Exam News
CPA Exam Pass Rates: Full 2025 Results by Section
TCP leads at 77.7%, while FAR and BAR remain the hardest at ~42%. Here are the complete 2025 CPA exam pass rates and what they mean for your study strategy.
Published March 8, 20264 min readVerified as of April 17, 2026
2025 Cumulative Pass Rates
The AICPA publishes CPA exam pass rates quarterly. Here are the full-year 2025 cumulative results for all six sections. The overall pass rate across all sections is approximately 50%, meaning about half of all attempts result in a passing score of 75 or higher.
- TCP (Tax Compliance & Planning) — 77.7% (highest)
- ISC (Information Systems & Controls) — 67.8%
- REG (Regulation) — 63.1%
- AUD (Auditing & Attestation) — 48.2%
- FAR (Financial Accounting & Reporting) — 42.1%
- BAR (Business Analysis & Reporting) — 41.9% (lowest)
What the Tiers Mean
The pass rates fall into three clear tiers. **High pass rate** (65%+): TCP and ISC. These discipline sections tend to be narrower in scope, which allows candidates to focus their study more effectively. **Moderate** (50-65%): REG. The core tax section sits in the middle, benefiting from candidates who have recent tax coursework. **Challenging** (40-50%): AUD, FAR, and BAR. These sections cover the broadest content areas and consistently have the lowest pass rates year over year.
Choosing Your Discipline Section
Pass rates should be one factor in your discipline section decision, but not the only one. TCP has the highest pass rate, but it also requires the most content overlap with REG — which means more total tax material to learn. ISC is a strong choice if you have an IT or systems background, with the second-highest pass rate at 67.8%. BAR is the hardest discipline by pass rate, but candidates with a strong financial accounting foundation may find it more manageable than the numbers suggest. Our LIFTS Assessment can help you choose based on your full profile, not just pass rates.
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Study Time Implications
Sections with lower pass rates generally require more study hours. Industry benchmarks suggest 300-400 hours for FAR, 250-350 for AUD, 250-300 for REG, and 150-250 for discipline sections. Plan your study schedule accordingly — if you are starting with FAR (the most common first section), budget more time than you think you need. See our study time calculator for personalized estimates.
Trend Watch
AUD pass rates have been declining since 2020, reflecting the section's increased emphasis on quality management standards and technology-related audit topics. FAR has been consistently the most difficult core section, hovering around 42-45% for several years. About 20% of candidates pass all four sections on their first try — so retakes are normal and expected.
Sources
- 1.AICPA — CPA Exam Scoring and Pass Rates(accessed Mar 8, 2026)
- 2.UWorld — CPA Exam Pass Rates (Updated Q4 2025)(accessed Mar 8, 2026)
- 3.Surgent — CPA Exam Pass Rates 2025(accessed Mar 8, 2026)
Brennan Kolar
Founder, Atlas CPA Index
Brennan Kolar is the founder of Atlas CPA Index, an independent CPA review comparison platform covering all 55 U.S. jurisdictions. With over 10 years of experience with CPA review, he built Atlas to help candidates find the right review course based on how they actually learn, not which provider has the biggest ad budget.
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