How Is the CMA Exam Graded?

How Is the CMA Exam Graded

The CMA exam is not only one of the toughest but also one of the lengthiest financial exams. A commonly asked question by many candidates is: “How is the CMA exam graded?”

It is important for every candidate to know the pattern of the exam and how to maximize their scores by learning how grading is done. It also helps you focus on the most critical aspects of the exam and prioritize your time accordingly.

To help you maximize your study efforts, I’ve put together this simple explanation of how the CMA exam is graded.

Originally published in 2020, this article was updated and republished on October 10, 2024.

The CMA Exam Structure

It’s important to understand the CMA exam structure so you can prepare effectively. This also gives you a rough idea of how the score will be distributed across the entire exam.

The entire CMA exam syllabus is split into Part 1 and Part 2. Each part is a 4-hour exam that tests different topics.

Both Part 1 and Part 2 are divided into two sections. The first section contains the Multiple-Choice Questions, popularly known as MCQs. There are 100 such questions in this first part of the exam.

The next section contains the two CMA Essay Questions. You are given one hour to complete the essay section. These essay scenarios contain four to six questions each.

Division of the CMA Exam

In the first part of the exam, candidates are given three hours to answer the 100 MCQs. Each question has four answer options, and they need to select one.

The advantage here is that there is no negative marking for incorrect answers, so it is highly advisable that you answer each question, regardless of whether you are sure of the answer. That just increases your probability of getting an answer correct by 25%.

Additionally, it helps to understand that each MCQ carries the same weightage. So whether you spend 10 minutes solving a difficult question or one minute on an easy one, you will score the same one point for each correct answer you get.

Because of this, it’s best to mark difficult questions and come back to them after you’ve attempted the rest of the MCQs. This will prevent you from spending too much time on one question.

The second section consists of 2 essay scenarios. If you complete the MCQs before three hours, you can utilize the balance time on the essay scenarios. But once you do that, you cannot review those MCQs at the end, so be very sure before you proceed to the next section.

NOTE: The catch here is that you need to answer at least 50% of the MCQs correctly to be eligible to take the essay section.

What is a CMA Passing Score? How Scores are Calculated

The CMA exam passing score is 360. The scores are on a scale of 0 to 500, with 500 constituting a perfect score. Scores are scaled to account for different versions of the test having different questions, which could vary in their difficulty.

In terms of weight attached, the first section is the most important, contributing 75% to the overall score, while the second section carries a 25% weightage.

The CMA exam is scored on a scale of 0-500.

Since all the candidates are given different “forms” of the exam, it is mandatory for them to score passing marks for each form. This balances out the overall relative difficulty of the questions in each form.

A score of 360 indicates the minimum passing scaled score. This helps the candidates know how they have fared vis-à-vis the passing standard of 360. One form may require a passing percentage of 75%, while the other form may require a passing percentage of 60%. This is why a standard scale score of 360 is established as a benchmark. The score doesn’t indicate the percentage of questions you got correct.

Understanding the Average CMA Exam Score

Curious about how your peers perform?

Understanding the average CMA exam score can help you set realistic goals and gauge how much preparation is needed.

While there is little clear-cut information on candidates’ average test scores from year to year, we do have a good idea of the average pass rates for the CMA exam.

Both Part 1 and Part 2 of the CMA exam have average passing rates of around 50%. This means that more than half of candidates do not pass their CMA exam, which paints a clear picture of how tough this exam is.

With this in mind, you can better expect how much you have to study and prepare to pass both parts. If anything, you can leverage the materials and resources available out there, such as a CMA review course or personalized coaching support, which can greatly increase your chances of passing on your first try.

Receiving Your CMA Exam Results

How long does it take to get your CMA exam results?

It’s perfectly normal to experience a little post-exam stress and anxiety. Fortunately, the results will not be that long of a wait. Here’s the timeline you can expect.

In general, you’d have to wait about 6 weeks or 42 days from the last day of the month you took the exam. This gives you some time to enjoy and celebrate with friends and family. After your break, you might even want to start studying for Part 2.

With this timeline in mind, you can start planning your next steps. This might look like relaxing on a short trip, networking for more opportunities, or starting your prep for the next exam part!

What You Should Do

If you must set a goal, your endeavor should be to score more than 75% in both the MCQ and the Essay sections. Working out the permutation and combination during the exam will not only be futile but also time-consuming and may ultimately affect the quality of your answers.

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” – Vince Lombardi

Here’s my Youtube video explaining in-depth how the CMA exam grading system works:

Nathan Liao

Hi, I’m Nathan Liao (aka the CMA Coach)! For the last 10 years, over 82,000 accounting and finance pros came knocking at my door seeking guidance and help. If you’re also aiming to conquer the CMA exam on your very first try—without wasting away time or money—you’ve found your ultimate guide. Dive in deeper to discover more about me and the dedicated team that powers CMA Exam Academy. Click here and let’s embark on this journey together!

81 Comments on “How Is the CMA Exam Graded?”

  1. Reply

    Hi
    Why a score of 250 points in MCQ is not allowing me to take the essay, how the rule of 50% is applied?

    1. Reply

      Hi Ben,

      Please note that the way your score is calculated depends on how difficult your exam version is. The multiple-choice questions (MCQ) part makes up 75% of your total score, while the essay part contributes 25%.

      For further details on how to pass the exam, please refer to the CMA Handbook.

  2. Reply

    Hi Nathan and community,
    I think I have got this differently from most of you (but I think I’m right ahah).

    The 50% pass needed in the MCQ is not on the 100 questions but its on the full exam. So ~66% of the MCQs have to be correct to pass to the essay and that will give you automatically a chance of passing if you score well in the essay section.

    Let me know what you think.

    1. Reply

      Hi Stefano,

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s great that you’re diving deep into how the CMA exam is scored. Let me clarify a bit. You do need to score at least 50% on the multiple-choice questions (MCQs) to move on to the essay section in each part of the CMA exam.

      So, you’re right that doing well on the MCQs is important. But you also need to do well on the essay part to pass the full exam. Both sections matter.

      Hope this clears things up.

  3. Reply

    Hi Nathan,
    I appeared for part 1 and scored 250. It is 50% but still why I didn’t make it to essay section. How much I should have scored to get it to the essays?

    1. Reply

      Hi Zeba,

      I’m sorry to hear the news.

      The scores are based on the difficulty level of the particular exam form. 75% of your overall score will come from the MCQ section and 25% from the essay section.

      To read more about exam passing scores, check out page 11 of IMA’S Handbook

      Nathan

  4. Reply

    I appeared for CMA part 2 exam and got to the essay section. But, I noticed that some of the essay questions were related to part 1(for the first essay) not part 2. As for the second essay, the questions were related to part 2. My question is, Is it considered normal to ask such type of questions? And how my essay is now graded?

  5. Reply

    Hi Nathan,

    I appeared the exam just last month. The MCQs were very difficult, time consuming. I made it to the essays section and essays section was very easy. I was able to answer all 15 essays questions very easily. Will I pass?

    1. Reply

      Hi Raman,

      If you made it to the essay, there’s a good chance you passed. Fingers crossed!

      Nathan

  7. Reply

    Hi Nathan

    I wrote cma part 1 this month and i am pretty sure that i got above 50MCQ correct but it didn’t open the essay window. And also i face some error in exam like , it didn’t show flag symbol on question number which i flagged and also i attempted 100 MCQ and showing the complete progress as 89%.

    1. Reply

      Hi Abin,

      It sounds like there might have been technical glitches in the program while you were taking the exam. I’m so sorry they happened during your exam. Would you mind reaching out to IMA to report those issues and see if they have an explanation as to why they occurred?

      Thank you,
      Nathan

    4. Reply

      Attempting all 100 MCQs will not show 100% completed exam because 2 essay questions are still unanswered. If you get 50% correct it will redirect to essay section.

  8. Reply

    1. Will the requirement of CMA’s in USA increase post-Covid Industrial scenerio ,& by what percentage. (Present figure in USA only ? )
    2. Kindly provide some detailed reasoning , with figures
    3) Which type of industries & sectors

    To decide carear

  9. Reply

    Hi, i read in the beginning of the page, 100% exam pass guarantee on your page. how can you say this with so much confident? i would like to join you if it is guaranteed. kindly give me some tips to get through. i would like to achieve it maximum fewer possible time. thank you

  10. Reply

    Hi

    I would like to know if in the essay section i have answered one question right and but the other i believe that it was very difficult and i didn’t answer it very well , will this badly impact my score i am so afraid however i believe that the difficulty of the mcq was moderate

    1. Reply

      Hi Lobna, in the essay section, graders are looking to award you points, not take them away. So in your example, you won’t get points deducted by not answering one question right. Instead, you won’t get any points for that specific question alone. Thanks, Nathan

  11. Reply

    Hi
    I just want to know if out of 75% I.e. 375 Marks in each part I cover from mcq only
    And I didn’t appeared for eassy question
    Can I consider pass in CMA exam?

    1. Reply

      Hi Raj, if you don’t move forward to the essay section of the exam, it’s considered an automatic fail. To move forward to the essay section you have to get at least 50% of the MCQ questions correctly. Thanks, Nathan

        1. Reply

          Hi Walyeldeen,

          Thank you for your question.

          75% of your overall score will come from the MCQ section and 25% from the essay section. The amount of points attributed to each question depends on the difficulty level of your particular exam.

  12. Reply

    Hi
    I just want to ask 2 questions
    – are each MCQ’s graded differently according to the difficulty or equally
    – Why does the essay open with only 50% score in MCQ’s which will get you only 37.5 % total score and that means 100 % failure even if you get full 25 % in essays. Totals to 62.5% max.

    Regards
    Thansheed

    1. Reply

      Hi Thansheed,

      Yes, all MCQs are graded equally. To learn more about how the exam is graded please check here my podcast with IMA’s Vice President, Dennis Whitney.

      Hope this helps! If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

  13. Reply

    Hi Nathan,

    I just received the notification that i have passed the pt. 1 exams. Your tips and updates have helped me to keep going (as well as the academy‘s testbank). Thank you for the support during dark hours ?

      1. Reply

        I wrote CMA part 1 in oct 2021 I got 340, too close but yet so far, please explain me, how much I might have scored in MCQ and in essays out of this 340…also was it just about 3 to 4 mcqs that would have passed me…..?

    1. Reply

      Each section of an exam part is graded separately and converted into a scaled score which is added together for your total score. The total score will determine whether you pass or fail. A passing score is 360, and a perfect score is 500.

  15. Reply

    Hi,
    so why then they say that you have to do the 50% correct at least for the MCQ if anyway even if you score the maximum score of 25%in the essay you will not pass. this does not make any sense.

  16. Reply

    Hi Nathan,

    According to my understanding, minimum 50 correct MCQs needs to be answered in order to be eligible to go for essays.. but i believe that this percentage of 50% of MCQs will not save me to pass the overall required passing percentage of 72%, because simply MCQs are 75% of the exam, so answering only 50 correct MCQs means that I scored 37.5 % out of those 75%, so whatever great I do with essays and even if I get full mark of 25%, this means that 37.5 % MCQs plus 25% essay equal 62.5 % which means am still way far from passing percentage which is 72%.. am i right! so simply i must get at least 70-75 correct MCQs out of 100 along with good performance with Essays to increase my chances passing the 360 scale.. correct me if am wrong. Thanks

    2. Reply

      Dear Akram

      Basis understanding the qualifying marks to clear the MCQ is 50% of the total 500 marks that is 250. & the balance 110 one should expect to get from Essay.

      As scoring 50% on 375 dosn’t make any sense.

      Hope i am right

      1. Reply

        Hi Sourav,

        The scores are based on the difficulty level of the particular exam form. 75% of your overall score will come from the MCQ section and 25% from the essay section.

        To read more about exam passing scores, check out page 11 of IMA’S Handbook

        Let me know if you have any questions left.

    3. Reply

      If i score even 70 mcqs correct that averages to around 280 still I need to score 80 marks in essay out of 100 that feels nearly impossible?

      1. Reply

        Hi Dipen,

        Please note that it’s challenging to answer this because factors like the exam’s difficulty also have an impact on the overall score. For the most accurate information, I suggest contacting the IMA’s support team directly.

    1. Reply

      Hi Amit,

      Yes, you can. The CMA Exam changed in 2015, so your Wiley 2015 edition is still current.

      Cheers!

  21. Reply

    Suppose i scored 50 % mark in MCQ and what minimum percentage i need to score in essay to qualify each part

    1. Reply

      Hi Reham,

      Yes, it will result to failure if a CMA candidate did not get at least 50% in the MCQ section.

      Thanks and Regards,
      Nathan

  23. Reply

    Hi nathan,
    i wanted to know whether this 50% of score in mcq which is required is actually out 375 only or out of 500 points ? getting a bit confused .

    1. Reply

      Hi Verghese,

      You must get at least 50% of the MCQ section to be eligible for the essay section. That is, at least 50% or 188 equivalent score (50% x 375).

      Thanks and Regards,
      Nathan

      1. Reply

        Hello Nathan,

        You mentioned 50% of 375 which is 188 score in order to move to essay. But I scored 240 as per performance report and didn’t proceed to essay section. That means in order to reach essay one has to score 250 out of overall 500 (and not just 50 mcqs) , which is like 66 mcq’s..

        1. Reply

          Atif, you need to get 50% of the questions in the MCQ section correct in order to proceed to the essay section. 10 of the 100 questions in the MCQ are not graded. Those 10 questions are “probe” questions the ICMA is testing as potential future exam questions. So in terms of actual minimum number of questions you need to get right in the MCQ section is 45 which is 50% of 90 MCQs. Hope this helps. Nathan

  24. Reply

    I just need to know ( I have to pass the 50% in MCQ to open essay ) the 50% mean 50 MCQ correct or 50% from 75% score of the total MCQ.

    1. Reply

      Hi Ibrahim,

      You need to get at least 50% of the MCQ correctly to move to the essay section.

      Thanks and Regards,
      Nathan

      1. Reply

        Hi Nathan,

        I wrote my CMA part1 recently and waiting for results. I was able to open essays. I had a feeling that most of my mcqs were good and mostly they were one liners. Please tell me how much chance a candidate increases for himself for passing the exam if he opens an essay window (which will automatically means he did 50% right mcqs)

        1. Reply

          Hi Muqtadir,

          If you made it to the essay, there’s a good chance you passed. Fingers crossed!

          The scores are based on the difficulty level of the particular exam form. 75% of your overall score will come from the MCQ section and 25% from the essay section. Trust that you’ve done your best 🙂

          I wrote an article where you can read more about exam passing scores: Understanding the CMA Exam Passing Score

          Let me know if you have any questions left.
          Nathan

  25. Reply

    Hi Sir,

    I have appeared for my CMA Part 2 Exam yesterday and I had advanced to the essay section as well.Can you please let me know ,if I can stay positive that I will pass the exam and prepare for my part 1,or should I need to wait until the results are out.The institute where I have enrolled for coaching is assuring me that the chance of failing the exam is very less,as I have already cleared the MCQ’s. I have given the essays fairly well though not so impressed .Sir, do you think if it makes a sense, as far as my institute is claiming.I am bit nervous.Kindly advise.Thanks

    1. Reply

      Hi Sriki,

      The best person to ask whether you pass or fail is yourself but it is generally encouraged to be positive.

      Thanks and Regards,
      Nathan

  26. Reply

    So I appeared for cma part 1 and seems as though I have touched the 50% threshold for MCQ to get to th essay. My question is that lets say I score exact 50% in the MCQ and have faired decently well in the essay, does it mean that i have to get a minimum score of 15-20% to secure an over all score of 65-70% depending on the level of difficulty?

    1. Reply

      Hi Mina,

      MCQ is 75% and Essay is 25% of your final score. You have to get 50% (or at least 50 correct MCQ items) of the 100 item MCQs in order to get to the essay portion. But that 50% should have a scaled score of at least 235 and have a perfect essay equivalent score of 125 to get a total of 360. The best way is to have at least 282 (75% x 375) scaled from your multiple choice questions and a decent score from your essay of 78-94 (62% to 75% of 125) to pass the exam.

      Thanks,
      Nathan

  27. Reply

    Hi Nathan, thanks for your clear explanation, but I would like to understand one thing if I get the full mark of MCQs ( extremely imagination ? ) which means get 75% of the result, in this case I will pass the exam whatever the result of essay answers?, thanks

    1. Reply

      Hi Hany,

      You are right. If you got a perfect score in the MCQs, you wouldn’t have to worry about the essay portion. The MCQ is 75% of the exam which means its perfect scaled score is equivalent to 375 (75% x 500). However, it is best to give it your best shot in the essay as you will not know if you perfected the MCQ or not, the system will just calculate if you passed the MCQ portion and then proceed to the essay exam without informing your score in the MCQs.

      Thanks,
      Nathan

  28. Reply

    Dear Nathan,
    From your past experience or from your ur students what percentage of calculation required mcqs a one can expect in exam.

  29. Reply

    Thank you so much for your guidance. But can u tell me, how is Hock book and Hock software for passing the CMA exam.. I have 1 month to prepare for paper 1. So kindly guide me for this short time period.

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