Many CFA certificate holders consider the CFA Level 3 exam to be the most difficult because of the time and reflection required to successfully respond to elaborate answers. While typical passing rates for the CFA Level 3 exam are the highest of all CFA exams, only about 56% of CFA candidates pass it. The test that I rated level III as the most difficult will be to have failed level III, which is very likely. With that said, fixed income, derivatives and FSA are the most difficult subjects for the CFA Level 1 exam, the time has come to classify the 10 Level 1 topics according to their level of difficulty.
In general, I think it's easier to fail level 3, but it may not be due to the level of difficulty of the materials or the exam QUESTION itself. The 3 subjects differ from each other in certain aspects, such as the weight of the exam or the number of modules in the level 1 curriculum. CFA exam candidates who take the level 1 exam often indicate that the FI, derivatives, and FSA (or FRA) * are the most difficult. Fortunately, option valuation models don't figure in the CFA level 1 exam curriculum (aside from a brief mention of binomial valuation of options) and you won't have to worry about that until you finish the level 2 exam.
There are some important changes to the topics of the level 1 CFA exams in 2024, such as the new weighting of subjects or a new number of learning modules. In addition to the level III material, I think that the level III exam itself was the “most difficult, well, not the most difficult, but the most ambiguous and confusing” of the three levels I have performed.