Pass rates have improved with the new citizenship test

new records study shows gains for all demographics in all test areas

 USCIS is announcing that a new study on citizenship test pass rates has found that 95.8 percent  of applicants passed the test during fiscal year 2010, the first full year during which the redesigned test was administered. 

There's good news: "Pass rates of applicants taking the new test were found to be significantly higher than the pass rates of applicants taking the old test. " This held true for all four test components (civics, reading, writing, and speaking).

"The higher pass rate of applicants after the test redesign was generally found across all subgroups regardless of gender, age, or nationality."

To my mind, the best new is burried deep in the report appendix: the pass rate in the 65 or older group is up 17 percent for the English component of the test, and up 12 percent for the civics component. That proves what many teachers have observed--since USCIS made the test content clearer, and began providing clearer, more uniform scoring policies/training for examiners, the new test has become a more reasonable challenge for elderly applicants.

Announcement (and link to the full report) are here:

               http://blog.uscis.gov/2011/12/new-naturalization-test-and-uscis.html