CIA Exam Pass Rate & Scoring

The Institute of Internal Auditors publishes the CIA exam pass rate. Please note that pass rates for 2022 and 2023 are not currently available on the IIA’s website.

However, below are the latest pass rates by CIA exam part:

The CIA exam, while computer-based like the CPA and CMA exams, is scored much differently. Understanding how a passing CIA exam is scored goes a long way to explaining why the pass rate for this designation is low. This information will also help you prepare an adequate study plan.

The CIA program, like all of The IIA’s certification programs, is scored and validated via a rigorous process involving 3rd party independent validation of its computer-based results. That’s why candidates are urged to await their official CIA exam score and not rely on the unofficial results shown at the end of the computer-based examination.

In addition, The IIA uses a scaled scoring process to ensure that CIA exam scores are comparable over time. This is designed to ensure that the CIA exam score reflects a candidate’s readiness at that point in time. So a change in the CIA exam pass rate does not mean that the exam became more or less difficult, but that individuals were more or less prepared during that given year of the CIA exam.

Be sure to check back for the latest CIA exam pass rate when it comes out next year.

First off, the CIA exam consists of three parts. The first part of the CIA exam includes 125 questions and 2.5 hours of testing time. Parts 2 and 3 both have 100 questions and 2 hours of time for you to complete the exam. Even though there are different question totals and time limits, you still have roughly 72 seconds (or 1:12) to answer each question.

The CIA exam differs from the CPA exam in that it is NOT adaptive, meaning the difficulty of the questions does not change based on your prior answers. Each question is scored equally and carries equal weight—and there is no penalty for incorrect answers.

The passing mark is “ideally” set at 75%, so you need to answer 75 of the 100 questions correctly to pass. However, the exams become more difficult in Parts 2 and 3, which is part of the reason the CIA exam pass rate is so low.

In 2013, the Institute of Internal Auditors introduced a new grading system that determines the passing score differently for each exam part. So while 75% “correct” is the minimum for passing the exam, the actual number of correct questions required to pass is different for each part. So for questions that are determined to be more difficult (on Parts 2 and 3), you may only need to answer, say, 70 out of 100 correctly to pass.

The point is that you should not focus on reaching a minimum passing score, but on learning as much of the CIA curriculum as possible and trying to answer all questions to the best of your ability.

Because the exam is totally computer based, you’ll receive your unofficial score immediately upon completing the exam.

Your exam score will not be shown as a percentage. Instead, it is converted to a scale score with 600 being set equal to the passing mark (roughly 75%). Your results will clearly read “PASS” if you scored above 600. If you failed, you’ll see a numeric score on a scale between 250 and 600 so you can understand how close you came to passing.

Now that you know the CIA exam pass rate and how the exam is scored, it’s time to get studying! To access UWorld CIA Review free for 7 days, sign up for our free trial here.