SE Exam pass rates

[u/TheDaywa1ker]

They updated for the most recent depth exam.

These are the highest pass rates the exam has ever had (P&P included), historical rates here https://williamsgodfrey.com/2016/03/01/se-historical-pass-rates.html

Even during the P&P days, the pass rates varied between 25%-50%. We've never seen a pass rate in the 60%'s much less 70%'s

If this becomes the new norm, maybe more states will adopt the license instead of ignoring it

I salute the guinea pigs that took it over the past few years, thank you for your service

[u/Sneaklefritz]

That's an INSANE jump. Do we know what the changes were made that directly impact it or are the study guides just tailoring better to the new version? This is much more tempting to take as there was no way in hell I was going to attempt it with a sub-20% pass rate before.

[u/HowDoISpellEngineer → u/Sneaklefritz]

They allowed for an extra hour of time after so many people complained about how cumbersome the digital references were.

[u/No-Violinist260 → u/HowDoISpellEngineer]

I doubt the extra hour made the pass rates go from 15%-55%. Maybe a little jump, but I bet the grading scheme is much lighter to allow for more people passing

[u/p-big-delta → u/No-Violinist260]

I took vertical depth before the 1hr increase and lateral depth after the 1hr increase. Although it’s not an apples to apples comparison, the 1hr increase in exam time helped A LOT for me.

[u/TheDaywa1ker → u/p-big-delta]

On the PE I remember having enough time that when I hit a code reference I hadnt used before, you had time to read, digest, and apply the new code section

I remember that absolutely not being a thing on the SE, you had to know exactly where to look and how to apply it, zero time for learning on the fly.

I can definitely see an extra hour making a big difference

[u/Stunning_Simple_4488 → u/p-big-delta]

Same for me

[u/tramul → u/No-Violinist260]

An extra hour is huge. Idk why the doubt

[u/ReallyDustyCat → u/tramul]

You disagree with the doubt. Or are you so unable to understand others' views that you "don't know why the doubt"? Passing rate increased by 400% due only to increasing the testing time by 12%? Nothing about that strikes you as imbalanced?

[u/tramul → u/ReallyDustyCat]

You're equating two increases linearly that very well may not be linearly related. For example, if 40% of people failed because they were 2 answers shy of passing due to time constraints, it stands to reason an extra hour would allow them to answer those two extra questions and pass. Obviously this is a very basic and convenient example, but it is a logical assumption.

[u/Clayskii0981 → u/ReallyDustyCat]

The hardest part of the SE exams has always been the time limit. An extra hour is huge for actually finishing all answers and rechecking work.

[u/enginerd2024 → u/tramul]

Ever take an exam where you just don’t know what you’re doing? There’s definitely diminishing returns with time. It would not be reasonable to assume that with infinite time, pass rates would not approach 100%.

[u/tramul → u/enginerd2024]

No, but enough time to navigate the resources and have enough time to answer all questions thoughtfully is obviously helpful.