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Important Not all USA Hire assessments have a cut score. If there is not a cut score, you cannot fail the assessment if you completed the assessment. |
What if the announcement uses a cut score?
The job announcement's "How You Will Be Evaluated" section will typically indicate if the assessment has a cut score.
If you do not meet the minimum score, you may get a notification from the hiring agency that you are ineligible that states:
"You are ineligible to proceed in the hiring process because you did not attain the overall minimum score on the required assessments for this position."
This means you're no longer being considered for that position.
Impact to future applications
Your assessment responses are automatically reused for 12 months unless stated otherwise. Not meeting the cut score doesn't mean you'll always be ineligible for every application for the next 12 months, though. You may have different outcomes for different applications, so keep applying.
You may have a different outcome if you apply to:
- Other announcements using the same assessments that don't use a cut score (e.g. - some merit promotion announcements).
- A different job series or grade level where you might pass the cut score for that different job series or grade.
A cut score is specific to a job series and grade level, so if you apply to a different grade or a different job series, you may have a different result, even if your previous assessment responses are automatically reused.
After the reuse period has passed, your previous assessment results will no longer be used.
What if the announcement does not use an assessment cut score?
If there is no cut score, you don't need to meet a minimum proficiency level, but your proficiency level will still be measured and used by the hiring agency to determine if you are being referred to the next stage of the recruitment process.
Was I not referred because I didn't meet the cut score?
Not being referred does not mean you failed the assessment or that you are not qualified for the position. Federal hiring has many rules and regulations that affect who gets referred. The "I didn't get referred. Does that mean I didn't score well or failed the assessment?" article provides more information on this topic.
If I fail an assessment, can I retake it?
Assessment results are automatically reused for 12 months, so you cannot retake the assessment during this time. However, you can still apply to other job announcements. Different applications might have different results based on grade level, job series, or hiring authority (e.g., merit promotion, direct hire authority, etc.).
If I fail an assessment, can you tell me how close I was to passing?
In accordance with 5 C.F.R. § 300.201(a), the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) doesn't share cut scores or individual assessment results (e.g., scores) to keep the process fair and objective. The OPM USA Hire Help Desk cannot provide your scores.
The hiring agency may or may not share scoring details based on their agency policies.
How to Contact the Hiring Agency
- From your USAJOBS home page, after signing into your account, locate the job announcement.
- Select the (+) sign next to the position title to expand the information regarding that announcement.
- Select the Full job announcement link which will appear in the expanded information
- Within the job announcement, scroll down to the Agency contact information section within the How to Apply section to locate the agency point of contact information.
- Call or email the agency contact.