CFA Exam Registration Deadlines: 2026–2027 Dates

The next CFA exam registration deadline is November 5, 2026 for the February 2027 window (Level I and Level III), and the early-bird deadline for the May 2027 window (Level I and II) is October 14, 2026. Miss the early deadline and the same exam costs $350 more; miss the final deadline and you wait a full window.

Below is every date you need through August 2027, plus the two rules that trip up more candidates than the dates themselves: the separate scheduling deadline, and a deferral policy change that takes effect in February 2027.

The deadline table

CFA Institute runs Level I four times a year, Level II three times, and Level III twice. Each window has three deadlines that matter: early registration (cheaper fee), final registration (last chance to pay), and scheduling (last chance to pick your test date and center). All registration windows open at 9:00 a.m. ET and all deadlines close at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Registration for August 2027 opens November 3, 2026. The November 2027 window (Level I and II) is scheduled for November 13–19 and November 20–24 respectively, but its registration deadlines had not been published as of this writing. Always confirm against the official CFA Institute dates and fees page before you plan around a date — CFA Institute occasionally shifts them.

What each deadline costs you

Early registration: $1,140 for Level I or II, $1,240 for Level III.

Standard registration: $1,490 for Level I or II, $1,590 for Level III.

That's a flat $350 penalty for registering late, per level. There is no enrollment fee anymore — CFA Institute dropped the old one-time $350 charge starting with the February 2026 exams and folded it into higher registration fees. We broke down the full picture in our guide to CFA Level 1 costs and fees.

If the fee is a real barrier, the CFA Access Scholarship reduces registration to $400. Its application windows run months ahead of the exam, so check those dates alongside the ones above.

Registering is not scheduling

This is the mistake that costs people an entire window. Registering means you paid CFA Institute. Scheduling means you logged into the Prometric tool and locked in a specific date and test center. They are two separate steps with two separate deadlines, and the scheduling deadline is usually only five to seven days after the final registration deadline.

If you register but never schedule, you are not taking the exam. CFA Institute's own guidance is blunt about it: if you don't have a confirmed date and time, you aren't scheduled. Seats go first-come, first-served, and popular cities fill up before the deadline — so schedule the same day you register, and search the entire exam window rather than a single preferred date.

Once you've scheduled, changing your appointment within the same window costs a non-refundable $250. Each window also has a rescheduling cutoff roughly two to three weeks before the exam dates, after which you can't move at all.

The February 2027 deferral change

Starting with the February 2027 exam cycle, CFA Institute is eliminating paid deferrals. Under the current policy, a registered candidate can pay to push their exam to a later window. Beginning in February 2027, a candidate who doesn't show up forfeits the full registration fee and has to re-register — and pay again — for a future window.

CFA Institute's stated reasoning is that deferred candidates pass at noticeably lower rates than first-time takers who stick to their original date. Whether or not you agree with the policy, the practical implication is simple: don't register for a window you aren't reasonably sure you can prepare for. A $1,140 fee you forfeit is far more expensive than waiting one window.

The six-month rule and back-to-back levels

You can attempt each level a maximum of twice per calendar year, never in consecutive windows, with at least six months between attempts, and no more than six attempts per level overall. In practice that means if you take Level I in February and fail, your next shot is August; take it in May, and your retake is November.

The same spacing applies between levels, which creates an awkward money problem. Results arrive five to nine weeks after your window closes, and you can't register for the next level until your pass is posted. By then the early deadline for the next window has usually passed. A candidate who passes Level I in August 2026, for example, gets results in late September or October — well after the July 7 early deadline for February 2027 has closed. If you plan to move fast through the program, budget the standard fee for every level after the first.

How to pick your window

Work backwards from the exam, not forwards from the deadline. Most candidates need somewhere around 300 hours per level, and our guide to how many hours to study for CFA Level 1 walks through how that translates into weeks. If you're registering by the October 14 early deadline for May 2027, you have roughly seven months — comfortable for a first-time Level I candidate working full-time. If you're registering for February 2027 in early November, you have about fifteen weeks, which is doable but tight, and closer to the pace in our three-month CFA Level 1 study plan.

Whichever window you choose, register early, schedule the same day, and treat the date as fixed. The candidates who pay retake and rescheduling fees are usually the ones who registered on a maybe.

Before you pay $1,140

If you're deciding whether to commit to May 2027, the cheapest way to gauge where you stand is to take a full-length practice exam first. Certus has a free CFA Level 1 mock exam — 180 questions, timed like the real thing, no signup required. Your score tells you whether seven months is plenty or whether August 2027 is the smarter target. And if you do register, the full Level I course at Certus — readings, question bank, flashcards, and mock exams — runs from $9.58 a month billed yearly, which is roughly what one rescheduling fee costs every month for two years. You can compare that against the big providers in our cheapest CFA prep breakdown.

Take the free mock, check the calendar, and register with a plan.