In shock, failed L3 band 9 - L3 resitters- how many more hours to pass?!

Katyusha77

So, I was completely shocked today to find out that I failed L3 band 9, after sailing through L1 and L2 no probs. I really thought that I'd put in enough hours (started late Nov 16) and after 9 full practice exams I was genuinely gutted that I hadn't quite made it. Especially that my bands were not much different to people who passed.

To be fair, I am 39 years old (female), work full time and have 2 kids age 10 and 5, so perhaps not ideal conditions for study. The worst part of this is feeling like I have neglected THEM for 6 months, I told them to leave the room and give me peace etc, only to find out today that it was all for nothing.

I've never failed anything academic before so its quite a blow and I can't help feeling worse abut it knowing I've ruined THEIR year too, not just my own. I have had my work experience signed off and have joined the institute but is it REALLY worth me doing this stupid exam again?

If you failed L3, and decided to resit, please let me know how many hours you studied the following year and whether you passed or failed. I'm not sure I can face all this again but at the same time I know I am so close!

Bear

Same boat - married + kids - pretty much destroyed their year - studied , practised, reviewed , did past papers - started in Autumn 2016- never let the pace drop 7 months - clocked up in excess of 350 hrs - incredible BS - really the prospect of having to revisit large parts of a curriculum which is so freakin unstimulating and face the randomness of the morning exam again - jury out for me CFA .

Katyusha77

Nice to know I'm not the only one! Do you think you will resit? 

I guess my question is if I spent 600+ hours this time preparing for the exam will I still need to spend 600 again if I decide to retake. Would all these hours already done not reduce my preparation time next year? If I thought I could prepare in 300 hours I would possibly go for it but I really don’t think I could put my husband and kids through half a year of me being holed up in my bedroom with textbooks again. Has anyone that retook spent fewer hours preparing the second time round?

Bear

Are there any historic stats on the proportion at L3 who are retaking ( 1st time , 2nd time , 3rd time etc)  and what the success rate is for each time retaking it? Anecdotal evidence of people taking L2/L3 multiple times and eventually passing are heroic / commendable  but personally I could spend the time productively split between making money and spending time doing other things that are more sane. Logically there must be overall less time required to review the material (OMG - ethics again and GIPS !!! for the love of god) but there must be a minimum about of time to do this like 125 hrs + whatever else is required to try and practice for the morning session of the exam ( who knows 50 / 60 hrs?) . Any Idea how far off roughly band 9/10 is from the MPS ? is it like 5%  ( 18 marks). Wont retake unless I can do some sort of analysis.

Zee

Bear said:

Any Idea how far off roughly band 9/10 is from the MPS ?

Hi @Bear - according to analyses that we've done in the past, the failing bands are about 1.5-2% apart, and it's closer in the Band 9/10 range. You were likely about 2 item set questions or 6 essay points away from a just-pass.

Bear

Thank you - very helpful.

sethneha

Zee said:

Bear said:

Any Idea how far off roughly band 9/10 is from the MPS ?

Hi @Bear - according to analyses that we've done in the past, the failing bands are about 1.5-2% apart, and it's closer in the Band 9/10 range. You were likely about 2 item set questions or 6 essay points away from a just-pass.

Hi Zee,

I want to know does 6 essay points means a Full essay question or just the sub-parts ? or could have got just six more point right out of 180 and could have jumped from Band 9 to Pass ?

Apologies if it's too stupid or naive question , just passed Level II exam so taking and learning all that I can to prepare for Level III. Still getting oriented to the new format and areas.

Thanks.

Zee

Hi @sethneha - we meant 6 more points scored in the essay exam, so yes, six more points out of 180.

Bear

that would be 2 item set questions of the 60 in the afternoon , each worth 3 marks or two subparts of any of the approx. 10/12 questions of the written answer section of the morning paper where 1 full question could mean anything from 15 marks to 21 marks for all parts - with 3 or 4 subparts.

Bear

sethneha

Thanks @Zee and @Bear