cfa level 3 essay writing workshop

CFA ®️ Level III Review Workshops

Get exam-ready with a cfa ® level iii review workshop.

With a balanced mix of CFA ® Program curriculum review and problem-solving, Schweser’s Review Workshop is just the thing to get you exam-ready. After reviewing each topic of the curriculum, instructors use problems and exam-like questions to help reinforce your knowledge, practice your exam techniques, and improve your exam-taking skill and speed. It’s exactly what you need during the final weeks of preparation in order to build your confidence and perform effectively on the CFA exam.

Beginning with the 2025 Level III exams, CFA Institute introduced specialized pathways. Each pathway was developed to give candidates more options to learn content directly related to their interests and career goals. The three specialized pathways are: 

• Portfolio Management:  This traditional CFA Program pathway focuses on constructing, managing, optimizing, and measuring portfolios of public market equity, fixed income, and derivative securities.
• Private Markets:  This pathway addresses private markets investing primarily from the perspective of the general partner (GP). It builds on key valuation and other competencies in the CFA Program from all four asset class domains.
• Private Wealth:  This pathway offers a global perspective on and universal principles for serving high-net-worth clients (worth US$5M+). It is structured as an arc from a young adult being onboarded to generating wealth through wealth transfer.

Level III OnDemand Review Workshop

These instructor-led OnDemand workshops review each topic of the curriculum and use exam-like questions to help reinforce your knowledge, practice your exam techniques, and improve your exam-taking skill and speed. It’s exactly what you need during the final weeks of preparation in order to build your confidence and perform effectively on the CFA exam.

• 30+ hours of question practice and review
• Thorough review of key topics
• Extensive work with practice questions and problem solving techniques
• Instructor exam tips and strategies
• Access to the Kaplan Schweser Community forum, where you can engage with instructors and fellow candidates
• Schweser’s Secret Sauce ®
• Schweser Review Workshop Mind Maps (Review slides)
• Schweser Review Workshop Questions (Practice questions)

Choose Your OnDemand Workshop by Exam:

Level iii live online review workshops, 1-day essay writing workshops.

This workshop helps pinpoint the key deficiencies in your writing style and shows candidates exactly how to improve their approach to essay writing for the Level III CFA Exam. Armed with this valuable information, candidates provide better-structured responses on exam day. The workshop utilizes 20 exam-like, constructed response questions relevant to the current curriculum. Workshop participants receive the questions and answers as well as coaching from Kaplan Schweser's instructors on how to answer such questions successfully under exam conditions.

After the live online workshop has taken place, an OnDemand recording will be available for you to view anytime, anywhere. 

Live Online Review Workshop

The CFA Level III workshop (ranging from 3 to 5 days) reviews each topic of the curriculum. Your instructor will lead you through realistic essay questions to help reinforce your knowledge and work on your essay-writing technique. This thorough review workshop is exactly what you need during the final weeks of preparation to ensure you perform efficiently and effectively on CFA exam day.

• Live Online review, question practice, problem solving, and exam strategies
• Schweser’s Secret Sauce ® , a compact book providing a concise review of the curriculum and exam tips
• OnDemand viewing available after each session
• Schweser Review Workshop Mind Maps (review slides)
• Schweser Review Workshop Questions (practice questions)

IMPORTANT : Kaplan uses  Zoom for Live Online events. Click here for instructions on how to create and set up your Zoom account.

Zoom and the Zoom logo are trademarks of Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The live session will be archived and posted online for future viewing. By viewing this session, you agree and acknowledge that all images and content are the sole property of Kaplan Schweser and its affiliates. This live session may not be further disseminated, rebroadcast, or otherwise duplicated or displayed in any media or any format now known or developed in the future.

Choose Your Live Online Workshop by Exam:

Select your class time in the cart.

This workshop helps pinpoint the key deficiencies in your writing style and shows candidates exactly how to improve their approach to essay writing for the Level III CFA Exam. Armed with this valuable information, candidates provide better-structured responses on exam day.

The workshop utilizes 20 exam-like, constructed response questions. All questions are relevant to the current curriculum. Workshop participants receive the questions and answers as well as coaching from Kaplan on how to answer such questions successfully under exam conditions.

Before the Writing Workshop

• Candidates receive 5 questions to be answered prior to the event. These questions are available to students in the online LMS 7 days prior to the date of the Essay Workshop.

Day of Essay Writing Workshop

• Workshop participants receive coaching on how to score and improve their answers to the 5 questions completed prior to the workshop.
• The workshop instructor provides guidance and tips to then answer another 5 questions under timed conditions. Each question will be followed by a specific discussion of how the candidate paper would be graded and expert tips on how to improve your score and manage your time effectively.
• The workshop includes question and answer sessions as well as group discussions of the answers.
• An online chat feature and a moderator are available for candidates to ask questions throughout the day (online workshop only).

After the Essay Writing Workshop

• Candidates submit their answers to an additional 10 essay questions within 2 days of the workshop.
• Within 7 days, candidates receive individualized feedback on their answers from a team of qualified CFA charterholders to help each candidate understand what their essays were missing and why they lost points. This team of graders has expert training by Kaplan in standard-setting, Level III CFA exam grading techniques.
• Essay questions will be reviewed and scored to help each candidate understand what their essays were missing and why they lost points
• The Online Essay Writing Workshop is archived and remains available OnDemand for candidates to review leading up to exam day (online workshop only).

Level III In-Person Review Workshops

This workshop helps pinpoint the key deficiencies in your writing style and shows candidates exactly how to improve their approach to essay writing for the Level III CFA Exam. Armed with this valuable information, candidates provide better-structured responses on exam day. The workshop utilizes 20 exam-like, constructed response questions. All questions are relevant to the current curriculum. Workshop participants receive the questions and answers as well as coaching from Kaplan on how to answer such questions successfully under exam conditions.

3-Day & 5-Day In-Person Review Workshops

These instructor-led workshops review each topic of the curriculum and use exam-like questions to help reinforce your knowledge, practice your exam techniques, and improve your exam-taking skill and speed. It’s exactly what you need during the final weeks of preparation in order to build your confidence and perform effectively on the CFA exam.

• 3 or 5 full days of live online review, question practice, problem-solving, and exam strategies
• On-demand viewing available after each session
• Schweser’s Secret Sauce®

Choose Your In-Person Workshop by Exam:

Select your class location in the cart.

Complete your study plan by adding 10+ study tools and instructor-led review to your Review Workshop

Shop CFA Level III Study Packages

CFA Level III Review Workshop FAQs

How do i access my online tools, how long is my online access to study materials.

• February 2024 exam products: access expires on March 31, 2024
• May 2024 exam products: access expires on June 30, 2024
• August 2024 exam products: access expires on September 30, 2024
• November 2024 exam products: access expires on December 31, 2024
• February 2025 exam products: access expires on March 31, 2025 
• May 2025 exam products: access expires on June 30, 2025 
• August 2025 exam products: access expires on September 30, 2025 
• November 2025 exam products: access expires on December 31, 2025

Is there an app that I can use for my studies?

What are my cfa ebook options, what kaplan schweser customers say.

Essay-writing Workshop for Level III Candidates (Third Party Provider)

Passing the CFA level III exam is predominantly difficult for those who do not speak English as a mother tongue, we know that. We therefore try to help you increase your confidence level for your essay writing part of the exam.

Nathan Ronen, CFA is a prep provider. With his company, Chalk and Board, he is offering “Essay Writing workshops”.

Level III Essay Writing Webinar

Praise from a Past Candidate

How to Be Great at Answering CFA Level 3 Essay Questions

The CFA Level 3 essay questions (constructed response) tends to be many candidates’ Achilles heel, even when they accurately self-grade the essay practice questions during practice.

However, there is a quick way to substantially improve your constructed response section’s performance. 

Knowing the best strategies on how to answer essay questions is almost as important as knowing the actual CFA curriculum content, and a lot of candidates don’t stop to think about this enough.

That’s why, we have put together an ultimate guide to answering CFA Level 3 essay / constructed response questions better.

Check it out!

CFA Level 3 exam structure: a quick overview

CFA Level 3 has a mix of constructed response (essay) and item-based multiple choice questions (MCQ).

Item-set based multiple choice questions (MCQ), whereby questions in each item set must be answered based on the information in the vignette. Each item-set has 4-6 questions related to it. Each question is worth 3 points.

Recently, CFA Institute has sensibly decided to mix both constructed response and MCQs in each Level 3 session to help candidates average things out and complete their exams better.

CFA Level 3 exam will take 4 hours and 24 minutes, split into 2 equal sessions of 2 hours and 12 minutes each:

• This means that each CFA Level 3 exam session has either 6 item sets and 5 essay sets, or 5 item sets and 6 essay sets.
• The total number of questions for Level 3 exam doesn’t change: 11 essay sets and 11 item sets, with 12 points each.

For some CFA Level 3 example questions, see this item set sample provided by CFA Institute , as well as sign up for our free CFA Level 3 practice test to get more questions!

Reasons why candidates fail CFA Level 3

Before we go through various strategies and tips on how best to answer CFA essay questions, it is worthwhile taking a step back to understand the main cause of CFA Level 3 failure:

• Not following a customized study plan that prioritizes the topic weight.
• Lack of attention on the Learning Outcome Statements (LOS) , which focuses on the things you need to know for each topic.
• Insufficient studying time, probably due to sleep deprivation or trying to balance work and studying .
• Not doing sufficient practice exams under timed condition
• Poor time management during exam, probably due to exam anxiety

To minimize the risk of failure, do create your personalized CFA study plan that fits around your worklife, expect at least 350 hours of quality studying time (including practicing mock exams ) and be mindful of the LOS you need to know as you go through each chapter.

OK assuming those are covered, let’s take a look at the top tips on how to approach CFA essay questions better.

CFA Level 3 question s: reading tips

Read the question before its case information. 

• Focus your attention on the questions right at the start. After reading and understanding the questions, then move onto the case information. This should provide you with a better sense of purpose and focus now that you know what you’re looking for.
• Finally, reread the question again before answering concisely – for more tips on answering essay questions, see the next section.

Read and highlight.

• Read the question quickly but actively, highlighting key words (yes, there’s a function for that now in CBT exams )
• Highlighting key words helps because you’ll need to refer to the question a few times, flipping back and forth between the case information and the question itself.
• CFA Institute have made this easier by bolding key command words in their questions to provide a guide. Here’s the complete list of 17 CFA LOS command words and what they mean:

How to answer a CFA Level 3 essay question s

Short answers – no essays.

• Although everyone calls it an ‘essay’ question, do NOT answer in essay form – you’re wasting time.
• Legible, concise, straight to the point answers are essential to keep within the exam time limit.
• No long sentences or paragraphs needed – bullet points are fine. In the current computer-based exams , using the hyphen (“-”) sign is fine as a bullet point.
• Keep your answers short yet understandable. This is because answers are graded only on content, not on language or style.
• Focus on addressing the bold command words used in each question. Answers that are unclear or ‘not answering the question’ will get 0 points.
• If a question asks for 1 advantage or 2 reasons, provide no more than the number of advantages or reasons requested . Only the first advantage and the first two reasons that you provide will be graded, so there is no point writing more.

Show all the calculations and formulae you can. 

• For calculation answers, always show as many steps and formula as you can. While this step is optional, it does help you get partial credit in case you make a mistake somewhere in your calculations. In theory, you can write just the answer, and if it is correct, get full credit for it anyway.
• In the Math Editor tool, use the multiplication sign (x) instead of an asterisk (*). The latter will either delete or convert the text to italics.
• If appropriate, state any assumptions that support your approach to solving the problem.

Know when to guess and move on.

If you’re not sure of the answer, type your best guess down (don’t leave anything blank as there are no negative marking), and come back to it later if you have time. Then move on to the next question. Don’t dwell on it and waste precious time.

Make sure you answer questions on the correct page or template.

• Each question should have specific directions on where to answer that question. Make sure you get that right.
• Answering questions on the wrong page or template will get you zero points.

Abbreviate.

Well known abbreviations can be used, especially when they’ve been used in CFA curriculum, e.g. PV for present value, arrows to indicate up or down (↑ or ↓) in answers are fine.

How to manage time on the constructed response paper

Know how much time you should spend.

• Each question part in the CFA exam has its recommended allocated time indicated.
• 1 minute is indicated is equivalent to 1 point in the exam . This indication provides a great guide on how long to spend on reading and answering.

Move on or skip when you have to.

• There is rarely extra time in the essay session.
• Mark the time you’ve to move on at the start of each question.
• Do what you can and skip to the next section or question once time is up.

Use these rules of thumb.

• You should be spending more than half the time reading, thinking, and deciding, and you should be spending less than half the assigned time in actually writing out the answers.
• Think first, then type!

The recommended process of answering CFA essay question s

Pulling all of the above together, this is how we recommend to approach each CFA essay question:

• Read all the question parts in the whole case.
• Read the question’s case information.
• Read the specific question part you want to answer.
• Answer concisely in the right page and template.
• Move onto the next question part when finished. If the allocated time is up and you’re still not done, type what you can and move on.

Are you facing your CFA Level 3 this exam cycle? Hope the above helps your constructed response strategy! We also have  a free Level 3 practice exam for you that you can take now .

Meanwhile, here are other related articles and resources that may be of interest:

• CFA Level 3 Tips: Top 10 Advice from Previous Candidates
• CFA Level 3: How to Prepare and Pass CFA in 18 Months
• What Is the Best CFA Level 3 Topic Study Order?
• How I Passed CFA Level 3 In My First Attempt

12 thoughts on “How to Be Great at Answering CFA Level 3 Essay Questions”

Thanks for the information!

You’re welcome Felicity, best of luck!

Thanks for putting together this wonderful article!

Do you think it’s better to scribble formulas on paper before entering them into the white text or is it better to directly type them on the computer to save time?

I sometimes prefer scribbling to get the logic right but am worried this may waste time. Thanks!

Hi Husain, I think typing them into the computer as you go along is better as there isn’t much time to waste. Unless it is for a longer formula that may benefit from writing down quickly and copied across in the computer, my personal view is typing it directly should be fine. As long as the answer you calculated and/or written answers are correct, full scores are given

I found this article helpful and intend to come back to it as I do my mocks over the next 4 weeks.

Thanks Pope, best of luck, last stretch now in your CFA journey!

Hi all, I understood from some videos that the past exam essay question, at least until 2018 sessions, are available online for practicing.Do you know where are these available?

Thank you all

Hi Team, do you know if you can highlight on the vignette? In Kaplans Sim, I can highlight the questions but not the vignette.

You currently cannot highlight in the vignettes, but CFA Institute has mentioned this is being looked at:

It was our desire to have highlight available within the vignette, but Prometric software doesn’t presently support that within the context of the set-up we have to use in order to produce the vignettes. This will be included as a future enhancement, but as of now we do not have a timeline to report as to when this will be available to candidates.

Original discussion here: https://300hours.com/f/cfa/level-2/t/highlighting-text-on-the-vignette/

There are some shortcomings, but overall a great article, thanks a lo.

Good tips but some of them are not useful given the CBT testing environment ( eg: underline key words , writing out formula etc ) Would be better if the tips are more relevant to 2021 testing conditions. Thanks.

Hi Ty, thanks for spotting that! The general gist and advice still applies, I’ve updated the underlining to highlighting now, as there’s such a feature in Prometric’s CFA exam interface.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Notify me of replies to my comment via e-mail. You can also subscribe without commenting.

Level III - Essay Writing Workshop 1 + Mock Exam

• In this one-day intensive workshop, candidates are given 15-20 unique CFA® exam-type essays covering the CFA Level III Curriculum under simulated exam conditions.
• Candidates are coached to dissect CFA® style essays and construct responses with the appropriate level of depth and detail graders are expecting.
• Candidates submit their essays to be personally graded by Nathan. Answers to the questions are reviewed and in-depth explanations provided so that candidates understand where improvements can be made to achieve maximum points.
• Candidates receive a formal answer key with explanations at the end of the workshop.
• Candidates have access to Nathan for questions related to this workshop.
• It is highly recommended that candidates attend either the Live Weekly Lectures or the On-Demand Video Lectures prior to taking this Essay Writing Workshop.

Note: Essay Writing Workshop 1 and Essay Writing Workshop 2 have different essays and, for greatest exam preparation rigor, it is recommended that candidates take both essay writing workshops. 2020-10-25T04:00:00Z

Save 10% on All AnalystPrep 2024 Study Packages with Coupon Code BLOG10 .

• Payment Plans
• Product List
• Partnerships

• Try Free Trial
• Study Packages
• Levels I, II & III Lifetime Package
• Video Lessons
• Study Notes
• Practice Questions
• Levels II & III Lifetime Package
• About the Exam
• About our Instructor
• Part I Study Packages
• Part I & Part II Lifetime Package
• Part II Study Packages
• About your Instructor
• Exams P & FM Lifetime Package
• Quantitative Questions
• Verbal Questions
• Data Insight Questions
• Live Tutoring
• EA Practice Questions
• Data Sufficiency Questions
• Integrated Reasoning Questions

8 Ways to Improve your Writing Skills for the CFA® Level III Exam

Do you want to build an outstanding career in finance? To achieve this goal, you should not only become an expert in quantitative analysis and integrated risk management, but you should also improve your writing skills.

Finance students tend to underestimate the importance of writing skills, and that’s a problem. The truth is that if you can’t express your ideas on paper clearly, you have little chance to pass the CFA® level III exam that has essay-type questions. Besides, if you have poor business writing skills, it will be challenging for you to make a good impression on your boss, colleagues, and clients and move up the career ladder.

Do you want to improve your writing skills? Here are eight tips for you.

Express your Ideas in a Short and Concise Manner

Let’s face it. Professionals who work in finance and related fields are busy people. They don’t have time to read lengthy reports and wordy emails. They expect you to present your ideas in a short, concise manner.

So if you want to improve your writing skills, you should change the way you express your ideas first. Don’t try to write down each and every thought that jumps into your mind. Process your ideas, formulate the sentences, and only after that, move to the writing.

What about the CFA level III exam, you should remember that it’s a timed exam. If you want to pass it, you should not only provide correct answers but also do it in a timely manner.

If you learn the skill of expressing your ideas clearly and briefly, you will save lots of time writing. In contrast to other finance students, you will answer each question in a few short sentences, not lengthy paragraphs.

Master the Art of Writing in Bullet Points

Keep in mind that lengthy, unstructured texts do not work effectively. Whether you write a CFA exam or create a finance document, you should consider presenting your ideas using bullet points. Bulleted lists will allow you to add clarity to your writing, improve readability, and draw the reader’s attention to the key concepts.

During the CFA level III exam, the examiner will tell you how many factors (e.g., examples/reasons) you should list in each question. If you write your answers using bullet points, you will help the examiner to check your work faster.

Time your Writing Session

Do you have excellent time management skills? Make sure to apply them to your writing practice.

Some students tend to “get lost” in the writing process. They can work on their essay for hours without noticing it. And that’s an issue. To work productively and pass the level III exam, you should be aware of how much time you spend putting your ideas on paper. You should set timers and check how long it takes you to write down the essay.

If you write slowly, you should find a way to speed up the writing process. You should practice with the timer regularly to get used to a faster pace.

Improve your Proofreading Skills

CFA Institute graders check content only. They don’t grade language, style, grammar, and the length of writing. However, it doesn’t mean that you can skip the proofreading part of the writing process.

You should understand that one typo or spelling mistake can change the meaning of the phrase or even of the whole paragraph. And if the grader will misinterpret your exam answer, you will lose your points.

Make it a habit to proofread everything you write. Try to define your common grammar mistakes and work on them. Your excellent grammar skills will help you pass the level III exam and enhance your business writing for your future career, in which you will have to write to clients on a daily basis.

Be Consistent

Whatever you write, you should make sure your assumptions are consistent. Don’t allow yourself to jump from one topic to another, from one statement to another. Put your ideas in the right order and make sure that every new statement you make supports your previous statement.

Finance students can often fail the CFA level III exam because they provide contradictory statements or make statements with wrong casual relationships. Don’t make such a mistake. Think before you write. If you see that one statement contradicts another one, rewrite it, or provide other supporting arguments.

Spend time on the Internet in a Productive Way

There are lots of tools and online learning sites for students out there. If you want to improve your writing and prepare for the exam, don’t hesitate to use them.

Leverage new technologies to acquire new skills faster. Use the free  Grammarly Chrome Add-On  to make your writing error-free and utilize readability checkers to make your writing flow smoothly. Also, spend your free time on collaborative writing platforms and other websites where you can practice your skills together with other students.

If you want to become a more proficient writer, you should spend more time reading. You should read books and magazines that cover finance topics and pay attention to the sentence structure and wording.

If you read on a daily basis, your brain will start working differently. You will notice that it will get easier for you to articulate your ideas. Your professional vocabulary will get bigger, and your documents will have a more clear structure.

Be Ready to Write on any Topic

It may happen that during the level III exam, you will be asked a question on which you don’t know the right answer. And you will have to use your background knowledge and your writing skills to come up with a relevant answer to gain at least a few points.

To get ready for such a situation, you should practice writing on different topics. You should learn to use your creativity and analytic skills to provide answers to any question.

FRM Part I & Part II Complete Course

In Conclusion

Writing skills are important for finance professionals. So if your current writing skills are far from perfect, you should find a way to improve them.

Work hard to turn your flaws into strengths and become an outstanding writer. Use the acquired skills to excel in your finance career and achieve success in life.

Author’s bio. Daniela McVicker is a freelance writer, blogger, and contributor to EssayAssistant . She graduated from Durham University and has an MA in psychological science. Her passion is traveling and finding ways to enrich students’ learning experiences.

Offered by AnalystPrep

CFA® Level I Exam Study Plan offered by AnalystPrep

Cfa® exam grading, how much do cfa® charterholders earn.

Earning a CFA certification is an excellent way to grow your career in... Read More

How to Recover from a Level I CFA® Ex ...

Spending 6 months of your life studying for an exam only to find... Read More

CFA Study: Balancing Work, Life, and C ...

The first thing you’ll hear while approaching your CFA exams is you need... Read More

Spot Rate vs. Forward Rates (Calculati ...

Spot Rates A spot interest rate gives you the price of a financial... Read More

Gain recognition with the help of my essay writer

Generally, our writers, who will write my essay for me, have the responsibility to show their determination in writing the essay for you, but there is more they can do. They can ease your admission process for higher education and write various personal statements, cover letters, admission write-up, and many more. Brilliant drafts for your business studies course, ranging from market analysis to business proposal, can also be done by them. Be it any kind of a draft- the experts have the potential to dig in deep before writing. Doing ‘my draft’ with the utmost efficiency is what matters to us the most.

A standard essay helper is an expert we assign at no extra cost when your order is placed. Within minutes, after payment has been made, this type of writer takes on the job. A standard writer is the best option when you’re on a budget but the deadline isn’t burning. Within a couple of days, a new custom essay will be done for you from the ground up. Unique content, genuine research, spot-on APA/MLA formatting, and peerless grammar are guaranteed. Also, we’ll provide you with a free title page, bibliography, and plagiarism check. With a standard writer, you can count on a quality essay that will live up to all your expectations.

« All Events

• This event has passed.

Candidates: Level III Exam Essay Writing Workshop

Apr 23, 2022 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm.

Are you ready for the Level III CFA Exam? How about the Essay Portion? Knowing the best strategies and methods on how to answer essay questions is almost as important as knowing the actual CFA curriculum content, and a lot of candidates don’t take the necessary time to prepare. 

Please join Glen Holden, Jr., CFA as he guides you through the essay writing process of the Level III CFA Exam. This workshop will take you through the CFA Institute Essay Grading Methodology, Test Taking Tips, and Pitfalls that can occur during the Level III Exam.

CFA Society Los Angeles

• Google Calendar
• Outlook 365
• Outlook Live

Event Navigation

• « CIO Investment Leadership Series: Private Credit Strategies for the Future
• 2022 Outlook Dinner »

• Privacy Overview
• Allow analytics tracking

Functional cookies , which are necessary for basic site functionality like keeping you logged in, are always enabled .

Analytics help us understand how the site is used, and which pages are the most popular. Read the Privacy Policy to learn how this information is used.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!