What RES score do you need to pass? Breaking down the numbers

Good thread. One thing I'd add: don't try to cram the night before. I did 4 hours the night before my RES and I think it hurt more than helped. Your brain needs consolidation time. Light review or full rest is better.

For the people asking about study timelines: I studied 78 minutes per day for 13 weeks working full time. It's absolutely doable without burning out. The key is consistency — missing days hurts more than extending your timeline.

Great discussion. One thing nobody mentions: sleep the night before matters more than one more study session. Went in fully rested for my RES and felt sharper than expected.

Honestly I almost quit after my second practice test. I was scoring in the low 60s and thought the whole thing wasn't for me. But I kept at it, and something clicked around week four where the numbers started making sense instead of just blurring together.

Don't stress too much about hitting 85% on every practice test before you sit for it. I passed with consistent scores in the mid-70s on practice material. The real exam felt harder in some spots and easier in others, but if you understand the concepts you'll be fine. Just don't give up early the way I almost did.

Honestly I almost quit after my second practice attempt when I kept scoring in the low 60s. Felt pointless. But I pushed through and ended up passing, so if you're sitting there thinking the 72% cutoff is some impossible bar, it really isn't once things start clicking.

What I'd say is don't obsess over hitting 85% before you test. That advice stressed me out more than it helped. I went in consistently scoring around 76-78% on practice and passed fine. The real exam wasn't easier exactly, but it wasn't this monster I'd built up in my head either. Just keep going, seriously.

Just hit 79% on my last full practice run, which honestly felt amazing after bombing my first attempt at 61%. I've been grinding the free res finance section pretty hard because that's where I was losing the most points. Still a ways from that 85% benchmark you mentioned but I'm getting closer.

Planning to sit for the real thing in about six weeks. It's nerve-wracking but I don't want to keep pushing it back. Did you find the actual exam harder than the practice tests, or pretty comparable?

This is such a good point about the 72% minimum. I'd add that hitting 85% on practice tests only really means something if you've been reviewing your wrong answers carefully. I spent weeks drilling questions and was stuck in the low 70s until my instructor told me to stop caring about the right answer and start figuring out exactly why each wrong choice was wrong. That changed everything for me. I found the free res finance section especially useful for this because the questions are detailed enough that you can actually trace your reasoning errors.

Once I started doing that, my scores jumped fast. It's slower than just grinding through questions but you retain it way better. The exam isn't testing if you memorized the answer, it's testing if you actually understand the concept well enough to rule things out.