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Before Sit for the CFA Exam eBook
Get advice from CFA Charterholders for a successful exam day.CFA How To Prep
March 11, 2026
To postpone a scheduled CFA® exam, you must meet specific criteria and appeal directly to CFA Institute or purchase a voluntary deferral. The only exception to these two deferral policies is if the CFA Institute postpones the exam for reasons such as natural disasters, a pandemic, or a major exam format change.
When CFA Institute postpones or cancels the exam, they provide notice to candidates and help them transfer to the new date or register again.
The price of a paid deferrals is $449 USD for the CFA Program.
There is also a $100 USD processing fee for all approved emergency deferral requests. This fee is to cover the administrative costs associated with canceling your registration.
If the CFA institute does not announce a postponement for all candidates, that means people can only reschedule in specific circumstances or pay a fee to postpone their exam date. They call this a deferral, and they decide whether to offer deferrals case-by-case.
To be considered for the emergency deferral, you must notify CFA Institute using the CFA Institute Deferral Form. CFA Institute has a self-assessment tool you can use to determine whether you should request this deferral.
After reviewing your case, CFA Institute will determine whether you can postpone your scheduled exam to the next sitting. If your case meets the criteria, you will be offered a qualified deferral, and your enrollment and registration status will be deferred until the next sitting. However, you will forfeit any fees you paid.
The reasoning behind this policy is that the number of paid registrations determines the number of testing centers, computers, furniture, and other equipment to reserve in the testing centers. Paid registrations also determine the support services needed. In addition, CFA Institute says, a deferral creates an empty space that can’t be filled.
If you don’t qualify for a deferral and you are not able to take the exam on the scheduled date, you have the option of withdrawing from the CFA exam or purchasing a voluntary deferral.
To defer your CFA exam means you’d like to postpone when you take the CFA exam to a later date. The CFA Institute emergency deferral policy contains a list of reasons that determine if you are able to postpone your CFA exam date.
To submit an emergency deferral request, you must log in to your CFA Institute account and submit your documentation using the CFA Institute Deferral Form.
If your request to defer is approved under the CFA Institute’s deferral policy, you will be able to register for any available exam window within 12 months after your request was approved. CFA Institute charges a $100 USD processing fee for all approved emergency deferral requests. Candidates should always refer to CFA Institute policies for correct and up-to-date information, as per the Candidate Agreement.
You or your immediate family member (parent, sibling, spouse/domestic partner, or child) are suffering from a life-threatening illness.
A member of your immediate family (parent, sibling, spouse/domestic partner, or child) has recently died.
You have been ordered to mandatory military deployment in the testing window.
You are pregnant.
Your exam has been rescheduled by Prometric within 30 days of your exam window and after contacting Prometric, you are unable to find a new acceptable appointment date.
Candidates who do not qualify under the emergency deferral policy will have the option to purchase a voluntary deferral through their CFA Institute account.
CFA candidates can purchase a USD $449, no-questions-asked, one-time deferral that allows them to postpone their exam appointment for up to 12 months, depending on their exam level.
Only one paid deferral is permitted for each paid registration. You will not be able to defer a second time unless you pay for a new registration. Once candidates purchase this deferral, their registration and scheduled exam will be canceled immediately.
It can take up to 7 weeks to process a CFA deferral request so if you’d like an update on the status of your deferral request, start by checking the status of your request in your CFA Institute account.
You may withdraw from the CFA exam under the paid deferral or emergency deferral policies. Withdrawing means that you do not have to take the exam, but it stops there. If you want to take it in the next sitting, you will have to register again.
Candidates have up until 3 days following the close of the exam window to purchase a deferral.
Candidates may request an emergency deferral up to 3 days following the close of the exam.
If you do not withdraw by the deadline, and you then don’t sit for the exam, you will not be allowed to register for the next sitting until after CFA Institute releases all the results from the current exam. So, if you need to withdraw, go through the proper channels to ensure a place at the next sitting.
Once you withdraw, it’s final. This means that if you withdraw your registration for one sitting, you cannot re-register for the same sitting.
If you don’t want to withdraw from the exam, but you can’t take it at your assigned testing center, you can request a change.
After you receive the location of your testing center, you can change it online by using your account without forfeiting any fees. If you request a change before admission tickets are released, the change is automatic unless the testing center is full. If you request a change to a testing center that has space available after admission tickets are released, you will be notified by mail of the change.
No one can predict the future and certainly not medical and other emergencies. However, it’s best if you can avoid postponing or withdrawing from the exam. This is especially true for Levels II and III since they are offered less often than Level I exams. Here are some tips that can help you be prepared for your scheduled exam:
If you have a full-time job, before you register, look at your weekly schedule and think about what blocks of time you could realistically set aside to prepare for the exam. Err on the side of caution, and if the exam is six months away or less, consider a later sitting.
If you are still in college, before you register, consider the implications of having conflicting priorities, such as an internship or looking for a job.
If you have decided to sit for the exam, register during the early registration period.
Early registration for the CFA exams usually opens about nine months before the exam date, so start studying as soon as you register. If you get stuck on a topic and need extra time, you have a few more months to prepare.
Treat 300 hours as the minimum you should study, and plan to study more. Successful charterholders often say that it took 350 hours or more to study, especially for Level III. An effective CFA study plan can help.
If you have already registered, and you think you are falling behind, reassess your study plan. Think about your problem areas or the topics that have the higher weights, and focus your study on them.
Our CFA study materials offer live instruction, practice questions, and more. They can help you stick to your study plan and show up on your scheduled exam day, feeling confident about your odds of passing.
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