CPA Exam Scoring: Scaled Scores, Score Release, and Retakes

The CPA Exam is scored on a 0-to-99 scale, and you need a 75 on each of the four sections to pass. That 75 is not the same as answering 75% of questions correctly. It is a scaled score, produced by a statistical model that weighs each question by its difficulty, so a 75 earned on a harder version of the exam represents the same competency as a 75 earned on an easier one.¹

The 75 is a criterion-referenced standard. It measures your performance against a fixed definition of competency, not against other candidates. In a testing window where everyone performs well, the pass rate rises; in a weaker window, it falls. The threshold itself does not move, and no fixed percentage of candidates is allowed through.¹

How Your Scaled Score Is Built

You sit for three Core sections (Auditing and Attestation, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Regulation) and one Discipline section you choose: Business Analysis and Reporting, Information Systems and Controls, or Tax Compliance and Planning. Every section runs four hours and mixes multiple-choice questions (MCQs) with task-based simulations (TBSs). There are no written communication tasks in the current exam.¹

For all three Core sections and for the BAR and TCP Disciplines, your final score is a 50/50 combination of your MCQ scaled score and your TBS scaled score. ISC is the exception: MCQs count 60% and TBSs 40%.¹

Question Difficulty and Item Response Theory

Individual questions are scored using Item Response Theory. Each question has been pre-tested and assigned statistical characteristics for difficulty, how well it separates stronger candidates from weaker ones, and the probability of a correct guess. Harder questions you answer correctly generally contribute more to your scaled score than easier ones.¹

The practical takeaway is that raw counts mislead. A candidate who gets 75 of 100 questions right can still land below 75 if the correct answers cluster on the easiest items. Another candidate who misses some easy questions but handles the difficult material may score higher than the raw count suggests.

Pretest Items and Guessing

Every section mixes in pretest questions the AICPA is evaluating for future use. They look like any other question, and they do not count toward your score.² Because you cannot tell which is which, treat every question as if it counts.

There is no penalty for wrong answers. A blank and a wrong answer count the same, so never leave a question unanswered. If you are running short on time, guess.

When You Get Your Score

Scores are not released the day of the exam. Your exam file travels from Prometric to the AICPA, which releases scores on a rolling schedule with target dates published for the year.³

Core section scores come out on roughly 16 target dates per year, each tied to when the AICPA receives the data file from Prometric. In 2026, the gap between the file cutoff and the target release runs from about one to three weeks. A file received by January 23, for example, targets a February 10 release.³ Sitting on the cutoff date does not guarantee your file makes that batch.

Discipline sections follow a slower rhythm because they are only administered during the first month of each quarter. The 2026 target releases:³

January testing: target release March 13
April testing: target release June 16
July testing: target release September 11
October testing: target release December 15

The wait for a Discipline score can run two months or more. Factor that in when you plan a possible retake.

You check your score through the NASBA Candidate Portal or the NASBA CPA Mobile App. Your score notice or performance report is posted within 72 hours of when the advisory score becomes available.⁴

Reading a Failing Score Report

If you score below 75, you receive a Candidate Performance Report that breaks down your performance by content area and by question type. Passing candidates do not get one.⁴

Each area is rated stronger, comparable, or weaker. Those labels compare you to candidates who scored between 75 and 80, meaning people who just barely passed. Comparable means you performed within half a standard deviation of that group’s average; weaker means below it; stronger means above it.⁵

The report’s real use is directing your retake study. If you scored a 72 with weaker ratings in two content areas and stronger ratings elsewhere, your preparation should concentrate on those two weak spots. Spreading study time evenly across all topics after a near-miss is one of the most common retake mistakes.

How Long a Passing Score Lasts

Passing one section starts a clock. In 2023, NASBA’s Board of Directors amended the Uniform Accountancy Act Model Rules to extend the conditional credit period from 18 months to 30 months, measured from the date your score is released for the passed section.⁶ If you do not pass all four sections within that window, your earliest passed section expires and you must retake it.

The Model Rules are recommendations, not binding law. Each of the 55 U.S. boards of accountancy has to adopt the 30-month period on its own, and they have not all moved at the same pace.⁶ Confirm the credit window with the board where you applied. Running out the clock on a passed section because you assumed the wrong rule is an avoidable loss.

If You Think Your Score Is Wrong

All scores pass through quality control before release, and NASBA describes score changes as highly unlikely. Two formal options exist if you want to push further.⁴

A score review verifies that the correct answer keys were applied to your exam. It costs $240 and does not involve anyone reconsidering your answers or awarding credit for alternative responses.⁴

A score appeal is more involved. You can view the specific questions you answered incorrectly, see your responses, and submit comments, but you do not see the correct answers or the full exam. You review the material at an authorized secure location with a representative of your board of accountancy present. The fee is $550 plus $100 per item appealed. Historically, no score has ever been changed through this process.⁴

Score appeals are not offered everywhere. California, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Montana, Texas, and Virginia do not permit them.⁴ For most candidates, neither route is likely to change the outcome, and the money is usually better spent on preparation for a retake.

1
AICPA & CIMA. Learn More About CPA Exam Scoring and Pass Rates
2
AICPA & CIMA. Find Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About the CPA Exam
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AICPA & CIMA. Find Out When You’ll Get Your CPA Exam Score
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National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). Score Information
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AICPA & CIMA. The Candidate Performance Report Provides Helpful Information
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National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA). NASBA Announces Historic Rule Amendment Following Record Exposure Draft Response