The CAST exam pass mark

Why the gates are independent

Both thresholds have to be met. There is no compensation between them: scoring 18 out of 20 on verbal does not raise your numerical-plus-abstract score by a single mark, and clearing the reasoning gate comfortably does nothing for a verbal score of 9.

The practical consequence is about where to spend preparation time. If you are comfortably over one gate and marginal on the other, every hour spent on the comfortable one is worth nothing. Most candidates instinctively practise what they are already good at, and under a two-gate scheme that instinct is exactly wrong.

Why a single percentage misleads

Take a candidate who scores 19 out of 20 on verbal and 8 out of 20 across numerical and abstract. Averaged, that is 27 out of 40 — a comfortable-looking 68%. Against the actual gates, it is a fail, and a fail with a very specific diagnosis.

This is why the mock here reports two statuses and the raw score behind each, and why there is no overall figure anywhere in the result. When a part has not been assessed at all, that reads as not attempted rather than quietly counting as a pass.

How many questions is that?

• Verbal: 20 questions, 35 minutes, at least 10 correct.
• Numerical: 10 questions, 20 minutes.
• Abstract: 10 questions, 10 minutes.
• Numerical + abstract together: at least 10 correct out of the combined 20.

Every question is multiple choice with one correct option, and there is no negative marking, so an unanswered question and a wrong one score the same. Guess rather than leave anything blank when a clock is about to run out.

A note on where these numbers come from

EPSO does not publish the per-test timings and thresholds itself. The figures used here are the ones consistently reported by candidates and preparation providers, and they are what this site's practice and mock are built around. Your own EPSO invitation is the authoritative source for the sitting you are actually taking — if it differs, believe the invitation.