I want to ask about CISSP

[cuahanghoatuoi9]

Hi, everyone. 

Preparing for my CISSP exam, I haven't been able to clarify this point out of all resources that I checked:

-Number of questions is 100 questions (or 150 if didn't pass within 100),

-There is a 25 not-scored questions, that makes number of scored questions 75.

-The passing score is 700 out of 1000. 

The question: Is the passing score 700/1000 is for the 75 questions (100 - 25 not-scored questions)? or is for the entire 100 questions? 

Thank you !

[fredyap1234]

I took the CISSP a good 6 years ago, back in the days when its still 6 hours 250 questions format. So I am not sure what is the exact format now. I have 2 colleagues who took the exam recently, and here's what I understand and I might not be entirely correct.

You start with 100 question and the CAT system scores you as you answer those questions. If you have answered enough questions correctly, you stop at 100 questions.

If the exam continues on after you've answered 100 questions, it would have seemed that you have not answered enough questions to pass the exam. Hence, additional questions is thrown to you to increasing your passing threshold.

However, there is a possibility that the exam stops at 100 questions and you fail. It meant that you have answered majority of the questions wrongly.

Irregardless of it, you won't know which question is graded or not graded. Best is to study and put all you have on it.

[mcnguyen]

Hello there,

I passed CISSP exam a month ago, and I had to complete 150 questions. Some of my co-workers said they passed the exam with just 100 questions, and some of them said they passed the exam with more than 100 question but less than 150 questions. One of my friends said he passed the exam with just 97 questions two years ago. I believe 25 questions are beta questions and they don't count. Therefore, I believe 700 is the score for 75 questions.

Thanks,

Michael

[AndreaMoore]

This question was answered here in this post: https://community.isc2.org/t5/Exams/How-much-questions-I-should-answer-correctly-in-100-questions/m-... 

[abhattac5]

Hi - there is no direct answer to this.  The test is computer adaptive, so each test and therefore each fact pattern is different.

The number of questions varies - it can be as low as 100 questions or as many as 150.  I've read about people who have had anywhere in between.  The computer adapts to a difficulty range until it is within a margin of error bound to determine whether or not you pass or fail.  In my case it went all the way to 150.

There are experimental questions in the test that do not count towards the score.  You won't be told which ones they are or where they fall, but some are included no matter what as they refine the test itself.

Passing scores are not given to you, but based on the reference materials out there, a "score of 700 across all domains" is what is needed to pass.  The computer normalizes that as you answer questions until it can determine whether or not that conditionality has been met.