Why do a Lot of Takers Fail the Civil Service Exam?

For both the Professional and Sub-professional levels, whether by means of Paper and Pencil and Computerized Exam, the least percentage that you must acquire is 80%. lower than that, you are sure to fail, beyond that, you are sure to obtain a certificate of eligibility. This is how it works on the surface.

The civil service commission has a quota which they follows. In other words, there is a fixed percentage or number of examinees which will pass the exam. Only a certain number of examinees will pass, regardless whether everybody's raw score can be mathematically translated to a "80.00 passing rate and beyond". Let's safely assume that only about 9 - 13% of the exam takers, with the highest scores will pass (ranking system: for example, only 12% of the total examinees will get 80.00% and above). Also, a rating lower than 80.00% will be reflected in the exam results of those who were unfortunate, regardless of their raw scores.

Why do a lot of takers fail the exam? or the more appropriate question - why can't everybody pass? First, let us look at the data of the previous board exams for teachers (let) as an example:

September 2010 - 07,737 elementary teachers out of 39,508 examinees (19.58%) and 09,493 secondary teachers out of 36,714 examinees (25.86%) successfully passed
September 2011 - 10,243 elementary teachers out of 45,171 examinees (22.68%) and 13,125 secondary teachers out of 41,729 examinees (31.45%) successfully passed
September 2012 - 25,136 elementary teachers out of 50,997 examinees (49.29%) and 20,834 secondary teachers out of 47,892 examinees (43.50%) successfully passed
September 2013 - 19,384 elementary teachers out of 62,160 examinees (31.18%) and 25,755 secondary teachers out of 64,792 examinees (39.75%) successfully passed
September 2014 - 25,301 elementary teachers out of 70,786 examinees (35.74%) and 26,767 secondary teachers out of 77,803 examinees (34.40%) successfully passed
September 2015 - 21,461 elementary teachers out of 68,442 examinees (31.36%) and 34,010 secondary teachers out of 81,463 examinees (41.75%) successfully passed

Note that the percentage of the passers are non-consistent. It always changes by a great degree. Those numbers are a reflection of the actual takers to have achieved minimum passing rate and above.

Now, let us compare it to the data of the previous civil service exams:

October 2010 - 097,099 examinees, a total of 12,290 passers (12.66%)

October 2011 - 094,251 examinees, a total of 10,866 passers (11.53%)

October 2012 - 113,168 examinees, a total of 13,412 passers (11.85%)

October 2013 - 139,174 examinees, a total of 16,319 passers (11.80%)

October 2014 - 163,240 examinees, a total of 19,344 passers (11.85%)

October 2015 - 119,333 examinees, a total of 11,364 passers (11.02%)

October 2016 - 203,339 examinees, a total of 22,978 passers (11.30%)
March 2017 - 219,679 examinees, a total of 25,090 passers (11.42%) (no data for August 2017)

August 2018 - 181,985 examinees, a total of 22,087 passers (12.14%)
August 2019 - 255,778 examinees, a total of 29,733 passers (11.62%)

Observe that there is consistency regarding the percentage of passers, it always stay within the bracket (11-13 %) year by year.

So why is that? The Conclusion is simple: That's because there are only limited government job slots/positions. Every year only a certain number of applicants are hired, to fill in the vacancy left by retired government employees and/or due to new items being created. Moreover, it is imperative to choose only among the best performers.

Thus, in order for you to be a civil service exam passer, you must belong to the top 10% of the total number of examinees! 

Read: How to compute your civil service exam rating?

More about the Civil Service Exam

The exam is actually never difficult, it is just like remembering what you have learned since your elementary until your tertiary education, though you might actually nosebleed in the English and Filipino vocabulary portion of the exam, so it is best to have a wide array of vocabulary. If you are quite good in Math and Analysis, then you already have a good chance in the exam. But still, the best equipped and skilled soldier has the greatest chance of survival in the battle.

And here's one thing you must be very wary about...The Time. It is your most frightening enemy during the exam, do not spend too much time on one item, but never leave any item unanswered.

And for your information, no calculator is allowed, so you have to do the computations manually. Just focus on what you're answering and do not fret over anything.

For this matter, this website existed, to help you understand and pass the Civil Service Examination. You can emerged as a victor or as a failure. The key is in your hands! Take time to REVIEW.

Read the next article : Effective Tips in Taking the Civil Service Examination 2020.