CIMA’s latest pass rates are currently available on its website. 

Pass rates for all case study levels went up from August 2020 to November 2020. This is a good sign after the launch of the 2019 Professional Qualification in the case study exams starting from the February 2020 sitting.

While the dip below 50% was concerning in August, operational level shows a slight jump from 47% in August to 53% in November.

Management level saw another biggest jump, coming from 59% and landing up at 74% in November. This is an extremely positive sign since we’ve only ever seen above 70% during 2018.

Strategic level has rallied up from 56% in August to its usual over-60 slot at 69% in November.

Gateway level maintains its low numbers, but showing improvement as it lifts the pass rate from 24% in August to 41% in November, the highest result in the last 3 years. Gateway has always been at low numbers, assumed to be due to Gateway students finding it hard to transition into case study preparation.

The OT exam pass rates cover the “recently” (well, not so recent anymore) launched 2019 Professional Qualifications. For the first time in a very long time, I am glad to note that there are no subjects that have less than 50% pass rate.

It is important to remember that the Certificate level percentages are based on the new Cert BA 2017 syllabus and all in all, the results at those levels are satisfactory.

Don’t be deterred or disheartened by the low pass rates for some of the courses/ subjects/ levels. The good news is that like a good managed project (here’s an E2 reference for you, students!), you will just need to ensure you allocate the costs, time, resources, patience you need to get through the levels effectively.

Visit our Resources page for some helpful links to materials and preparation tips.

For a graphic view of this, here’s our CIMA Exam Pass Rates page.

For Case Studies

For Objective Tests

These results are total exams taken from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 and cover the 2019 Professional Qualification.

 

For Certificate Level

These results are total exams taken from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.