FRM® certification path: Part I, Part II and experience

To earn the FRM® certification you pass Part I, then Part II – Part II has to be passed within four years of passing Part I (check the official website) – and show two years of full-time professional work experience in financial risk management (check the official website). 300Hours, a careers website, says most candidates take one to two years for the two exams. (300Hours, FRM Exam guide (secondary source)) For someone new to risk work, the experience rule, not the exams, usually sets the earliest date.

The FRM® Exam is run by GARP. (GARP, FRM Exam information) This page sets out the stages in order, each with the pages and tools that go deeper, for exams in 2027. Dates, fees and rules link to GARP’s website so that you can check them before you register. Our questions complement GARP’s own study materials for the FRM® Exam; they do not replace them.

What are the stages of the FRM® certification?

1. Decide and budget

   Exam fees for both parts add up to US$1,600 (check the official website) with early registration, including the one-time enrolment fee. Price your own case with the FRM® Exam cost calculator, weigh the value in is the FRM® certification worth it? and compare it with the PRM™ designation or the CFA® Program.

2. Pass Part I

   Part I has 100 questions in one 4-hour session, on quantitative analysis, foundations of risk management, financial markets and products, and valuation and risk models. It runs in three windows in 2027: 8–13 May 2027 (check the official website), 13–14 August 2027 (check the official website) and 13–18 November 2027 (check the official website). 300Hours recommends about 250 hours of study. (300Hours, Part I study guide (secondary source)) Deadlines are on the Part I dates and fees page, and our Part I course has practice questions with worked explanations.

3. Pass Part II

   Part II has 80 questions in one 4-hour session (check the official website) and moves from tools to their use: market, credit, operational and liquidity risk, risk management in investment management, and current issues in financial markets. (300Hours, FRM Exam guide (secondary source)) In 2027 it runs 15–17 May 2027 (check the official website), 13–14 August 2027 (check the official website) and 20–22 November 2027 (check the official website). The clock matters: Part II has to be passed within four years of passing Part I (check the official website).

4. Build up two years of risk experience

   The certification needs two years of full-time professional work experience in financial risk management (check the official website), and experience gained as part of your studies – internships, part-time jobs and student teaching – does not count (check the official website). You have it verified within 10 years of passing Part II (check the official website), so the exams can come before the job or alongside it. (300Hours, FRM Exam guide (secondary source))

5. Become certified, and keep going

   Once GARP has accepted your experience, you hold the certification. Membership of GARP for holders costs US$150 (check the official website) a year; 300Hours says it is optional. (300Hours, FRM fees (secondary source)) What risk roles pay at each stage is on financial risk manager salary.

Can you take Part I and Part II on the same day?

Yes, in one window a year: both parts can be taken on the same day only in the August window – Part I in the morning, Part II in the afternoon; in May and November the two parts fall on different days of the same window (check the official website). One condition decides whether it is worth trying: if you take both parts in the same window and fail or miss Part I, your Part II exam is not graded (check the official website). (300Hours, exam dates 2026–2027 (secondary source)) (Omni Finance Academy, exam dates (secondary source))

Sitting both parts on one day means about 500 hours of study before a single date – 12.5 hours a week from 2 November 2026 – and an afternoon exam after a four-hour morning one. 300Hours notes that most candidates sit the two parts in separate windows, five to six months apart. (300Hours, FRM Exam guide (secondary source))

How long does the FRM® certification take?

The table works through three routes in the 2027 windows. The hours a week spread 250 hours per part evenly, from Monday 2 November 2026 for Part I and from the end of the Part I window for Part II. Results arrive within eight weeks after the exam window closes (check the official website), so the table takes the last possible day. The last column assumes a full-time risk job that started on 1 September 2026.

Two things stand out. First, with a job that started in September 2026, every route ends on the same day, 1 September 2028: rushing Part II into the 17.9 hours a week of the August-to-November route gains nothing. Second, if your two years are already done, the result date is your finish line. The same-day route finishes first, by 9 October 2027, but asks for 12.5 hours a week and carries the grading condition above; of the two routes that end in November, May-then-November gives a steadier 9.3 hours a week for Part II and the same result date. To test whether those weekly hours fit your life, use the weekly study-time calculator.

What does the path cost?

For both parts at the first attempt, including the enrolment fee of US$400 (check the official website), the exam fees for the May 2027 window add up to US$1,600 (check the official website) early or US$2,000 (check the official website) standard, before taxes. Each retake is another registration fee, and a deferral costs US$250 (check the official website). The FRM® Exam cost calculator adds retakes, study materials and your currency.

What should you do in the first year?

1. Choose a route from the table above that fits the hours your week really has, with a spare week a month.
2. Register in the early period of your first window and book the appointment straight away; the dates are on the Part I dates page.
3. Buy a calculator on GARP’s list and use it from week one – see which calculators are allowed.
4. Start a simple log of your risk work now: dates, employer, what you did. It makes the experience check easy later.
5. Ask your employer whether it pays exam fees or gives study leave before you pay yourself.
6. In the last four weeks before each exam, practise at exam pace with the exam pace calculator.

What are the common mistakes on the way to the certification?

• Treating Part II as the finish line. Without the two years of experience there is no certification.
• Counting student jobs. Internships and part-time jobs during your studies do not count.
• Booking both parts on one day by default. If you fail or miss Part I, your Part II exam is not graded – and its registration fee is already paid.
• Letting the Part II clock run down. Four years pass quickly with a busy job; plan Part II within a year of Part I.
• Planning with an average. About 250 hours per part is a planning figure; for Part I without a finance background, 300Hours suggests more. (300Hours, Part I study guide (secondary source))

High Performer Certs is an independent study platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CFA Institute or the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). We are not a CFA Institute Prep Provider and not a GARP Exam Preparation Provider. CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy or quality of our products and services. GARP does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy of our products or services. All questions and explanations are our own original material and contain no CFA Institute or GARP exam, curriculum or practice questions. CFA®, Chartered Financial Analyst®, CIPM® and GIPS® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. FRM® and GARP® are trademarks owned by the Global Association of Risk Professionals.