What is a good final score in CompTIA Learn for CySA+?

[MarcioT]

I just finished the final assessment in CompTIA Learn for CySA+, my score was 77%. In the Strengths and Weaknesses page, I am pretty much Proficient across the board, with one Expert and one Advanced.

Now, when I research a passing score on the CompTIA CySA+, it is listed as 750 on a scale of 100-900. I figure 750 is approximately 80% between 100 and 900, so it suggests a passing score is about 80%. Meaning I'm just shy of passing; on the other hand, it shows me a percentile of 86, which doesn't sound too bad.

So which is it? Am I barely passing, or doing pretty well? I kind of wish CompTIA Learn would use the same scale as the final exam so I had a better idea of where I stood!

 

[Mark Anthony Germanos]

I just finished the final assessment in CompTIA Learn for CySA+, my score was 77%. In the Strengths and Weaknesses page, I am pretty much Proficient across the board, with one Expert and one Advanced.

Now, when I research a passing score on the CompTIA CySA+, it is listed as 750 on a scale of 100-900. I figure 750 is approximately 80% between 100 and 900, so it suggests a passing score is about 80%. Meaning I'm just shy of passing; on the other hand, it shows me a percentile of 86, which doesn't sound too bad.

So which is it? Am I barely passing, or doing pretty well? I kind of wish CompTIA Learn would use the same scale as the final exam so I had a better idea of where I stood!

I did similar math after passing the PenTest+ exam. I've read intellectual explanations of why the scale is different. People still comprehend percentages. I agree with you Marcio. CompTIA needs to change the scale.

 

[Gregory Childers]

Do not look for a correlation between any practice exam or quiz and the actual exam. I've seen people ace the practice and fail the real thing. I've seen people bomb the practice and ace the real thing. Not to mention that the exams have a variable number of questions, some of which are unscored. No one knows how much weight the PBQs have vs. the multiple-choice questions. And some of the multiple-choice questions want more than one answer. That is why the scores are scaled and not a percentage.

The scaling on the actual exam will not equate to a percentage on a practice exam.

 

[MarcioT]

Do not look for a correlation between any practice exam or quiz and the actual exam. I've seen people ace the practice and fail the real thing. I've seen people bomb the practice and ace the real thing. Not to mention that the exams have a variable number of questions, some of which are unscored. No one knows how much weight the PBQs have vs. the multiple-choice questions. And some of the multiple-choice questions want more than one answer. That is why the scores are scaled and not a percentage.

The scaling on the actual exam will not equate to a percentage on a practice exam.

I suppose CompTIA might do this to prevent people from complaining if they pass the practice exam but fail the real one, but it doesn't exactly help us know whether we are ready to take the exam. Maybe CompTIA could provide a table indicating what percentage of people who score in a particular bracket in CompTIA Learn go on to pass the actual exam. This would at least give us something to go on, while also giving them some leeway in explaining outliers.

 

[Rick Butler]

I suppose CompTIA might do this to prevent people from complaining if they pass the practice exam but fail the real one, but it doesn't exactly help us know whether we are ready to take the exam. Maybe CompTIA could provide a table indicating what percentage of people who score in a particular bracket in CompTIA Learn go on to pass the actual exam. This would at least give us something to go on, while also giving them some leeway in explaining outliers.

Historically, CompTIA has always been pretty tight-lipped about what scores mean. The conventional wisdom has been, "if you pass, you're good".

As for knowing if you are ready, well, that's kinda fuzzy too. Practice testing often carries with it that modicum of "we will prepare you for the test" which tends to create a false sense of confidence that, by passing a practice test, one would be ready for the live exam.

In my view, no practice test provider can truly make that claim. Since CompTIA even separates the departments that create the exam from those that prepare the training materials, there's no way to connect those things. In a big way, this is actually a good thing because without it, the objectivity that the learner understands the material according to the objective is torn down.

Now everyone wants that magic sauce that says, "do this", "study this", "know these things" as the bar that determines pass/fail. The objectives are the only real standard, but the more that you clarify this, the less likely that people who take the exam are those that possess the SKILL (not just the knowledge), to perform the tasks at the prescribed level.

People are going to complain about why they didn't pass this-or-that exam. There are even some that will cry foul and say that CertMaster and now TestOut should ENSURE that a person passes or fails. But that thinking doesn't make the kind of professionals that the industry needs, to be completely frank.

/r

 

[Gregory Childers]

I suppose CompTIA might do this to prevent people from complaining if they pass the practice exam but fail the real one, but it doesn't exactly help us know whether we are ready to take the exam. Maybe CompTIA could provide a table indicating what percentage of people who score in a particular bracket in CompTIA Learn go on to pass the actual exam. This would at least give us something to go on, while also giving them some leeway in explaining outliers.

That's not going to ever happen. No practice test company, CompTIA or otherwise, will ever show a correlation between practice exam scores and the scores on the real exam. The exam scores are confidential, so no one knows the scores except for the examinee and CompTIA's testing division, which is different than the group that produces the CertMaster materials.

People never knew if they were ready to take exams in grammar school, middle school, high school, or college either. Why should it be any different for professional certification exams? Just study as much as you can and let the chips fall where they may.

 

[Brian Wafula]

That's not going to ever happen. No practice test company, CompTIA or otherwise, will ever show a correlation between practice exam scores and the scores on the real exam. The exam scores are confidential, so no one knows the scores except for the examinee and CompTIA's testing division, which is different than the group that produces the CertMaster materials.

People never knew if they were ready to take exams in grammar school, middle school, high school, or college either. Why should it be any different for professional certification exams? Just study as much as you can and let the chips fall where they may.

I concur with you. I sat for my A+ Core 1 yesterday and passed and yet according to my practice tests at Cybervista, the highest score I managed was 72%. I was a little worried but I sat for the exam and passed with 77%.

 

[MarcioT]

People never knew if they were ready to take exams in grammar school, middle school, high school, or college either. Why should it be any different for professional certification exams? Just study as much as you can and let the chips fall where they may.

When you put it that way, it does make sense.

 

[MarcioT]

The only reason I am asking is because unless I get my CySA+ voucher, I probably won't really be sitting for the actual test. My college only teaches Security+ and I decided to take the CySA+ TTT just to go above and beyond. I am taking the upcoming Security+ TTT as well -- that might actually be something I end up teaching some day.

 

[BrianFord]

I just finished the final assessment in CompTIA Learn for CySA+, my score was 77%. In the Strengths and Weaknesses page, I am pretty much Proficient across the board, with one Expert and one Advanced.

Now, when I research a passing score on the CompTIA CySA+, it is listed as 750 on a scale of 100-900. I figure 750 is approximately 80% between 100 and 900, so it suggests a passing score is about 80%. Meaning I'm just shy of passing; on the other hand, it shows me a percentile of 86, which doesn't sound too bad.

So which is it? Am I barely passing, or doing pretty well? I kind of wish CompTIA Learn would use the same scale as the final exam so I had a better idea of where I stood!

Anything that says 'pass' is excellent.

 

[MarcioT]

Anything that says 'pass' is excellent.

The thing is, it doesn't