All you need to know about the CIA exam result
It's very helpful to understand how the CIA exam is scored, the passing score and how you will get your result right from the beginning. Here are the most important things you need to know
What is the passing score of the CIA exam?
You need to get 600 out of 750 points to pass any exam. This might seem too high; it’s 80%, but the exam is scale scored. This means that the passing score depends on how difficult the exam questions you got are in average. If the majority of the questions were difficult you might pass if you answer 70% of the questions correctly. On the other hand, if your exam was relatively easy, you will need to answer 80% of the questions correctly to pass. To be on the safe side, we encourage you to target getting 90% of the questions correct when taking mock exams.
When do you get your CIA exam result?
You will immediately know whether you passed or failed. Once you finish your exam and leave the exam room, the administrator at the exam center will print your exam result. The exam result you receive at the exam center is NOT your official result. You will receive a notification email about your official result 48 hours after your exam time. Pearson VUE and the IIA will need to review your exam to make sure there were no irregularities in your exam, such as cheating attempts, or any other unacceptable behavior at the exam center.
Once you receive the exam result notification e-mail you can login to CCMS to see your exam result.
If you pass, your result will only indicate that you have passed the exam but you will not receive a detailed score. If you fail an exam part you will receive your overall score and a detailed report on your strengths and weaknesses.
Failing a CIA exam part
If you fail an exam part, you must wait at least 30 days from the day you took your exam before retaking the exam. During that period you can attempt other parts.
According to the IIA’s retake policy update in 2022, the number of times you may take the exam is limited to 8 attempts during your program eligibility window.
You need to pay exam fees to retake the exam you failed.
Are you more likely to fail if you take the exam in a language other than English?
Taking the exam in your native language, if it’s not English, has its advantages and disadvantages. Exam takers who sit for the exam in languages other than English complain that the translation of the questions is not always clear. Audit terminology might be challenging to translate from English to other languages, especially if internal audit is a new concept for those languages.
The advantage of taking the exam in your native language is that you will remove the language barrier. By studying for the exam in your local language you only need to concentrate on the content of the exam. If you are proficient in English we advise that you take the exam in English.
How to interpret your exam result
If you pass your exam, this means that what you are doing is working. Apply the same study method to the remaining parts.
If you fail your exam, consider the following:
If your score is higher than 500, and you thought that if you had more time you would have passed, then you need to focus on time management during the exam. Check out our exam time management strategy here.
If your score is lower than 500, you probably need to review the content of the exam to make sure you understood the concepts and then solve the question in your question bank 2 or 3 times before you attempt the exam again.
