CISSP - How Many Questions Did You Actually See on the Exam?

[Mike1]

Hi All!

I'm wondering what the typical number of questions a test taker ACTUALLY sees when taking the exam.  I'm confident people on these threads know they will see somewhere between 100 and 150 questions, but what's the typical number of questions most test takers have answer before seeing whether they've passed or failed?  I've seen some people say they've passed in 100, I've seen some people say they saw all 150 questions and passed, and I've seen everything in between.

So what's the average number of test questions people actually see before their exam ends?  This helps people understand how well they're doing during the exam.  Is answering only 100 question unusual?  How common is it to see 150?  If your'e taking the exam, should you start getting concerned because you're at question 130 and you know most people pass by now, or should you feel OK since you know most people will see about that many questions?

For what it's worth, I passed the exam at 107 questions.  I didn't know if I should be worried when I started answering questions in the 100+ range.

[Metalbone]

I passed on 150 questions with 8 mins left. I nearly panic right at the end as time is running out and I have a feeling the exam will go all the way to 150 questions.

[Kepa]

Hello,

Myself, I passed the exam after 101 questions, I took the required time for each question, 2h10min. So I had 50 minutes for the remaining 50 questions. A little tight on time, but luckily the system finished @101Q.

[MP1985]

1st Time Go. Passed after 150 questions with 12 mins left.  Not knowing if I passed or not until the paper sheet was handed to me was the worst.  After the first three questions I knew I was not going to enjoy this test. After answering 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 145, and ultimately 150, I just figured they must feel sorry for me and they are trying to get me to the 700 out of 1000. I do not know how "adaptive" this test really is, but I do know it is hard. I do know I had to read the results five+ times because I was sure I failed.

Good Luck to anyone taking this test.

[Mike1]

Congratulations on passing!


Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

[mv202]

Hi,

Did the test always operate like this (adjusting with the test taker)? if not, when did this change go into affect? 

Thanks,

Mike

[JoePete]

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@mv202 wrote:

Did the test always operate like this (adjusting with the test taker)? if not, when did this change go into affect? 

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If I recall correctly, 2017, the adaptive test came about. It used to be (again IIRC) 200 questions and four hours on paper. I'm sure there was an interim step of it being computerized before it went to this format. If you hunt back through posts, I think you will find a fair amount of chatter about the computer adaptive test (CAT). 

[AndreaMoore]

CAT Testing Blog post from 2017: https://blog.isc2.org/isc2_blog/2017/12/4-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-isc%C2%B2-cissp-cat-exam...

[Nuwancha]

Hi, I faced 174 questions and even saw the 175th, then got the msg that time is over. This was yesterday.

Unfortunately, failed after facing 174 questions.

I was more comfortable when I passed 100 then 150, but it went to 175 😀.

So, be ready guys.