CFA® Level I · 2026 Curriculum · 2027 Edition Included

Half the curriculum cannot be on your exam. Study the half that can.

I counted the 2026 Level I curriculum myself: 365 learning outcome statements. Your exam has 180 questions. Even if every question tested a different learning outcome, at most half the curriculum can appear. That is arithmetic, not opinion — and it is where this course begins.

The whole course is 25 hours — 154 lessons, averaging under 10 minutes each. Your 300 study hours don’t disappear: this just makes the teaching part take 25 of them instead of 200, leaving the rest for mocks. And a 25-hour course is short enough to watch more than once — which is the point.

No sign-up wall. Watch it, then test it against a real CFA Institute mock.

20+
years coaching CFA
4,000+
candidates trained
25 hrs
complete course, 154 lessons
Ex-LUMS
faculty & CFA charterholder
The curriculum vs the exam — counted, not estimated
Learning outcome statements in the 2026 curriculumwhat you're told to study
365
↓  but the exam only has  180 questions
Questions on your examwhat can be tested
180

Even if every question tested a different learning outcome — and some LOS can't fit the format at all — at most half the curriculum can appear.

The syllabus trap

You're not short on material. You're drowning in it.

The Level I curriculum runs to thousands of pages across ten topic areas, and every chapter looks equally important. So you do the reasonable thing — you try to learn all of it. If you come from a detailed-study background like CA, ACCA, or a finance degree, that instinct is even stronger. But Level I plays by different rules.

90 sec / question

A clock, not an essay

You get about a minute and a half per question. The exam rewards fast recognition — not the long, step-by-step problem solving you were trained on.

0 partial credit

Right or wrong

There are no marks for your working. Nobody reads it. So there is no point memorizing a formula the BA II Plus can solve — the exam is really asking: do you know the keys?

MCQ only

Built for the format

A concept that needs a long derivation or an essay answer cannot be asked as a fair 90-second multiple-choice question — so the exam simply can't lean on it.

So thousands of candidates pour weeks into material the format cannot even test — and arrive at exam day having rushed the concepts that actually decide pass or fail.

The arithmetic

365 learning outcomes. 180 questions. Do the division.

Even if every question tested a different learning outcome, at most half the curriculum can appear on your exam. Now add the format: every question must be answerable in about ninety seconds, in multiple choice, with no partial credit — and it must survive review by practicing investment professionals before it counts toward your score. Obscure trivia does not survive that review. A stable core of testable concepts does.

Why this works — and why it isn't a trick

This is not a leak, and it is not exam recall — CFA Institute never releases past papers, and candidates pledge not to discuss them. It is how a standardized, 90-second MCQ exam must behave. The format itself rules out derivations, essays, and background theory — which narrows what any exam can fairly test.

The filter took twenty years to learn

I read each learning outcome the way an examiner must: can this become a fair ninety-second question that professionals would approve? Many cannot. Some are pure background. Some are too long to test. Filter the curriculum through that one question, and the testable core gets small. This course teaches that core. Nothing else.

Proof, before you pay

Don't believe me. Test me — for free.

Here is the first lesson, right on this page. No payment. No email. Ninety seconds will tell you if this is how you want to learn.

LESSON 1 · HOLDING PERIOD RETURN · FREE

And it doesn't stop at one lesson. My complete Quantitative Methods class is free too — so you can put the whole method on trial before you spend anything:

1

Watch the free Quant class. Learn the topic the way I teach it — story first, then the calculator keys, then the traps.

2

Open any CFA Institute mock or practice set — the ones you already have.

3

Count how many Quant questions you can now answer. Let the result decide, not my marketing.

It's also why I don't sell you practice questions. CFA Institute's own mocks are the fairest test of my method — and you already own them. Use them to check my work.

CFA Institute's clock, not mine — next Level I window

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In their own words

My students post their results in public. You can go and check.

These are recent, unsolicited LinkedIn posts from candidates I coached — real names, real score reports, May 2026 window.

A big thanks to my mentor Kamran Rashid, CFA for providing such excellent coaching.
Muhammad Rayyan Afzal, FMVAPassed Level I (May 2026) — while working full time
His ability to simplify complex concepts made the curriculum far more intuitive and manageable. He has been much more than just a teacher.
Raheel FarooqPassed Level II (May 2026)
I owe a real thank you to my mentor, Kamran Rashid, CFA, whose guidance and belief pushed me to keep going.
Muhammad MahadAssociate Consultant at PwC — passed Level I on the first attempt, working full time
I am really grateful to my coach, Sir Kamran Rashid, CFA, for his unending support and guidance.
Abbas MuhammadPassed Level I (May 2026)

These students took my full live coaching program. This course is the same method and curriculum in short recorded lessons, covering the testable core in full - the concepts the exam can actually test, and nothing you cannot be examined on.

Kamran Rashid, CFA
Your coach

Twenty years of exam coaching — and the training of an educator.

CFA charterholder Former LUMS Assistant Professor 4,000+ candidates coached

Plenty of charterholders teach. Very few are trained educators. Before building this course, I spent years as an Assistant Professor at LUMS — Pakistan's most selective business school — trained in pedagogy and the case method. I don't just know finance; I know how a tired candidate retains and recalls it under exam-day stress.

Over twenty years I've coached 4,000+ CFA candidates across Pakistan, the Middle East, India, and the global diaspora — most studying in a second or third language, holding down full-time jobs, and competing for the charter without the resources others take for granted. This course was built for them first.

My job is not to make you a scholar of finance. My job is to get you through Level I. If you want theory for its own sake, this is the wrong course. If you want to pass, you are in the right place.

What's inside

Every lesson has the same shape — because the exam does.

Short video lessons, one tested concept each, across all ten topic areas. Not hundreds of hours you will never finish — a course built to be completed, by someone with a job and a life.

A story first — then the name

Every concept opens with real numbers in an everyday story — a car, a bank, a fund — so you feel the idea before it gets a technical name. Built for candidates studying in a second language: short sentences, plain words, every term defined.

The calculator keys, not the formula

The exam gives no marks for working, so there is no point memorizing a formula the BA II Plus can solve. Every calculation lesson shows the exact keystrokes, on screen, step by step.

Exam-trap takeaways in every lesson

The synonym traps (one number, several names), the wording tricks, and the just-learn-it rules — three to five bullets aimed squarely at how questions try to trip you.

25 hours, not 300 — and built to be watched twice

154 lessons, averaging under ten minutes. That is 90 minutes a day for 17 days, or 30 minutes a day for seven weeks. A 300-hour library can only be watched once; this one you can run again before the exam, or re-watch just your two weakest topics after each mock — which is where scores actually move.

Searchable transcripts

The night before the exam, find "money-weighted return" in seconds and jump straight to that moment in the video.

All ten topic areas, mapped to the current curriculum

From Quantitative Methods to Ethics — no time spent on outdated formats or retired readings. The 2027 edition is included and added to your access automatically when released.

Practice where it counts — CFA Institute's own mocks

No filler question bank. You drill on the official mocks you already have, which is both the fairest test of the method and the best proof it works.

Counted, not estimated

The whole course, topic by topic: 25 hours 36 minutes.

Every lesson, timed. Notice where the hours go — Financial Statement Analysis gets the most, then Economics, Quant and Fixed Income. That is deliberate: time follows what the exam actually tests, not what fills a syllabus.

TopicLessonsRuntime
Financial Statement Analysis354:46:23
Economics213:18:29
Quantitative Methods242:57:40
Fixed Income132:46:00
Equity Investments112:21:55
Portfolio Management112:16:54
Ethics92:09:23
Alternative Investments111:52:50
Corporate Issuers101:39:19
Derivatives91:26:53
Complete course15425h 36m

What 25 hours buys you that 300 cannot: a second pass. Watch the course once to learn it, then after each mock re-watch only your two weakest topics — most lessons are under ten minutes, and every video has a searchable transcript. Your 300 study hours don’t disappear; the teaching part just stops eating all of them, and the rest goes to mocks, where scores actually move.

Get the course

One course. One honest price.

Half the curriculum cannot be tested. This course teaches the half that can - complete, for $99.

Complete Level 1 course · 2027 edition included
$99
One-time payment · instant access · all ten topic areas · built to be finished
Sitting in 2027? You're covered. The 2027 edition is in preparation and will be added to every enrolled student's access automatically, at no extra cost, before the February 2027 prep season begins. Enroll once — study both editions.
  • 25 hours total — 154 lessons, all ten topic areas
  • Complete coverage of the testable core
  • Short enough to watch more than once
  • Story-first teaching in plain English
  • BA II Plus keystrokes on screen — not formulas to memorize
  • Exam-trap takeaways in every lesson
  • Searchable transcripts of every video
  • The complete Quantitative Methods class free — test it first
Get the course — $99
Studying from Pakistan or India? A regional discount code is posted on my WhatsApp channel. Prefer bank transfer? Message me on WhatsApp — same as my coaching students.

Seven-day refund. If the course is not for you, email me within seven days and I will refund you — no interrogation. The free lessons above should tell you before you ever pay. But the door is there.

Weigh it against the alternative: a retake means another exam fee and four to six more months of your life. This costs a fraction of that.

Straight answers

Questions you may have

Is this a replacement for the full curriculum?

It replaces reading the curriculum cover to cover — not the curriculum itself. Every testable concept is taught here, complete, in 25 hours. The book then becomes your reference, not your syllabus: after each mock, open it only for the topics where you scored weakest, alongside re-watching those lessons. That is the difference between this course and my full course, where I take you through the curriculum page by page, live. This one is for candidates who will read on their own and want their time back.

Do I need to buy practice questions from you?

No. You already have CFA Institute's own mocks and practice questions — and that's exactly what I want you to use. Watching my videos and then testing yourself on official material is the best way to see the method working. I don't sell filler question banks.

Is this a complete course or just revision?

It is a complete course for the testable core, not a revision add-on stacked on top of your existing plan. You do not need to have studied the curriculum first. It covers all ten topic areas - every concept the exam format can actually test - in short lessons you can finish alongside a full-time job. Many candidates use it as their main course and keep the official curriculum as a reference when they want to go deeper.

How long is the course?

25 hours and 36 minutes across 154 lessons - an average of under ten minutes each. That is roughly 90 minutes a day for 17 days, or 30 minutes a day for seven weeks. It is deliberately short: your 300 study hours do not disappear, but the teaching part should take 25 of them rather than 200, leaving the rest for practice and mocks. Being short is also what makes a second pass possible - most candidates watch it once to learn, then re-watch only their weakest topics after each mock.

Why are the lessons so short?

Because the exam questions are short. Ninety seconds each. I teach at the same altitude — one tested concept per lesson, so you always know exactly what you just learned and can find it again later.

Do I need the BA II Plus calculator?

Yes. It is allowed in the exam, and many calculation questions are really calculator questions. I show every keystroke on screen — there are no marks for written working, so we don't waste time on formulas the calculator can solve.

English is not my first language. Will I keep up?

Good — this course was built for you first. Short sentences. Everyday words. Every technical term defined in plain language the first time it appears. Most of my four thousand students studied in their second or third language, and they pass.

I'm a CA or ACCA student. Is a focused course enough for me?

Especially for you. You already know core accounting, so you don't need debits and credits explained for hours. You need to know how the CFA exam tests those concepts in a 90-second format. This course cuts the basics you already know and focuses on exam-level application.

Why ninety-nine dollars?

You paid CFA Institute more than a thousand dollars to sit this exam. This course exists to protect that money. I priced it so any serious candidate can afford it — and so I can stand behind it. The big providers will sell you hundreds of hours covering every page for four hundred dollars and up. That is not what this is. This is the core, taught the way the exam tests it.

Can I pay by bank transfer?

Yes. Students in Pakistan can message me on WhatsApp and pay by bank transfer, the same way my coaching students do. You'll get access within a day.

When should I start, relative to my exam date?

Any time. Whether your exam is months or weeks away, starting from the testable core is the smartest use of the time you have left. Earlier just means more time to drill CFA Institute's mocks.

Is the course updated for the 2026 CFA curriculum?

Yes. It's mapped directly to the 2026 Level I curriculum — the 365 learning-outcome count on this page is my own count of that curriculum. No time is spent on retired readings or outdated formats.

I'm sitting in 2027 — am I covered?

Yes. The current lessons are built on the 2026 curriculum, and the 2027 edition is in preparation now. Every enrolled student gets the 2027 edition added to their access automatically, at no extra cost, before the February 2027 prep season begins. The fundamentals you would study first don't change between years, so starting early costs you nothing.

What if it's not for me?

Email me within seven days and I will refund you. The free lessons above should tell you before you ever pay — but the door is there.

Start where it's free

Half the book cannot be tested. Stop studying like it can.

Watch the free lesson. Then watch the free Quant class and test it against a CFA Institute mock. Let the results decide — not my marketing, and not your fear of skipping pages.

Before you join

Questions? Talk to me directly.

Reach Kamran

Not sure if this is right for your stage of prep? Message me — I'll tell you straight, even if the answer is "you don't need it."

WhatsApp: +92 300 400 0050
Email: [email protected]

Course snapshot

  • Course: CFA Level I High-Yield — testable core, complete
  • Length: 25h 36m · 154 lessons · avg under 10 min
  • Editions: 2026 now · 2027 included, auto-added
  • Format: Self-paced short video lessons
  • Free sample: Lesson 1 + the full Quant class
  • Built for: Busy candidates, second-language English
  • Price: USD 99 · regional code on WhatsApp channel
  • Refund: 7 days, no interrogation
Get the course · $99 WhatsApp