Lesson 2 of 4 · All lessons in this module
This lesson is part of the 2027 curriculum. You are following the 2026 curriculum, where it is not taught in this form. Switch if you are sitting the exam under the 2027 curriculum.
Lesson 2 of 4 · 16 min
Standard VII(A) cases: exams, confidentiality and volunteering
VII(A) asks one thing of exam takers and volunteers: do nothing that weakens the exam, and say nothing about its content, tested or not, until CFA Institute releases it; opinions about CFA Institute remain free.
In short
- Covered conduct: giving or receiving help, breaking testing rules (such as the calculator and belongings policies), revealing confidential information, circumventing exam security, misusing the CFA Institute association, and misrepresenting information given to CFA Institute.
- Confidential: specific questions and broad topic areas or formulas, tested or not tested, in any channel: blog, forum, private message or email to a prep provider.
- Allowed: saying the exam was hard or fair, how you think you did, using third-party prep products, discussing the curriculum in study groups, and criticising CFA Institute.
- Volunteers (proctors, graders, question writers, committee members) never share questions, deliberations or scoring, and never imply that a volunteer role gives clients an advantage; a factual statement of the role is fine.
- The duty covers every CFA Institute programme, and members, candidates and the public are encouraged to report suspected violations.
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