Cisco Certified Network Associate

Pass rate

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Cisco Certified Network Associate Pass Rate

200-301

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

80% to pass
100 questions
2/10 difficulty

The number you need to hit

Published cut score for this certification.

Passing score
80%
Pass/fail; Cisco does not publish a numeric cut score
Margin
20%
room for wrong answers, on a flat mock
Wrong answers allowed
20
out of 100 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 Cisco Certified Network Associate it is 80%. 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. Cisco 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.

IP Services10%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 10% of the exam, and it has 10 practice questions here.

Network Access20%

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

IP Connectivity25%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 25% of the exam, and it has 25 practice questions here.

Network Fundamentals20%

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

Security Fundamentals15%

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

Automation and Programmability10%

Losing this domain entirely costs you 10% of the exam, and it has 10 practice questions here.

The practical version: the Cisco Certified Network Associate 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 Cisco Certified Network Associate exam

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

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Guides and articles

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Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about the Cisco Certified Network Associate exam.