It’s no surprise that passing an ITIL® cert exam is no walk in the park. There’s a reason why so few people attempt to get certified in this field and it’s because of the rigor and difficulty of the process. In fact, according to Exin®, an independent exam institute and official ITIL® accreditor, only 21,344 candidates have passed and been awarded the ITIL® Expert certification, ever. That’s right, ever.
But don’t let that discourage you. Baby steps are the key and luckily it looks as if the Foundation exam has a pretty high success rate no matter where you are in the world. The average pass rates from Q1 of this year (January-March) are pretty impressive.
ITIL® Foundation by Region
| Africa | West Indies & Central America | North America | South America | Asia | Europe | Oceania | |
| Pass Rate* | 85% | 85% | 90% | 86% | 90% | 90% | 92% |
| Total Candidates | 2,115 | 665 | 12,078 | 2,742 | 21,316 | 19,485 | 2,032 |
Data supplied by Exin®.
Though countries in the West Indies and Central America have the smallest amount of testers their passing rate is still at a solid 85 percent. That’s only 5 percent below Asia’s numbers which include over 20,000 more candidates.
Moving a step up in the ITIL® cert path proves to be a bit more challenging. Not only did the number of brave candidates during the first quarter of 2013 drop significantly, regardless of geographical location, but the pass rates took a hit as well.
ITIL® Intermediate by Region
| Africa | West Indies & Central America | North America | South America | Asia | Europe | Oceania | |
| Pass Rate* | 61% | 60% | 72% | 70% | 84% | 77% | 78% |
| Total Candidates | 443 | 45 | 3,173 | 389 | 3,478 | 6,515 | 342 |
Data supplied by Exin®. Pass rates are averages of the pass rates for the three months in the quarter. The intermediate data contains all modules of the exam.
Though the percentage of successful test-takers is not as high as with the Foundation exam, these numbers still indicate that with some hard work and dedicated studying this high achievement can be yours. It’s important to understand the ITIL® path before embarking on this certification adventure. But remember that the payoff is worthwhile, so stay determined and persevere. Happy studying!
How do your region’s numbers affect your confidence? Want to better prepare? Check out our ITIL® Foundations course and sign up for a 3-day free trial to access TrainSignal’s entire training library.
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