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Does ISACA publish a CISM pass rate?
ISACA does not publish an official CISM pass rate. Estimates shared by candidate communities are self-reported, vary by population, and should not be treated as authoritative. Use official score rules and your own performance on fresh, mixed practice as more defensible readiness evidence.
What ISACA publishes
ISACA publishes the passing-score rule in its certification exam candidate guide. The current guide identifies 450 on its 200 to 800 scaled score as the passing point. A scaled score is not a raw percentage and does not reveal how many candidates pass.
Read the official ISACA Certification Exam Candidate Guide before relying on scoring or retake-policy details.
Why community pass-rate estimates are limited
A community poll may include only people who chose to respond. It may mix first attempts with retakes, current candidates with older cohorts, and different preparation backgrounds. Without a stated sample, collection period, population, and method, the result cannot be generalized to all CISM candidates.
A precise-looking percentage does not fix those limits. CertArc therefore does not use an unofficial pass-rate estimate as a prediction or marketing claim.
What to use instead of a pass-rate estimate
- Results from fresh questions that you have not memorized.
- Stable performance across all four current domains, not only your strongest area.
- The ability to explain why the stronger managerial answer beats each plausible alternative.
- Review of confident-wrong answers, timing, and recurring decision patterns.
These signals still cannot guarantee an exam result, but they show you what to review next.
How to interpret a failed attempt
Treat a failed attempt as diagnostic evidence, not as a population statistic. Use the official score report and domain information available to you, then compare those signals with fresh practice and your mistake log.
Recheck the candidate guide before booking another attempt. Waiting periods, attempt limits, registration fees, and delivery rules can change.