CAIA Association recommends at least 200 hours of preparation for Level II. Here is how to turn that number into an actual week-by-week schedule, depending on how much time you have before your exam window.
The 200-hour figure is a floor, not a target — CAIA Association's own guidance and independent candidate surveys both point toward the 200 to 300 hour range for most candidates. Where you land in that range depends on your background: candidates coming from a strong finance foundation tend toward the lower end, while those newer to portfolio management and risk concepts should plan closer to 300. For what that time actually needs to cover, see the Level II curriculum breakdown.
Rather than a single fixed schedule, the useful exercise is dividing your available weeks into three phases: content review, practice, and final consolidation. The proportions matter more than the exact week count, since candidates start with different amounts of runway.
16+ weeks before the exam (roughly 12–15 hours/week)
The most comfortable pace. Eight weeks of content review, five weeks of active practice, two to three weeks of consolidation. This pace leaves room to revisit topics that need more time without falling behind, and is realistic alongside full-time work.
10–12 weeks before the exam (roughly 18–20 hours/week)
A workable but tighter compression. Five to six weeks of content review, four weeks of practice, one to two weeks of consolidation. Practice needs to start earlier in this version — waiting until content review is fully finished before touching MCQ sets or CR drafting leaves too little runway to react to what practice reveals.
Under 8 weeks before the exam
At this point, a full linear review of all ten topics is usually not realistic alongside full retention. The better approach is triage: prioritize the highest-weighted MCQ topics, do not skip Ethics or Emerging Topics given their constructed response weight, and shift practice earlier — closer to week two or three rather than after a full content pass.
Two candidates can log the same 250 hours and land in very different places on exam day, depending on when practice enters the schedule. A schedule that is 80% reading and 20% practice, all practice pushed to the final two weeks, tends to produce candidates who recognize concepts on sight but have never had to produce a scored constructed response answer under time pressure. That gap shows up specifically on the 30% of Level II that is constructed response — see the CR guide for what that section actually demands.
A more resilient split interleaves practice from early in the schedule — reviewing a topic and then immediately running MCQ sets or drafting a CR answer on that topic, rather than treating practice as a separate phase that only starts once reading is done. For a broader view of pass rates relative to preparation approach, see CAIA Level II Pass Rate and Difficulty.
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It is the minimum CAIA Association recommends, and some candidates with strong finance backgrounds pass on close to that figure. Most candidate surveys point toward 200–300 hours as the realistic range, so treat 200 as a floor rather than a comfortable target.
Should I study every day or in longer weekend blocks?
Both can work. What matters more than frequency is that practice — not just reading — happens regularly throughout the schedule rather than being backloaded into the final weeks.
How much of my schedule should be constructed response practice specifically?
Enough that you have written and received feedback on practice answers across multiple topics before exam day, not just once or twice. CR is a skill that improves with repeated, scored attempts, similar to how MCQ accuracy improves with volume.
What if I fall behind my schedule?
Re-triage rather than trying to compress everything into the remaining time. Protect practice time first, since a partial content review paired with real practice reps tends to outperform a rushed full review with no practice.
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Practice tests and constructed response grading built to slot into any study schedule.
Get Full Access — $249 →Back to the CAIA Level II prep hub. For the broader study strategy this schedule fits into, see How to Pass CAIA Level II: A Study Plan That Works.