How is the CPA exam scored?

October 27, 2009 | Posted by Steve (cpastories)

Knowing about the exam is as important as knowing the material that is tested on the exam. Here is a link to how the exam is scored.

Some of the questions/issues answered include the following:

- How the CPA Exam Scored

- The score scale and passing score

- Weighting the Kinds of Questions and Calculating the Final Score

- “If different candidates take different versions of the Exam are the scores comparable?”

- “Are some versions harder than others?”

- “Is Multi-Stage Testing fair? Why are you using it?”

- “How do you decide which questions are hard and which are moderate?”

- “Does that mean hard testlets can have easy questions and less difficult testlets can have hard ones?”

- “What if a smart candidate does poorly on the first testlet? Can the candidate still pass?”

- “Can a candidate get all medium difficult testlets and still pass?”

- “Can a candidate pass just by doing well on the multiple-choice questions?”

- “Can I compute my score from the number of questions I answered correctly?”

- “What is Item Response Theory (IRT)?”

- “In general terms, what are the steps taken to produce the reported score?”

- “Who are the subject matter experts who do the question reviews?”

and much more. I would highly recommend visiting the website or link if you do not know answers to any of these questions and you care to know.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you found that helpful. Your comments are welcome.

Accountant's Musings: CPA Exam & Life Beyond