# CBT vs P&P Pass Rates



## StrugglingEngineer (Feb 12, 2021)

It appears the CBT pass rates are much higher than the last times P&P exams was offered:


Exam  First-time takers Repeat takers FormatAvailabilityLast updated

PE Electrical and Computer: Power64371%N/AN/ACBTYear roundJan 2021


Compared to P&P October 2019

*Exam ** First-Time Takers (%) ** Repeat Takers (%) *

 Electrical and Computer: Power50%26%

P&P April 2019

*Exam ** First-Time Takers (%) ** Repeat Takers (%) *

 Electrical and Computer: Power58%39%

I'm glad the pass rates are a bit higher now. It was disheartening to see the pass rates of the previous exams to be in the 50 - 60% range for years.

Is the CBT exam less difficult than the P&P? or is difficulty about the same? For those that have taken both versions, would like to hear your thoughts on the transition. Good luck to those that are now studying for the CBT.


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## BebeshKing PE (Feb 12, 2021)

That is because examiners who have been cancelled from both April and October 2020 Pencil & Paper exam (just like me) had got more time to study more. So you might need to consider that one for having the passing rate increased. We can wait for another set of passing rate for few more months and see how it goes.


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## Dothracki PE (Feb 12, 2021)

I have no experience with the pen and paper exam but I would have to assume that there was a slight reduction in difficulty of the exam due the change in the resources you can use as a test taker. The new exam is meant to be completed by having an understanding of the fundamentals of each topic on the specifications, the PDF reference handbook, the PDF copies of the codes, and a calculator.


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## akyip (Feb 12, 2021)

FYI, there is another topic on this forum also discussing the pass rates of CBT versus pencil and paper:









NCEES Released Power PE CBT Pass Rates


The overall pass rate for the new CBT exam is 71% as of January 2021. https://ncees.org/engineering/pe/pass-rates/ We have been keeping track of the pass rates on our website. No April or October 2020 paper/pencil exam was given, so we only have October 2019 and April 2019 to compare the new...




engineerboards.com


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## StrugglingEngineer (Feb 12, 2021)

akyip said:


> FYI, there is another topic on this forum also discussing the pass rates of CBT versus pencil and paper:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Oops, my bad... I probably should have done a search before posting. I haven't logged into the boards in awhile. I had some co-workers mentioned the CBT exam and was just curious to get people's thoughts on it.


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## Sparky Bill PE (Feb 15, 2021)

This isn't apples-to-apples at all. I know I studied for 14 months (and took 1 month off each time test was canceled) for a total of 12 months. I logged over 500 hours studied and worked over 2,500 problems. I'm sure the first CBT takers studied MUCH MORE than the people who were allowed to take it whenever they wanted for P&P precovid.


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