Average Success Rate

[WillieJoe3]

Greetings all!

I work for an organization that is expecting an 85% success rate, even during the pandemic. To them, success is defined by certified students. This was a pretty high standard to maintain, pre covid. I wanted to know if any one of my peers has been able to achieve this level of certification. If so, what is your secret? If you could share your success rate, that would be great as well. Thanks!

 

[Abby N Krane]

Greetings all!

I work for an organization that is expecting an 85% success rate, even during the pandemic. To them, success is defined by certified students. This was a pretty high standard to maintain, pre covid. I wanted to know if any one of my peers has been able to achieve this level of certification. If so, what is your secret? If you could share your success rate, that would be great as well. Thanks!

I want to follow and see what others have to say. I work for an organization that is a provider training for a state funded program for unemployed and we are THRILLED if we have a class with a 50% success rate. We have 85% success rate for Scrum Master, DevOps Foundation, ITIL Foundation, but not CompTIA. Like I said, 50% is realistic for CompTIA for us. Many classes may only have a 30% success rate. We have higher success rates for Scrum, DevOps, ITIL because the class commitment is MUCH less (16 or 20 hours of training) and the exams are much more straight forward. No trick questions.

 

[Lee McWhorter]

85% seems really unrealistic for CompTIA exams. They are hard on purpose and generally well respected for it.

 

[WillieJoe3]

I want to follow and see what others have to say. I work for an organization that is a provider training for a state funded program for unemployed and we are THRILLED if we have a class with a 50% success rate. We have 85% success rate for Scrum Master, DevOps Foundation, ITIL Foundation, but not CompTIA. Like I said, 50% is realistic for CompTIA for us. Many classes may only have a 30% success rate. We have higher success rates for Scrum, DevOps, ITIL because the class commitment is MUCH less (16 or 20 hours of training) and the exams are much more straight forward. No trick questions.

Thanks for the feedback. Those numbers sound more realistic to me.

 

[WillieJoe3]

85% seems really unrealistic for CompTIA exams. They are hard on purpose and generally well respected for it.

Agreed. Thanks for the feedback

 

[jasoneckert]

A realistic success rate should vary class-by-class based on the composition of the class as well.
For example, a class primarily composed of students with no prior background and poor English proficiency should not be compared to a class primarily composed of students with prior background and English fluency.

 

[Rick Butler]

It used to be that we had a success rate that high, but we would scrutinize every single candidate coming in before ever issuing a voucher. We would set them on practice testing and insist they showed us two separate passes at 95% before a voucher went out - finding that the likelihood of a failure would be very low. So filtering and screening quality will raise that success rate.

Later, we ended up moving every student through testing, and that ended up causing the success rate to plummet. Reason? Because people just weren't ready and were taking the exam anyway.

So I think that's where you'll be. I don't think you can really ascertain a certain success rate for testing unless you can also control when students take an exam vs. letting them take it when they feel ready. I think that is far too dynamic a goal, in my view.

 

[WillieJoe3]

It used to be that we had a success rate that high, but we would scrutinize every single candidate coming in before ever issuing a voucher. We would set them on practice testing and insist they showed us two separate passes at 95% before a voucher went out - finding that the likelihood of a failure would be very low. So filtering and screening quality will raise that success rate.

Later, we ended up moving every student through testing, and that ended up causing the success rate to plummet. Reason? Because people just weren't ready and were taking the exam anyway.

So I think that's where you'll be. I don't think you can really ascertain a certain success rate for testing unless you can also control when students take an exam vs. letting them take it when they feel ready. I think that is far too dynamic a goal, in my view.

Thanks for the feedback. That sounds like a great idea. What practice tests were you guys using to gauge readiness?

 

[WillieJoe3]

A realistic success rate should vary class-by-class based on the composition of the class as well.
For example, a class primarily composed of students with no prior background and poor English proficiency should not be compared to a class primarily composed of students with prior background and English fluency

I deal with low-income residents of my city. I wish language barriers were the worst obstacles. Unfortunately, the expectations haven't changed. Not even for Covid. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Gregory Childers]

When I worked as a contract trainer, I literally had no idea what my students' success rate was because they typically took the exam after I moved on to a new assignment. Even if I did know the pass rate, I wouldn't put much stock in it because they're the ones who have to study for the exams and pass them. Not me. I have no control over their previous experience, their work ethic, their current workload, etc. I shouldn't be accountable for the students' pass rate when I control so very few of the variables.

 

[WillieJoe3]

When I worked as a contract trainer, I literally had no idea what my students' success rate was because they typically took the exam after I moved on to a new assignment. Even if I did know the pass rate, I wouldn't put much stock in it because they're the ones who have to study for the exams and pass them. Not me. I have no control over their previous experience, their work ethic, their current workload, etc. I shouldn't be accountable for the students' pass rate when I control so very few of the variables.

I absolutely agree. When I worked for actual schools, that was the attitude. Non-profits have a totally different perspective. Funding depends on outcomes. I would love for the outcomes to be a little more realistic. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Rick Butler]

Thanks for the feedback. That sounds like a great idea. What practice tests were you guys using to gauge readiness?

Lately, we've used CyberVista, but we're transitioning away and going to CompTIA Certmaster Practice. Since we're pretty much using CertMaster for everything, we just think it's a better fit to bundle it up and go.

 

[Lee McWhorter]

I like the Certmaster Practice product, but we currently use our own quiz engine.

 

[Rick Butler]

When it comes to certification practice, I think there are two modes of operation through which practice testing happens:

1. Validation - This is simply a candidate wanting an unbiased assessment of overall preparedness. Answers are not revealed - only percentages of the domains, just like what one would expect on the live exam.

2. Sharpening - This mode is what I think most students use cert testing to do - refine their preparation in order to prepare for an exam. They want to know what they got wrong and why. The software assesses the student's preparedness in a way that I believe an instructor should. In fact, I would even be willing to suggest that if there is a huge reliance on this modality, there is not enough instructional interaction occurring, because an instructor should be assessing this throughout the learning process, rather than facilitating a student's interaction with software.*

CertMaster Practice is more along the line of the second modality. With the trends in education these days, this is where I see things heading.

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* my 2¢ - how much didactic instruction is flowing from a live instructor and how much of it is facilitated from a software based source

 

[Tess Sluijter]

I'll join the others in saying that those numbers from OP are way up there. And there's only so much we as trainers can do: we work with the tools and students we're given, who have their own personal situations.

If you want to hear numbers, my Linux+ groups so far have been between 50% and 83%... seriously, 83% was only possible because each and every one of them put in a huge amount of work. That success rate is theirs, not mine.

 

[Gregory Childers]

I'll join the others in saying that those numbers from OP are way up there. And there's only so much we as trainers can do: we work with the tools and students we're given, who have their own personal situations.

If you want to hear numbers, my Linux+ groups so far have been between 50% and 83%... seriously, 83% was only possible because each and every one of them put in a huge amount of work. That success rate is theirs, not mine.

When I'm asked my success rate on exams, I tell them that I've passed 100% of the exams I've taken.

Another issue I have with being responsible for someone else's passing rate is that it would require them to disclose their results. Their test scores, even pass/fail status, is considered private data. Under no circumstances can we require them to disclose this information to us.

If someone wanted to hold me accountable for the students' pass rate, I'd go work for someone else who understood how ridiculous that idea really is.

 

[Mark Anthony Germanos]

When I'm asked my success rate on exams, I tell them that I've passed 100% of the exams I've taken.

Another issue I have with being responsible for someone else's passing rate is that it would require them to disclose their results. Their test scores, even pass/fail status, is considered private data. Under no circumstances can we require them to disclose this information to us.

If someone wanted to hold me accountable for the students' pass rate, I'd go work for someone else who understood how ridiculous that idea really is.

Many factors have a role in someone's ability to pass or fail. Most are outside the classroom. You could have someone who slept poorly, someone who was not ready or someone who thought they could cram brain dumps and pass the test. The CompTIA tests assume you have real-world experience and always ask for something that was not in the study materials. My PenTest+ had more than 30% content I did not see while studying. The instructor cannot control all the variables.

 

[Gregory Childers]

Many factors have a role in someone's ability to pass or fail. Most are outside the classroom. You could have someone who slept poorly, someone who was not ready or someone who thought they could cram brain dumps and pass the test. The CompTIA tests assume you have real-world experience and always ask for something that was not in the study materials. My PenTest+ had more than 30% content I did not see while studying. The instructor cannot control all the variables.

There's a reason CompTIA recommends having a few years of experience, along with other certs such as A+, Net+, and Sec+. If you know those three and know them well, it makes preparing for CySA+, PenTest+, and CASP+ much easier. I skimmed the CompTIA Official Curriculum for PenTest+ and CASP+ and that was my only prep for those two exams. I didn't do a single lab or take a single practice exam for either. But I've also got more than 20 years experience.

 

[Mark Anthony Germanos]

There's a reason CompTIA recommends having a few years of experience, along with other certs such as A+, Net+, and Sec+. If you know those three and know them well, it makes preparing for CySA+, PenTest+, and CASP+ much easier. I skimmed the CompTIA Official Curriculum for PenTest+ and CASP+ and that was my only prep for those two exams. I didn't do a single lab or take a single practice exam for either. But I've also got more than 20 years experience.

PenTest+ and Certified Ethical Hacker are, in some eyes, the same. I hold both and beg to differ. PenTest+ assumes you have real-world experience. CEH assumes you read a lot.

 

[Gregory Childers]

PenTest+ and Certified Ethical Hacker are, in some eyes, the same. I hold both and beg to differ. PenTest+ assumes you have real-world experience. CEH assumes you read a lot.

EC-Council was always better at marketing than creating content. I cannot recommend any of their exams due to their history of plagarism and sexism.