How To Cancel CFA Exam? [2024 Comprehensive Guide]

You must fulfill certain requirements and submit a direct appeal to CFA Institute in order to cancel CFA exam, unless the institute decides to do so due to a pandemic, a natural disaster, or a significant format change.

The CFA Institute notifies candidates when an exam is postponed or cancelled and helps them transfer to a new date or reregister. In this article, we’ll examine what happens when a candidate requests that their exam be canceled or postponed.

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How to postpone the CFA exam?

If the CFA Institute does not announce a postponement for all candidates, it indicates that only certain situations will allow them to reschedule. This is referred to as a deferral, and deferrals are given in a case-by-case situation. You must notify CFA Institute by email if you or a member of your immediate family has a life-threatening or extremely serious illness, are pregnant, have a death in your immediate family, or are required to serve in the military on the day of the exam in order to be considered. You can use the CFA Institute’s self-assessment tool to see if you should request defer CFA exam.

CFA Institute will determine if you can postpone the CFA exam to the following sitting after reviewing your case. There are personal stories regarding deferrals on Reddit and analystforum.com that go into detail about the process’s results. Your enrollment and registration status will be deferred until the following sitting if your case meets the criteria. You will, however, forfeit any fees you have paid.

The reasoning behind this policy is that the number of paid registrations defines the number of testing centers, furniture, computers, and other equipment to reserve in the testing centers.  Paid registrations also influence the level of assistance required. A deferral, according to the CFA Institute, also leaves an empty space that cannot be filled.

You have the option of withdrawing from the CFA exam if you do not qualify for a postponement and are unable to take the exam on the scheduled date.

How to defer the CFA exam?

Deferring your CFA exam means you want to postpone taking the exam to a later date. The CFA Institute’s deferral policy contains a number of factors that go into determining whether you can postpone your CFA exam date.

To submit a deferral request, log in to your CFA Institute account and use the CFA Institute Deferral Form to submit your documents.

If your deferral request is accepted under the CFA Institute’s deferral policy, you will be able to register for any available exam window within 12 months of your request being approved at no additional cost.

CFA Institute deferral policy qualifications

• Within 14 days of your scheduled exam date, you have a documented positive COVID-19 test.
• If you have been exposed to someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and/or have experienced flu-like symptoms within 14 days of your scheduled exam date, you should not take the exam.
• Within 14 days of your scheduled exam date, you are unable to travel to your exam appointment owing to an employer, government, or university pandemic-related travel restriction in your area.
• You or a member of your immediate family (your parent, grandparent, sibling, spouse/domestic partner, or kid) has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease since you enrolled for your current exam.
• A member of your immediate family has just died (your parent, grandparent, sibling, spouse/domestic partner, or kid).
• During the testing period, you have been ordered to participate in a mandatory military deployment.
• You’re expecting a child.
• Your exam has been delayed by Prometric, and you have been unable to obtain a new suitable appointment date after contacting Prometric.
• A natural disaster has struck your area, preventing you from taking your exam.

CFA deferral policy processing time

A CFA deferral request can take up to 6 weeks to process, so if you’d like to check on the progress of your request, go to your CFA Institute account and check the status of your request.

Read more >> What Is The CFA Pass Rate In 2022?

How to cancel CFA Exam?

You have up to five days before the exam date to withdraw or cancel your CFA exam. Withdrawing means you are not required to take the exam, but that is where it ends. You will have to register again if you wish to take it at the following sitting.

Withdrawal is not yet a self-service option, according to CFA Institute, however, candidates can do so by contacting our contact center. Candidates misinterpreted what it meant to withdraw and accidentally canceled their registration, thus they stopped the self-service functionality. And I’m hoping that self-service will be reinstated in the future.

Withdrawals are handled in two ways at the CFA Institute. If you cancel CFA exam within the first three days of registration, you will get a full CFA cancellation refund and exam fees. You will forfeit your fees if you withdraw after that, but you may re-register as soon as your withdrawal is processed. You will be required to pay the fees once more.

If you don’t withdraw by the deadline and then don’t take the exam, you won’t be able to register for the following sitting until CFA Institute announces all of the current exam’s results. So, if you need to cancel, follow the correct procedures to secure a place at the following session.

It’s over after you’ve withdrawn. This means you won’t be able to re-register for the same sitting if you withdraw your registration for one.

To withdraw from your CFA exam, follow these steps:

• To access the CFA Program, log in to your CFA Institute account and choose the CFA Program tile. Select “Withdraw from Exam” from the “Manage Your Exam” section.
• Select “Withdraw from Exam” after checking the “confirm” box.
• You will be able to re-register for a future CFA exam now that you have withdrawn from your current exam.
• Remember that unless CFA Institute specifies otherwise, you will not receive a refund if you cancel the exam.
• Your problem appears to be unusual. When withdrawing from the exam on the CFA Institute website, you should not receive a Prometric error message.

Testing center change

You can alter your testing center location online using your account after you get it without forfeiting any expenses. Unless the testing center is filled, if you request a change before admission tickets are released, the change is automatic. You will be notified by mail if you request a change to a testing center that has space available after admission tickets are released.

You can request a change if you don’t want to cancel the exam but can’t take it at your assigned testing center.

What happens if your exam is canceled and not rescheduled?

If your exam is canceled, you will first get a notification from Prometric via email from [email protected]. Please label this email address as a safe sender so that it does not make it back into your junk mail.

Within 15 days of the cancellation, CFA Institute will contact you to offer you more options.

When will you be able to re-register if your exam is canceled?

If your exam must be canceled, CFA Institute will contact you within 15 days to advise you of the next available testing window. You can reregister for each of these testing windows until the registration deadline. If you choose the November 2022 exam, for example, you’ll have until July 20th to register.

FAQs – How to cancel CFA exam?

Can you cancel the CFA exam?

You have up to five days before the exam date to withdraw from the CFA exam. You will get a full refund of your registration and exam fees if you withdraw from the exam within the first three days of registering.

Can we postpone the CFA level 1 exam?

Postponing an individual exam is known as a deferral, and it is only permitted in certain circumstances. Before or within ten US business days after the exam window, you should submit a deferral request to the CFA Institute. The CFA Institute considers your deferment request and makes a decision on an individual basis.

How much does it cost to defer CFA?

You will be charged a non-refundable USD 250 fee plus all relevant taxes if you need to make a CFA reschedule appointment during your exam window.

What happens if I miss my CFA exam?

If a candidate failed to schedule an exam, the registration fee is forfeited, and the exam is worthless, according to CFA Institute regulation. Candidates who do not schedule their exam by the specified deadline will be unable to sit for it, and their registration fee will be forfeited.

How do I contact the CFA?

Email: [email protected].

Americas: 1-201-308-5418.

Middle East, Europe, and Africa: +44 (0)1243 684096.

Asia Pacific: +65 6643 8041.

We really hope that this article has been helpful to you and has given you insight on how to cancel CFA exam.

If you want to feel secure about taking the exam on the appointed date, go to our website. Instruction, practice problems, and other incredible features are all included in our CFA study guides. They can help you stick to your study schedule and arrive at the exam site with assurance that you will do well.