Measured data
Practitioner Security Analyst
We scored 120 real Practitioner Security Analyst exam questions 1-10 on question complexity and broke the result down by exam domain.
- 120 questions scored
- 5 domains
- 2.1/10 overall complexity
Complexity by exam domain
Higher scores mean more demanding question formats. The exam score is computed over the whole bank, not averaged across domains.
- Information Security and Standards24 questions · complexity 2.1/10 · Gentle
33% multi-select · 4% scenario · 33% interactive
- Networking and Technologies36 questions · complexity 2.0/10 · Gentle
33% multi-select · 0% scenario · 33% interactive
- Penetration Testing Methodologies24 questions · complexity 2.0/10 · Gentle
33% multi-select · 0% scenario · 33% interactive
- Professional Conduct and Ethics12 questions · complexity 3.0/10 · Gentle
33% multi-select · 33% scenario · 33% interactive
- Tools and Technical Skills24 questions · complexity 2.0/10 · Gentle
33% multi-select · 0% scenario · 33% interactive
Full per-domain breakdown
Blueprint weight, bank size and question format mix for every domain of the exam.
| Domain | Blueprint | Questions | Single | Multi | Interactive | Complexity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information Security and Standards | 20% | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2.1/10Gentle |
| Networking and Technologies | 30% | 36 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 2.0/10Gentle |
| Penetration Testing Methodologies | 20% | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2.0/10Gentle |
| Professional Conduct and Ethics | 10% | 12 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.0/10Gentle |
| Tools and Technical Skills | 20% | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 2.0/10Gentle |
How the score is calculated
The formula is fixed and public, so anyone can reproduce these numbers from the same bank.
Every question in the Practitioner Security Analyst bank is measured on four signals that can be read directly from the database. Each signal is expressed as a share of the questions in the domain, and the four shares are combined with fixed weights:
- Multi-select questions (40% weight). Items with more than one correct answer. The candidate has to find all of them, which is the single hardest format in the bank.
- Scenario questions (30% weight). Questions longer than 150 characters, which describe a situation instead of a definition and therefore test reasoning rather than recall.
- Interactive questions (20% weight). Items that require reading code or a configuration snippet.
- Deep explanations (10% weight). Questions whose explanation runs past 300 characters, which signals a concept with real nuance behind it.
The combined share is multiplied by ten to produce a 1-10 score. The exam-level score is computed over the whole bank rather than averaged across domains, so a small domain cannot distort the total. Figures on this page are recomputed from the live bank on every crawl.
Data set: Certilum Practitioner Security Analyst Foundation question bank, 120 questions, 5 domains. Published by CERTILUM. This is Certilum’s own measurement of its own question bank and is not an official CREST statistic.
- Questions analysed
- 120
- Exam domains
- 5
- Hardest domain
- Professional Conduct and Ethics (3.0)
- Most approachable domain
- Networking and Technologies (2.0)
- Question mix
- 40 single · 40 multi · 40 interactive
- Measured on
- Foundation
Frequently asked questions
What our Practitioner Security Analyst complexity numbers mean and how they are produced.