Dear Analyst Forum, sorry for question which you might find obvious, but for me it is not clear even after researching the internet and CFA website specifically. I have three observations:
QBank calculates the result of the test exam simply as [correct answers]/[total questions]
So (2) and (3) suggests that there are no topic-weightening when calculating the result of the exam. How are topic weights taken into account then? What do they mean? How they are supposed to be used by candidates?
P.S. I first thought that weights refer to the relative share of questions from each topic in total questions but again, looking at Schweser’s QBank and Test Exams, this doesn’t look true.
The weights are provided as a very general outline to how each exam is constructed. The grading on the exam is precisely how you mentioned: [correct]/[total]
This means you can score high on the high % topics and low on the low % topics and still pass. You don’t have to pass each section on each exam.
Each person studies differently. I concentrated on the largest % sections (FRA & Equity) for L2 last year and knew enough econ from previous learning and experience that I didn’t even read that book. For L3 this year, I’m planning on a similar timeline to concentrate more on the high % topic areas since there will be more questions on that.
You’re going to find it difficult to do for Level 3 as there aren’t any topics that are huge. Everything is pretty much tested evenly. I did the same as you for Level 1 & 2, but didn’t find it possible for level 3.
Also, you can’t afford to know nothing about a topic in level 3. That’s a 0 in the AM. Much different than the 33% average floor in Level 1 and 2.