CISA and CISM Exam Scoring

The scoring scale for the CISA and CISM exams has changed effective with the June 2007 exam administration. Below is a description of the new scale and why the change was made.

ISACA will provide CISA and CISM exam scores according to a scale from 200-800, with the passing score set at 450 and above. A scaled score is a conversion of the raw score on an exam to a common scale. This is a change from the 1-100 point scale that was used previously, with the passing point set at 75.

The passing score of 450 represents the minimum number of questions that must be answered correctly by you in order to demonstrate practical application of the job task and knowledge statements. Regardless of the scale used for scoring, overall exam pass/fail results are the same. In other words, no more, or fewer, candidates pass or fail the exam under the 200-800 scale as did under the 1-100 scale scoring.

The scoring system was changed to remove the perception that the score received is a percentage of questions answered correctly. The use of a 200-800 point scale also allows ISACA to report a wider range of scores. For example, under the 1-100 point scale, several raw scores were given the same scaled score. Using the 200-800 point scale, each raw score will have its own unique scaled score. We hope that this has helped to explain what a scaled score is and how it will be reported on ISACA exams.