeted review, do 40 Ethics MCQs
• Full Mock 4 (optional): Take if mock scores are below 62%
• Wind down: Reduce intensity Thursday–Friday; do only light review

Week 26 / Exam Week (Hours: 8)

• Monday–Tuesday: Light vignette review, 2 hours per day maximum
• Wednesday: Review your formula sheet and error log only; 1 hour; rest early
• Thursday (exam day): Normal morning routine; arrive at Prometric 30 minutes early

Phase 3 Mock Score Targets

| Mock Number | Target Score | Action If Below Target | |-------------|-------------|----------------------| | Mock 1 | 50–58% | Normal — focus on content gaps | | Mock 2 | 55–62% | If below 55%, identify systematic error | | Mock 3 | 60–66% | If below 60%, consider extending Phase 3 | | Mock 4 | 63–70% | Buffer for actual exam variability |

Weekly Hour Targets and Daily Routines

The Working Professional's Daily Schedule

| Day | Target Hours | Activity Type | |-----|-------------|--------------| | Monday | 2.0 | Reading or vignette practice | | Tuesday | 2.0 | EOC questions or topic review | | Wednesday | 1.5 | Light review, formulas, error log | | Thursday | 2.0 | Vignette practice or mock questions | | Friday | 1.5 | Review from week, plan weekend | | Saturday | 5.5–6.0 | Deep study block | | Sunday | 4.0–5.0 | Practice problems + weekly review | | Total | 18.5–19 | Allows buffer for weeks below target |

Morning vs. Evening Study

Research on learning suggests that morning study (before work) is more effective for material acquisition, while evening study is better for review of already-learned material. Practically, most working professionals find mornings harder to protect. The recommendation: if you can protect one 60-minute morning slot per day, use it for reading new material. Use evenings for practice problems.

How to Build Flexibility Into the Schedule

Buffer Weeks

The schedule above includes approximately 2 buffer weeks — weeks where you fall slightly below target hours without catastrophic consequences. Do not use these as planned "off" weeks; keep them in reserve for genuine disruptions like work travel, illness, or family obligations.

The Makeup Rule

If you miss your weekly target by more than 3 hours, do not try to cram the deficit into the following week. Redistribute the missed hours across the next 2–3 weeks in small increments. Trying to make up 10 hours in one week leads to burnout.

Topic Shuffling

If you are ahead of schedule in a topic, compress it and move to the next. If a topic is taking longer than budgeted, steal hours from lower-priority topics before touching your high-priority ones (Equity, Fixed Income, Derivatives, FSA).

What to Do When You Fall Behind

Minor Lag (1–2 weeks behind): Accelerate readings

Skip the lower-value portions of readings (background history, policy debates) and focus on the LOS-specific content and EOC questions. Use third-party notes instead of the full curriculum for any remaining unread topics.

Moderate Lag (3–4 weeks behind): Compress low-priority topics

Reduce time on Economics, Alternatives, and Corporate Issuers by 20–30%. These topics together represent roughly 15–25% of the exam — important but not as critical as the big four.

Severe Lag (5+ weeks behind): Triage honestly

If you are 5+ weeks behind with 8 weeks until the exam, evaluate honestly whether you are ready for this exam window. Repeating a deficient preparation is expensive (time and fees). CFA Institute allows you to defer or reschedule in some circumstances. A second attempt with full preparation is a better outcome than a rushed first attempt.

Technology and Tools That Support the Schedule

Calendar blocking: Block your study sessions in your calendar as if they were work meetings. Do not allow them to be moved except for genuine emergencies.

Progress tracking: Use a simple spreadsheet to log daily hours by topic. Seeing cumulative progress toward 350 hours is motivating. Seeing the gap when you fall behind is a useful alarm system.

AI question banks: Adaptive platforms that track your performance by topic and sub-topic can direct your limited study time more efficiently than random question selection. Use these especially in Phase 2 and Phase 3.

Pomodoro technique: 25 minutes of focused study, 5-minute break, repeat. Particularly useful for long weekend sessions where concentration naturally wanes.

FAQ

Q: What if I can only do 250 hours — is that enough? A: Survey data suggests that candidates who pass average 320–380 hours. 250 hours is at the lower end of what passers report and substantially below the average. At 250 hours, your pass probability drops meaningfully. If you can only commit to 250 hours, consider whether postponing to a window where you can do 300+ is worth it.

Q: Should I study in order of topic weight (highest first)? A: Topic weight informs how many hours to allocate, but not necessarily what to study first. Starting with Quantitative Methods builds tools used across all other topics. Following the CFA Institute's curriculum sequence or a third-party provider's recommended sequence is generally sensible.

Q: How do I handle a job that frequently requires travel? A: Pre-download materials so you can study offline. Use flight and hotel time as "bonus" study hours. Pack physical summary notes for airport reading. Keep travel weeks from being zero-study weeks by lowering your bar to "anything is better than nothing."

Q: Is 13–14 hours per week sustainable for 26 weeks? A: For most working professionals, yes — but it requires genuine lifestyle adjustments. Social commitments will need to be reduced. Hobbies may need to go on pause. Plan for at least one full week off mid-journey for mental health reasons, and do not feel guilty about it.

Q: Can I use the same schedule for the August and February exam windows? A: The structure is the same; only the start date changes. For the August exam, a January or early February start gives you roughly 26 weeks. For the February exam, an August or September start is appropriate.

Q: What if my mock exam scores plateau around 58–60%? A: A plateau usually indicates one of two things: a systematic content gap in a high-weighted topic, or an execution problem (vignette misreading, time pressure errors). Run topic-by-topic diagnostics on your mock exam results to identify whether the issue is content or execution, then target the root cause.