Results day is here and I hope that you achieve the success you’ve worked so hard for. If you didn’t pass the CFE, in this article I’ll help to interpret your transcript and help you understand where things may have gone wrong, what your AO grades mean, and how to prepare for your next attempt.
Accessing your transcript
The first thing you need to do is log in to the CPA Canada results website and download your transcript. Be patient—this site tends to run slowly on results day. Once you have it, you can begin analyzing your performance.
FURTHER READING: Unsuccessful Results for September 2024 CFE: What to Do Next
Day 1 Results: Pass or Fail
Day 1 results are straightforward: it will simply say Pass or Fail. A detailed Automatic Feedback Report for Day 1 will be released a few weeks later, providing additional insights. For now, let’s focus on Days 2 and 3, which are broken down into levels.
Days 2&3 Results: Understanding the Levels
I’ll start explaining from Leve 4, as it’s more straightforward compared to other levels.
Level 4: Breadth of Competencies (Days 2 & 3)
To pass, you need at least 2 RCs in every area from combined CFE Days 2 and 3. If you have even one area with only NCs or NAs, you won’t pass Level 4.
Example:
Above student had strong performance across most areas but only NCs in Finance. Despite doing well elsewhere, they didn’t pass Level 4 because Finance didn’t meet the 2 RC minimum.
Advice: If you didn’t pass Level 4, focus on studying secondary technical competencies, these are topics other than your role or FR/MA.
Level 3: Role Competency (Day 2 only)
Level 3 evaluates your performance in your Day 2 role. You need 4–5 Cs in the 7 AOs specific to your role from Day 2 to pass.
Example:
Above student had many Cs overall but only 2 Cs in their Day 2 role section. Since Level 3 depends only on Day 2, and it must be Cs, this wasn’t enough to pass.
Advice: Focus on mastering role-specific technicals and re-doing your elective module cases as these have relevant AOs that show up on the CFE Day 2.
Level 2: FR or MA (Days 2 & 3)
To pass Level 2, you need 3–5 Cs in either FR or MA. It’s important to note that it’s one or the other—you don’t need to meet the threshold in both.
Example:
Above student had only 2 Cs in both FR and MA, across Days 2 & 3. They passed all other levels but failed Level 2 due to insufficient Cs in both FR and MA areas.
Advice: Prioritize FR or MA in your next attempt. Focus on achieving Cs in the area you’re targeting and don’t try to get Cs in both, target only FR or MA and aim to get RC in the other.
Level 1: Overall Competency (Days 2 & 3)
Level 1 is the toughest one for students to understand. It checks how many RCs and Cs you got across all areas in both CFE Days, and it has a decile ranking. A lower decile (e.g., 1–3) means you were close to passing, while a higher decile (e.g., 6–10) means you were far from passing.
Example:
Above student passed Levels 4, 3, and 2, but failed Level 1 due to a high number of NCs. Level 4 is a pass because they have at least 2 RCs in all area, across Days 2 and 3. Level 3 is a pass because they have 5 Cs in the role. Level 2 is a pass because in both FR and MA they scored 4 Cs.
Advice: You’re most likely skipping AOs due to time constraint or difficulty in solving tough AOs. Work on time management and practice the more challenging technical topics to avoid skipping AOs in the next attempt.
CFE May 2025 and September 2025
Above examples are sample transcripts, for more personalized feedback, consider purchasing the PAR Report from CPA Canada. While it won’t show grades for each AO, it gives good insights into your performance and areas needing improvement.
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