When it applies
The new curriculum applies to candidates sitting from February 2027 onwards. If your exam is in November 2026, you are on the 2026 curriculum and none of this touches you. If you have booked, or might book, February 2027 or later, it does.
Level I: about a quarter of the exam
CFA Institute says the Level I updates "represent approximately 25 percent of the CFA Level I exam". Two topic areas carry nearly all of it.
Quantitative Methods
- The topic is reorganised around real-world applications, with more worked questions, knowledge checks and targeted examples.
- Estimation and simulation are expanded, with step-by-step guidance for historical simulation, bootstrapping and Monte Carlo methods using spreadsheet functions.
- Portfolio optimisation readings are expanded and lined up with the Python Fundamentals practical skills module.
- A new reading introduces financial data science, AI and large language models.
- Equation Explorers arrive: interactive lessons in the Learning Ecosystem only, alongside the Time Value of Money lessons, where you change a value and watch the tables and graphs move.
- The Quantitative Methods prerequisite reading is retired from 2027.
Equity Investments
- Valuation is grounded in financial statement forecasting, with models that project revenue, margins, investment and financing separately.
- Scenario analysis with probability weighting becomes standard valuation practice.
- Industry and company analysis grows, with Porter's Five Forces and PESTLE tied to the valuation story rather than taught alone.
- New modules cover equity research reports: initiating coverage, sell-side against buy-side research, and activist short sellers.
- CAPM and multi-factor models are applied to estimating the cost of equity with real market data.
Every level: Ethics
Ethics is updated at all three levels to reflect the Standards of Practice Handbook, version 12, with new guidance for each Standard. Each Standard becomes its own module with its own practice problems.
Levels II and III
The announcement names enhancements to the Equity Analysis, Macro Insights for Investing and Python practical skills modules at Levels I and II, and a new Due Diligence practical skills module for Level III due later in 2026. It names no other topic changes at Levels II or III. CFA Institute publishes the full list of changed learning outcomes in its curriculum documents, so check those for your level before you plan.
What it means when you buy prep
- Level I candidates: buy the 2027 edition. With a quarter of the exam moved, a 2026 course leaves gaps in exactly the two topics that changed most.
- Ask when the 2027 materials ship. A course sold today may still be the 2026 edition with an update promised. Get the date in writing before you pay, and ask whether the update is free.
- Check the Ethics modules at every level. The handbook version changed, so the Ethics content in any 2026 course is out of date.
- Mind the practice questions. A question bank written for the 2026 Quantitative Methods readings tests the old emphasis.
Our head-to-heads and provider pages show what each provider states about its materials and the date we read it. Where a provider names the curriculum year its course covers, the page says so.
Sources
- CFA Institute Announces Updates to CFA Program Curriculum, 26 May 2026, read 3 Oct 2026.
- Curriculum Changes for 2027 CFA Program, CFA Institute, read 3 Oct 2026.
PrepProviders research. Published 3 Oct 2026.
Quick answers
Does the 2027 curriculum apply to the November 2026 exam?
No. CFA Institute says the updated curriculum applies to candidates sitting exams from February 2027. A November 2026 sitting is on the 2026 curriculum.
How much of Level I changes for 2027?
CFA Institute puts the updates at about 25% of the Level I exam, concentrated in Quantitative Methods and Equity Investments, with Ethics updated as well.
Is there a new Level I topic?
Not a new topic area. Within Quantitative Methods there is a new reading on financial data science, AI and large language models, and the Quantitative Methods prerequisite reading is retired.
Do I need the 2027 edition of my prep materials?
For Level I, yes: a quarter of the exam moved. For Levels II and III the announced changes are the Ethics modules and the practical skills modules, so check that your materials carry the 2027 Ethics content. Ask the provider when its 2027 edition ships before you pay.
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