Look before you leap! It’s solid advice. Before you start preparing for the Radiography exam, here is the most important stat:
The number of candidates that pass the ARRT’s Radiography exam hovers near 80%. It has one of the highest pass rates of all the disciplines that ARRT offers credentials.
But something interesting is going on! And in this article, I will explain why you should care. And some helpful tips to ace the exam without any stress. Let’s jump into it!
What Is the ARRT Radiography Exam Pass Rate in 2022?
Hey! Just like you, I’m curious about 2022’s ARRT results. Because I remembered that the pass rate started to dip after 2019. It should be interesting to know whether the trend continues into 2022. But the results are not published yet.
The best thing we can compare with are results from 2021, for which the pass rate is 83.80%. This pass rate is 5% less than the year 2020, which stands at 88.2%.
You should know that the 2021 scores are one of the lowest ever pass rates in the last five years, for all of which it’s above 85%. And out of all the disciplines, ARRT’s Radiography exams have the highest pass rates.
What could be the reasons for this sudden dip in performance?
To be honest, there are too many variables at this point to conclude. COVID? Exam content related? Performance scaling?
It just could be a random dip. Although 5% is significant, the difference between 2019 and 2020 is just 1 %. So, let’s wait for the pass rates for 2022 and see where it goes. Hopefully, the downward trend doesn’t continue.
But if you’re anxious about the exam, why not just give our free ARRT Radiography Practice Test a go? It should be like a fun little exercise that stimulates the actual exam.
After completing the free test, if you need help with exam preparations, I’m inviting you to check out our comprehensive guide, the ARRT Hero to ace the radiography exam (pass rate: over 99%).
How Has the ARRT Radiography Pass Rate Changed Over Time?
It’s declining —- yep, it’s the truth. But here is an in-depth answer.
The history of the ARRT radiography exam starts with Sister Mary Beatrice Merrigan. She was the first person to pass the exam in 1922. She received the good news just after Christmas and currently holds the title of “country’s first Registered Technologist.”
Her exam consisted of 20 essays and ten radiographic films, which she evaluated. Unsurprisingly, this format is different from what’s tested today. Fun fact: ARRT should have celebrated its 100th anniversary recently.
Fast forward to 2022. On the ARRT website, ARRT posts its yearly statistics. You can find exam data from 2012 for first-time candidates appearing for the exam in the report. Here is the link to the report.
But unfortunately, there is no data beyond 2017 for pass rates for all attendants.
If you take only the past five years into conclusion (2017 to 2021), as I mentioned, there is a decline, and 2021’s pass rate is the biggest decline from the years before (5%).
How Many People Pass the ARRT Exam on Their First Try?
Thankfully, there is data from the past ten years to answer this question. If you check the report I shared above, you should find that the first-time candidates pass rate has consistently hovered near 80% since 2012.
I will give you an example because it’s easier to visualize that way: in the year 2021, there were 14,958 candidates appearing for the exam. Out of which, 12,252 appeared for the exam for the first time.
So approximately 9,800 candidates passed the radiography exam. If you go by the statistics. And even in this category, there is a recent dip in performance in 2021. So what’s going on?
Was the 2021’s exam hard?
I truly do trust that ARRT maintains a strict performance and fairness scaling. It’s one of their core policies. But the exams are indeed competitive.
Although the passing score is set at 75. You don’t just get to score 75 based on a percentile.
The board monitors every question and answer of the exams and compares them to previous years to gauge how difficult the exam was for the current year. Based on this, they set their passing score.
And maybe 2021’s questions were considered easy by the board, and they set a higher bar to obtain the same score of 75. If you’re interested in learning more, please go to this article where I explain this stuff in depth.
Again, if you’re preparing for the exam, practice is crucial. Here is the link to the free practice test and our comprehensive study guide. All the best!
