How is the exam scored?

[cmarciales]

I have heard a 6 or better is passing. Does this mean 60% or is it graded in some other way? If I need at least 18 out of 30 it gives me a baseline for when I am powering through my sample problems.

Thanks all
Caesar

[Irish Blues]

http://www.soa.org/education/general...g-results.aspx

Grades are reported on a 0 to 10 scale. Passing grades range from 6 to 10; failing grades range from 0 to 5. On this scale, the interval is 10 percent of the score required to pass; for example, a grade of 5 means failing with a score of at least 90 percent but less than 100 percent of the score required to pass. A grade of 0 does not mean that the candidate received no points, but that the candidate's score was less than 50 percent of the score required to pass.

The pass mark is not known prior to the exam being administered.

[Metallideth]

http://www.casact.org/admissions/stu...Exam_1pass.pdf

The pass mark has been at around 63% for several sittings (not exactly 63% though, 63% is the average mark of all of those who got a 6 I believe). However in Nov. 2007 there was a 68% followed by a 59% in February of 2008. Although they don't know the passmark prior to the test it's a pretty good bet that the average person who scores a 6 will get a 63%. Study manuals advise going for >70%, or at least a 21/30.

[Zeigy]

Assuming each question is graded equally. Are they?

Okay. Yes they are if the example found in the second URL is any indication of how questions are graded.

Looks like it's safe to say that 63% is the pass mark.

[Irish Blues]

For CBT exams? "Pilot" questions may not count, otherwise every question has the same weight. [Pilot questions are well after when I went through prelims, as CBT was still not implemented when I finished 4/C.]

For upper-level exams? Each question is assigned a point value, which varies from question to question.