CHS-CY2 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

Why There Is No Official CHS-CY2 Pass Rate

If you searched for a CodeHS Cybersecurity Level 2 pass rate hoping for a clean number, here is the honest answer: CodeHS has not published one. The official Cybersecurity Level 2 certification page and the Certifications FAQ describe the exam format, topics, passing threshold, and voucher rules, but neither includes an aggregate success percentage.

That matters because this site, and plenty of others, could easily fill the gap with a confident-sounding figure. We will not. Any "87% of students pass" or "only 40% pass on the first try" claim attached to CHS-CY2 should be treated as invented unless it cites CodeHS directly. This article takes a different approach: instead of fabricating data, it walks through the structural facts that actually determine how hard this exam is to pass, so you can judge your own odds.

For a broader look at difficulty without leaning on a fake statistic, see our companion piece, How Hard Is the CHS-CY2 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026. And if you want the shorter overview of this topic on its own page, the canonical version lives at CHS-CY2 Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.

What We Actually Know About Passing

The verifiable facts are few but useful. Everything below comes from CodeHS's own published exam overview and FAQ.

Notice what is absent: no stated pass rate, no published difficulty rating, and no domain percentages. What you can reason about is the structure, and the structure tells a fairly clear story. For the exact scoring threshold in more detail, our CHS-CY2 Passing Score guide breaks down what 60% means in practice.

The Math Behind a 60% Passing Score

With 45 multiple-choice questions and a 60% threshold, simple arithmetic gives you a working target: 27 correct answers out of 45 (60% of 45 is exactly 27). That means you can miss up to 18 questions and still pass. Ninety minutes across 45 questions works out to two minutes per question, which is generous for multiple-choice items.

Those two numbers, a moderate threshold and ample time, suggest an exam designed to verify solid working knowledge rather than to filter aggressively. But there is a catch that the arithmetic hides: with five distinct domains and no published weights, a candidate who is weak in two entire areas can run out of margin quickly. If you effectively guess on the 18 or so questions drawn from your two weakest domains, you need near-perfect accuracy everywhere else.

How Vouchers and Retakes Shape Your Real Odds

Raw pass rates, if they existed, would blend first-timers with repeat attempts. The voucher system makes this distinction important. According to the CodeHS FAQ, each voucher code is valid for one attempt, and students can retake the exam as needed by obtaining new vouchers. In other words, a failed attempt is not a dead end, but it does consume a voucher.

In practice, this changes the calculus in two ways:

• Your "pass rate" is really a per-voucher outcome. A teacher distributing vouchers to a class may see different results on attempt one versus attempt two, and any published rate would need to say which it measures.
• Treating the first attempt as a trial run is a costly habit. Because every attempt needs a new voucher, it pays to arrive prepared rather than to learn the format on the live exam. Check our CHS-CY2 Certification Cost guide and Requirements page for how access typically works through schools and programs.

The certification itself stays valid for 10 years once earned, so there is no pressure to rush a credential that will not expire soon. That gives you room to schedule the exam when you are ready; see CHS-CY2 Exam Dates for scheduling considerations.

Where Candidates Tend to Lose Points: The Five Domains

Since there is no pass-rate data to lean on, the most reliable predictor of your result is how well you cover all five published domains. CodeHS lists topics per domain without weights, so each deserves real attention. Here is what each one demands, framed around the specific concepts that appear in the official topic list. For the full breakdown, see CHS-CY2 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.

Question Style and Why It Affects Results

All 45 questions are multiple-choice, delivered online under a 90-minute timer. Multiple-choice formats on a topic list like this one tend to test two kinds of knowledge: vocabulary discrimination (is this a worm or a Trojan?) and scenario matching (which device or control fits this situation?). Neither requires lengthy calculation, which is why the time limit is rarely the binding constraint.

The common failure pattern is near-miss confusion between paired concepts. If you cannot cleanly separate IDS from IPS, symmetric from asymmetric keys, or a risk assessment from a penetration test, plausible wrong answers will look right. That is the real source of difficulty here, not obscure trivia.

Who Sits This Exam and What That Means for the Numbers

CodeHS has no specific prerequisites for this exam, though it recommends the Advanced Cybersecurity course as preparation. That combination matters for interpreting any outcome data. When an exam is open to anyone with a voucher, the candidate pool mixes well-prepared students who completed the recommended course with others who attempt it with partial preparation. Any aggregate pass figure would blend those groups together, which is another reason a single number would say little about your chances.

A related caution: exam topics are distinct from the recommended course curriculum. Completing coursework helps, but the exam draws from its own published topic list. And Level 1 material is not a stand-in. Candidates who lean on Level 1 knowledge and skip the Level 2 topic list, especially in cryptography and advanced networking, are the ones most exposed.

On the career side, credentials like this typically serve as an early signal for students pursuing cybersecurity pathways, rather than as a senior-level qualification. For realistic expectations, see CHS-CY2 Jobs, the salary guide, and Is the CHS-CY2 Certification Worth It?

A Domain-Sequenced Prep Plan

Because the domains are unweighted, the sequencing below is organized by conceptual dependency rather than by exam weight. Cryptography comes first because hashing and certificates reappear in networking and risk contexts; documentation and risk management come last because they synthesize earlier material. Adjust the pacing to your own timeline; the full method is in our CHS-CY2 Study Guide.

Practice under the real constraints: 45 questions, 90 minutes. Use the results to find which domain is dragging you down, then return to it instead of re-reading material you already know. Timed sets are available on the CHS-CY2 Exam Prep practice tests.

What Passing Gets You

A passed attempt earns a certification that remains valid for 10 years, according to CodeHS. That long validity window makes it a durable line on a résumé or portfolio for students building toward further cybersecurity study. If you are still sorting out what the credential represents, start with What Is CHS-CY2 Certification? or the broader CHS-CY2 Certification overview.

The most useful way to think about "pass rate" for this exam is to set the missing statistic aside and focus on the variables you control: covering all five domains, internalizing the confusable pairs, and practicing under timed conditions. Those matter far more than any aggregate percentage ever could.

Frequently Asked Questions