RD exam pass rate, scaled score and retake rules

The one-year figure follows candidates for twelve months from their first attempt and counts everyone who passed in that time, including on a second or third try. It is therefore at least as high as a first-attempt rate for the same group, and the two are not interchangeable. The table breaks the one-year result down by eligibility pathway, and the gaps between pathways are wide.

CDR also posts a separate summary of first attempts only. It is the newer of the two reports and gives the lower figure quoted at the top of this page, with its own pathway breakdown in the table. Program-by-program first-time results sit in a third report, the one to look up if you are comparing schools or internships.

A pass is a scaled score of 25 on a 1–50 scale. That invites reading it as half the questions right, and it is nothing of the kind. Your answers are judged against a fixed passing standard that takes into account how hard your particular set of questions was, and the result is reported on the 1–50 scale, with the standard placed at 25.

Because the adaptive test gives candidates different sets, two people can answer the same share correctly and end up on opposite sides of the line. No raw cut is published, and none can be worked out from the share you get right on any practice quiz.

The computer picks each question in light of your earlier answers, so two candidates rarely see the same set. A sitting runs from 125 to 145 questions, and 25 of them are pretest items being trialed for future forms; they carry no score and give no sign of which they are, so answer each with equal care. You cannot skip a question or come back to one later.

The table above says when and how the result reaches you. The report gives a total scaled score and a scaled score for each content area. Only the total decides the outcome. The area scores are there to tell you where to work if you need another attempt, and after a pass they stop mattering.

Taking the exam uses up your Authorization to Test, so after a fail you reauthorize with CDR and book again. You can rebook right away, but the next sitting is bound by a wait of 45 days between attempts, so the retake can be on day 46 or later. Every attempt carries the full fee unless you bought the Test Bundle, which prepays one retake; registration has the figures.

If your eligibility was established before January 1, 2027, attempts are unlimited; if you establish it on or after that date, you get 8 attempts over your lifetime. The cap depends on the date your eligibility was established, not the date of the exam. A state that licenses dietitians can also have retest rules of its own for licensure.