C)CSA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

Why There Is No Official Pass Rate to Quote

If you searched for the Certified Cybersecurity Analyst pass rate hoping for a clean percentage, here is the honest answer: no verified figure exists in the public record. Mile2, the body behind this certification, does not publish pass-rate statistics for the exam, and no independent testing network reports them either, since the exam is delivered through the Mile2 learning management system rather than a third-party testing provider.

That matters because pass-rate numbers circulate widely across forums, training-vendor marketing pages, and aggregator sites, and they are frequently copied from one credential to another. The "C)CSA" acronym is shared by several different certifications, which makes cross-contamination especially easy. A figure attached to a different credential with the same letters can end up pasted onto this one. Throughout this article, every concrete fact comes from the documented specifics of the Mile2 Certified Cybersecurity Analyst exam, and where the data does not exist, we say so rather than guess.

What you can do instead is reason from the documented structure of the exam: how it is scored, how long it runs, what it assumes you already know, and what the cost and attempt policy imply. That is the analysis the rest of this article provides. For a broader read on difficulty, see How Hard Is the C)CSA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026.

What We Can Verify About How the Exam Is Scored

Even without a published pass rate, the scoring mechanics are documented, and they tell you more about your odds than a rumor ever could.

A 70% cut score on 100 questions means you need roughly 70 correct answers. That is a meaningful but not extreme threshold. It leaves room for about 30 misses, which sounds forgiving until you remember that the questions span seven distinct technical areas. A candidate who is excellent at forensics but weak on SIEM analytics can burn through that margin quickly if the question mix punishes the weak side.

One caution: the public outline is undated, and there is no confirmed 2026 exam version. Do not assume the exam changed this year, and do not assume it did not. Confirm the current version through your Mile2 account before you commit to a study plan. Our guide to the C)CSA passing score goes deeper on how the 70% threshold works in practice.

Reading the Format as a Difficulty Signal

In place of a published pass rate, the exam format itself is the best available difficulty indicator. Three features stand out.

Time per question

About 2 hours for 100 questions works out to roughly 72 seconds per item. That is enough for recall questions and short scenario reads, but it is tight for anything that asks you to interpret a log excerpt, a packet summary, or a multi-step incident narrative. Candidates who linger on a single traffic-analysis scenario can starve the end of the exam.

Multiple choice, analyst-style content

The format is multiple choice, but the subject matter is applied. Expect questions that ask what a defender should do next, which artifact answers an investigative question, or which control closes a gap, rather than pure vocabulary matching. Memorizing definitions without practicing the reasoning behind them is the classic way to underperform.

Assumed background

Mile2 suggests prior knowledge of security, forensics, incident handling, and testing. No mandatory Mile2 course, degree, experience-hour requirement, or reference requirement has been verified for sitting the exam. That open door is part of why you should not read a pass rate as a pure measure of exam hardness: the pool of candidates includes people at very different preparation levels. Our C)CSA requirements guide covers eligibility in more detail.

Where Candidates Lose Points: The Seven Modules

The seven entries below are official Mile2 course modules, which this site uses as unweighted study categories. They are not verified weighted exam domains, so do not assume equal or unequal question counts across them. What follows is where applied knowledge tends to be tested and where preparation gaps typically hurt. For a full walkthrough, see C)CSA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 7 Content Areas.

Candidates with a pure IT-operations background often underestimate Modules 2, 3, and 4, while candidates from a testing background sometimes underestimate Modules 1 and 5, which reward defensive-program thinking over exploitation skills. Honestly mapping your own background against these seven areas is more predictive than any pass statistic.

Who Sits This Exam and Why That Skews Any Number

Even if a verified pass rate existed, interpreting it would be tricky. Candidates for an analyst-level certification arrive from very different paths: SOC analysts looking to formalize their skills, system administrators moving toward security, and students completing a training pathway. Mile2 offers the exam in a combo with preparation and simulator components, so a share of candidates sit after structured training while others may arrive after self-study.

A pass rate blends all of those groups together. A strong SOC veteran and someone who skimmed one module are counted in the same denominator. The practical implication is that a population number tells you very little about your probability of passing. Your own module-level performance on realistic questions is a far better predictor.

Employers who value this credential tend to be organizations building or growing blue-team capability: security operations centers, incident-response teams, managed security providers, and defense-focused government and contractor environments. For a look at roles that map to this skill set, see C)CSA jobs. Be cautious with salary claims: the brochure salary figure should not be read as current certification-holder earnings. Our C)CSA salary guide addresses how to think about compensation without leaning on unverified numbers.

Attempts, Retakes, and What the Combo Price Implies

The US Exam Combo is priced at USD $550 and, under the general combo policy, includes two attempts alongside preparation and simulator components. That is not a verified exam-only price, so do not compare it directly with other vendors' standalone exam fees.

Two attempts is a meaningful structural detail. It means the pricing model anticipates that some candidates will not pass the first time, and it gives you a built-in second try without an immediate new purchase. However, treat that as a safety net rather than a plan. Use your first attempt as a real attempt, and if you do not pass, use the interval to study your weakest modules rather than simply re-sitting.

Before you pay, confirm the details that are not publicly settled: whether the exam is open-book, whether a calculator is allowed, whether it is adaptive, what proctoring applies, and how accommodations work. These rules are not verified in the public documentation, and they change how you should prepare. Our C)CSA certification cost breakdown and exam dates and scheduling guide cover the mechanics around purchasing and booking.

After you pass: renewal

The credential runs on a three-year renewal cycle. Central policy offers 60 documented CEUs over three years or the latest exam, plus the applicable fee and professional-policy agreement. Note that the course PDF uses conflicting wording that reads as though both routes are required, so verify which applies to you before the cycle ends.

How to Evaluate Pass-Rate Claims You See Online

Because no official figure exists, you will likely encounter confident-sounding numbers. Use this quick filter:

1. Ask who measured it. Only Mile2 would have complete results. A third party quoting a percentage is relying on a survey, a sample of their own customers, or a guess.
2. Check which credential it describes. The "C)CSA" letters are shared by several unrelated certifications with different bodies, fees, and formats. A figure that does not name Mile2 and Certified Cybersecurity Analyst should be discarded.
3. Look for the time window. A rate without dates is meaningless, and the current outline is undated with no confirmed 2026 version.
4. Notice the incentive. Training vendors benefit from high-sounding pass rates; forum posts skew toward people with strong feelings either way.

Candidates often want a pass rate to decide whether to attempt the exam at all. A better decision rule is to take a full-length timed practice set and see where you land relative to 70%. You can do that on the main practice test site.

A Module-Ordered Readiness Plan

Rather than a generic schedule, sequence your preparation so that foundational modules support the harder applied ones. This ordering reflects how the content builds on itself.

If your practice scores sit below 70% in any single module, spend the remaining time there instead of rereading strengths. For a fuller resource list and method, see the C)CSA study guide, and keep the C)CSA cheat sheet handy for last-day review. If you are still orienting yourself to the credential, what C)CSA certification is is a good starting point.

Frequently Asked Questions