How to study for the FRM Exam: hours, weeks and a weekly schedule
GARP's 2026 FRM Candidate Guide says preparation time varies with experience, academic background and familiarity with the curriculum. On average, candidates spend about 275 hours studying; in a survey, reported study times ranged from less than 100 to more than 400 hours. GARP discourages last-minute preparation and suggests a weekly study schedule. Every reading in the Study Guide is part of the curriculum and will be tested, except those explicitly marked "Optional Regulatory Readings".
From hours to weeks
Hours a week multiplied by weeks gives your total. For the 275-hour average:
| Hours a week | Weeks |
|---|---|
| 8 | 34 |
| 10 | 28 |
| 15 | 18 |
| 20 | 14 |
Choose your exam window first, then count back. Leave the last one to two weeks for review and full simulations rather than new material.
What a good week looks like
- Read or watch one reading, with the learning objectives next to you. Every exam question maps to at least one of them.
- The same day, practice the reading's questions. Reviewing every answer, including the wrong options, is where most of the learning happens.
- Two days later, review what you missed. Spaced repetition brings each question back at growing intervals, so what you got wrong returns soon and what you know returns rarely.
- Once a week, do a mixed set across topics, and once every few weeks a timed block, so that pace becomes a habit.
- Practice the calculator on every calculation question: the keys are part of the exam skill.
A rough split of effort
Weights tell you where the points are. In Part I, 60% of questions are in Financial Markets and Products and in Valuation and Risk Models (30% each); in Part II, three topics carry 20% each (Market, Credit, and Operational Risk and Resilience). But the topics you find hardest earn the most from extra time, so let your results steer it.
How FRM Prep builds this for you
- Enter your exam date or pick a window. The plan counts down to it, keeps the last week for review, and recommends the smallest daily goal that gets you through every question in time.
- Each day's session serves due reviews first and new questions after, so you never have to decide what to study next.
- Error DNA shows which kinds of mistakes you make most, and one tap trains against them.
- Retaking? Tell the app which topics went badly and practice leans toward them until your new answers say otherwise.
- Simulations at the real format show how you will do under the clock, and the result page shows what to fix.