Certified Red Team Specialist

Pass rate

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Certified Red Team Specialist Pass Rate

CCRTS

The score you need to pass the Certified Red Team Specialist certification exam, what the cut score actually means, and how to read your mock results against it.

66% to pass
60 questions
2/10 difficulty

The number you need to hit

Published cut score for this certification.

Passing score
66%
Written exam: multiple choice 'at least two thirds or 40 marks', written scenario 'at least two thirds or 80 marks'; practical exam: Red Team Assault Course 'at least two thirds or 120 marks', Red Team Tactics/Tradecraft and Operational Security 'at least half of the marks available in this section or 60 marks' - 'Passing one of the sections but failing the other one will result in a failure overall'
Margin
34%
room for wrong answers, on a flat mock
Wrong answers allowed
20
out of 60 questions

Pass score vs pass rate

Two different numbers that get mixed up constantly.

Pass score (cut score)

The scaled score the vendor publishes. For the Certified Red Team Specialist it is 66%. This is the number you can actually prepare against, and it is the one that decides your result on exam day.

Pass rate (percentage of candidates)

The share of candidates who pass. CREST generally does not publish this for individual exams, and the numbers you find online usually come from candidate self-reported surveys. We would rather tell you nothing than tell you a figure we cannot source.

Where you lose points

The exam is not scored flat. Each domain carries its own weight, so a domain where you lose everything can sink a score that looks fine on paper.

Reporting and Communication15%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 15% of the exam, and it has 9 practice questions here.

Adversary Emulation and TTPs20%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 20% of the exam, and it has 12 practice questions here.

Exploitation and Post-Exploitation30%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 30% of the exam, and it has 18 practice questions here.

Planning, Scoping, and Legal Compliance15%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 15% of the exam, and it has 9 practice questions here.

Reconnaissance and Intelligence Gathering20%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 20% of the exam, and it has 12 practice questions here.

The practical version: the Certified Red Team Specialist is not passed by knowing most of the content. It is passed by being strong in the domains that carry weight, and by not leaving one of them empty.

More about the Certified Red Team Specialist exam

Explore the rest of this page series: format, cost, difficulty, requirements and how to prepare.

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Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about the Certified Red Team Specialist exam.