FRM Part 1 · Study Plan
This plan takes you through all 62 readings of the FRM Part 1 curriculum in 20 weeks. The weeks are grouped into four blocks of five: four weeks of three to five readings each, followed by a Block Test week with no new readings. Within each block, the readings are ordered so that each topic builds on the one before it. Every reading in the schedule links to its full MidhaFin chapter page, so you can open the week you are on and start studying straight away.
Beta is introduced in the CAPM reading of Foundations of Risk Management, but the quantitative meaning of beta, as the slope coefficient of a regression, is developed in Linear Regression in Quantitative Analysis. A candidate who studies one book at a time meets beta in portfolio theory without the tools to understand it, and then meets the regression that explains it weeks later with no reason to connect the two. That is why preparing module by module is not a good strategy for this exam.
So the plan moves across all four books. Regression comes in week 3 and CAPM follows in week 4. Interest rate basics sit next to futures, bond pricing comes before duration, and the option markets readings come just before the option valuation models that price them. Volatility and correlation lead straight into value at risk.
The theory-heavy readings, such as the institutions chapters, the crisis case studies and the governance readings, are spread across the timeline rather than stacked together. That way most weeks carry a blend of numerical and theoretical work, which is easier to sustain over five months than several weeks of pure reading followed by several weeks of pure calculation. We strongly advise following this sequence and schedule as they are.
Properties of Interest Rates (FMP 16) is studied in two halves: the first in week 7, before futures pricing needs it, and the second in week 9, alongside the bond pricing readings where the rest of it is used.
Each study week lists its readings in the order to study them, with the GARP reading code, and every fifth week is a Block Test week. The coloured tags show which of the four books the week draws on: QTA for Quantitative Analysis, FMP for Financial Markets and Products, VRM for Valuation and Risk Models, and FRM for Foundations of Risk Management.
Block 1 · Weeks 1 to 5
Probability and random variables, the base for everything quantitative that follows.
Joint distributions, sample statistics and hypothesis tests.
Regression, which gives beta its statistical meaning before portfolio theory uses it.
CAPM and APT arrive right after regression, followed by the two machine learning readings.
No new readings this week. Take the block test covering weeks 1 to 4, go through every question you got wrong, and use the rest of the week to catch up on anything still pending from the block.
Block 2 · Weeks 6 to 10
Time series completes the core statistics readings, and the first institutions reading lightens the week.
Derivatives begin: market structure, clearing, interest rate basics and futures.
Hedging with futures, forward and futures pricing, commodities and currencies.
Interest rate conventions and bond pricing, with corporate bonds alongside.
No new readings this week. Take the block test covering weeks 6 to 9, go through every question you got wrong, and use the rest of the week to catch up on anything still pending from the block.
Block 3 · Weeks 11 to 15
Duration, convexity and hedging, then mortgages and the 2007 to 2009 crisis that grew out of them.
Options from markets and payoff properties through strategies and exotics.
Option valuation: binomial trees, Black-Scholes-Merton, the Greeks and simulation.
Volatility and correlation lead straight into VaR and risk measurement.
No new readings this week. Take the block test covering weeks 11 to 14, go through every question you got wrong, and use the rest of the week to catch up on anything still pending from the block.
Block 4 · Weeks 16 to 20
Credit ratings, country risk, operational risk and stress testing.
Rate futures and swaps finish the products; the Foundations readings begin.
Credit risk transfer and measurement, governance and risk data reporting.
Case studies of disasters, the GARP Code of Conduct, ERM and fund management.
No new readings this week. Take the block test covering weeks 16 to 19, go through every question you got wrong, and use the rest of the week to catch up on anything still pending from the block.
Financial Markets and Products and Valuation and Risk Models carry 30 percent of the exam each, and they also hold the most readings, so they run through the longest stretch of the plan, from week 6 to week 19. Quantitative Analysis is placed first because the later numerical readings depend on it, and Foundations of Risk Management is placed mostly at the end, where its governance and case study readings sit best after the products and risk models they discuss.
| Module | Exam weight | Readings | Main weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations of Risk Management (FRM) | 20% | 11 | 4, 11, 17 to 19 |
| Quantitative Analysis (QTA) | 20% | 15 | 1 to 4, 6, 13, 14 |
| Financial Markets and Products (FMP) | 30% | 20 | 6 to 9, 11, 12, 17, 19 |
| Valuation and Risk Models (VRM) | 30% | 16 | 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18 |
GARP reports that candidates spend about 240 hours preparing for each part of the FRM on average, with individual figures ranging from under 100 hours to over 400. At MidhaFin, we recommend 500 to 600 hours of personal study to be well prepared for FRM Part 1, which across the 20 weeks of this plan comes to roughly 25 to 30 hours a week. How much of that you need depends on your background: a strong quantitative background makes the first block move faster, while candidates new to finance should expect the derivatives and fixed income weeks in Blocks 2 and 3 to take longer. Our guide to how much time FRM Part 1 takes goes into this in more detail.
Solve questions from the first week, at the end of every reading, rather than saving them for the end, and treat each Block Test as a real exam sitting. The plan finishes with Block Test 4 in week 20, and you should keep the last three to four weeks before the exam for revision and at least five full length mock tests under exam-like conditions. So start around 23 weeks before your exam date: in early December for the May window, and in early June for the November window. Current registration and exam dates are on our FRM dates and deadlines page.
Use the Block Test week to catch up, and keep the order rather than skipping ahead. Every block ends with a week that has no new readings, which is where a slipped week can be absorbed. Jumping to a later week to stay on schedule recreates exactly the out-of-order study this plan is built to avoid.
In this video, the study plan is explained block by block, along with the reasoning behind the order of the readings.
GARP reports that candidates spend about 240 hours on average for each part, with individual figures ranging from under 100 to over 400 hours. At MidhaFin we recommend 500 to 600 hours of personal study to be well prepared for FRM Part 1. Across the 20 weeks of this plan, that works out to roughly 25 to 30 hours a week.
It is not a wise strategy. Some concepts are used in an earlier topic but discussed in detail in a later topic in another module. Beta, for example, is introduced in CAPM in Foundations of Risk Management, while the quantitative aspect of beta is discussed in Linear Regression in Quantitative Analysis. That is why this plan moves across all four modules in a set sequence.
Every fifth week, weeks 5, 10, 15 and 20, has no new readings. You take a test covering the four weeks of that block, go through every question you got wrong, and catch up on anything still pending before the next block starts.
Start around 23 weeks before your exam, so that the 20 weeks of this plan finish about three to four weeks before the exam and leave time for revision and full length mocks. For the May window that means starting in early December, and for the November window, in early June.
Financial Markets and Products and Valuation and Risk Models carry 30 percent of the exam each, while Foundations of Risk Management and Quantitative Analysis carry 20 percent each. The exam has 100 equally weighted questions to be answered in four hours.
Yes. The study plan is available as a PDF from the download link on this page, so you can print it and tick off each reading as you finish it.