Pass mark / %

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Hi all,

I need something clearing up for me if anyone can help

I just purchased one of the Transcender exam tests for 70-306 and got 54%
What would the actual pass mark be for this?

I can’t find this info anywhere, also some people claim to do 41 questions 50 questions ……etc 50mins, 60mins ..... Does this change depending on the time of day ?!!

Cheers Karl.

 

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The number of questions seems to change, some days its 45, some days it's 55. Thats just the way it is.

Some poeple say though that if you get 55 questions they will be easier than if you get 45, but I don't know about that.

MS seems to have standardised their scoring system at the minute, so that if you get 700 you pass.

As for what the 700 is out of no one seems to know, I used to think that it was out of 1000 (70%), but aparently someone got a score of 1050. So you just can't tell.

With the practice exams you need to be getting as high a score as is possible before doing the real thing.

Personally When I am scoring 70% regullarly on tests then I'll schedule the real thing, but others may dissagree.

What you need to do is to look at the areas you are going wrong on in the transcender score report, and do futher reading on those areas.

Always make sure that you read transcenders explanations of answers, as these can be very useful in helping you to learn.

 

What he said.

All the MCSD exams I've done except 229 have had about 44 questions and the passmark is 700 (70%).
Fewer questions mean that each one carries a higher percentage, so you can't afford to get many wrong.

There may also be 'unscored' beta questions which makes the exact score weighting difficult to work out.

Altough there are relatively few questions (I had about 80 for the 70-270) they tend to be very long winded. You get about 130 minutes to do the exam, because it takes so damn long to read them.

 

You guys are so quick on this forum !

I think my score is a little low, although its better than 34% I got about 3 weeks ago!

The thing I hate about these questions is the amount of rubbish they pack into the background of the *main question* just to confuse you.
I mean a question starting as ‘A company called Boswell Recruitment Distribution PLC’, just takes to many vital seconds to take in and wastes time.

You sometimes try to skip a few lines of the background to get straight to the question in hand, then realise there was some hidden information that’ll help you answer the question.

Least I know where I’m heading. 70% sounds a good area to start thinking about the exam.
Although the questions seem so varied, I bet if you took the same exam twice (one after the other), the results would be very different. So some luck on the day helps I think.

 

yeah the (practice) questions always pack useless information, i usually just skim over it till i get to the actual question.
as for the percentage, i would say youre ready once you can score 80% regularly, just to give yourself that extra margin in case of weird questions at the exam.

 

That's because real life is like that...

It is very important as a developer to be able to sift through the rubbish that you will be supplied with. Commonly you will deal either with non-IT people who know what they would like, but have no idea why. Not as bad though as the IT people that you will deal with who like the way things are and put loads of needless obstacles in your path.
MCSD exams aren't about memorizing facts and figures - they are about analyzing situations and providing a solution.
You need to learn how to pick out the relevant bits. Hence the style of question.

 

See what you mean, but they arn't over you with a stopwatch

 

Do you think?
Ever seen a real development contract with bonuses for early release and huge penalties for late delivery?
It just happens to be 6 months instead of 2 hours.

I know what you mean though - but if you know your stuff, the time limits on MS exams are the least of your worries!

The exams simulate the real world as best they can. The stopwatch is there for a reason. Good luck, I'll help in anyway I can.

 

You can still pause for a coffee though in real life (or scream).

On the good side, if these things were easy everyone will do them, and they'll hold less weight. So in a barmy sort of way, the harder it is the more I think its worth it.

Need more coffeeee .....