FRM Exam

[skhouaja]

Dear David,

So far, reading about the FRM exam on the official GARP website as well as on yours, has not helped me understand what is needed to pass it. Is there –according to you- a percentage of good answers (let’s say 65% or 70%) that would ensure passing such an exam. I understood that GARP analyses the distribution of good answers over the entire population and then classify (post-factor) the candidates into four quartiles for each of the five disciplines.

What if someone belongs to the 1st quartile for 4 disciplines and 3rd/4th for the fifth one..etc.. I do appreciate your advice. Thanks and kind regards, Samir

 

[David Harper CFA FRM]

Samir,

This is what GARP told me (for this year 2008):

The allocation of questions and the report back (e.g., quartile in Market Risk) is per the five disciplines. So, you should expect the allocation of questions to approximately follow the discipline weights.

However, the scoring and pass/no pass is simply (i) lump-sum and (ii) post-factor as you say (aka, "on a curve" without a predefined hurdle). That means, your total number of correct is the only score that matters for passing and, I think, it is difficult to say what percentage (%) will be required to pass. The latter, IMO, makes some sense given the test is (i) difficult and (ii) dynamic with updated content with makes ex ante calibration difficult.

I will say that you don't need to answer nearly all of them correctly. The vast majority find the test difficult, even those well-prepared; it seems to me, if i think about last year's feedback, that the percentage must have been below, maybe well below, 80 to 85%. (e.g., last year we had some a few really strong candidates, incl. a risk professor, who passed. For them, I would have thought they might have sailed through with ease, but *everybody* seemed to say it was quite difficult)

I hope that helps...David