- The Pass Rate Question: What Is Actually Published
- What the Issuer Does Document
- Reconciling the 75% Rule With the 100-of-145 Guide
- Where Attempts Realistically Break Down
- Retake Rules and the One-Attempt Fee
- CSWAP-SM, CSWPA-SM and CSWP-SM: Same Credential, Different Labels
- Sequencing Your Prep Around the 18 Topics
- How to Read Third-Party Pass-Rate Claims
- Frequently Asked Questions
- SOLIDWORKS has not published an official pass rate for this exam; any specific percentage you see is unverified.
- The current exam page sets a 75% minimum, while the older guide's 100-of-145 points does not match it.
- The English exam runs 90 minutes, requires SOLIDWORKS 2011 or later, and expects Excel for gauge tables.
- The fee is USD 20 in North America for one attempt, and retakes need 14 days plus a fresh exam credit.
The Pass Rate Question: What Is Actually Published
Searching for a pass rate for the Certified SOLIDWORKS Advanced Professional Sheet Metal exam produces a lot of confident-sounding numbers. Here is the plain truth based on the sources reviewed for this site: no official pass-rate figure has been published by SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systèmes), and none was verified from the issuer's certification pages, the program Q&A, or the exam guide. This article will not invent one.
That absence matters for how you plan. A single pass percentage, even if it existed, would blend together candidates who spent weeks modeling sheet metal parts with candidates who clicked into the exam cold. The more useful question is what the exam demands and how to close the gap between your current skills and those demands. If you want a broader read on difficulty without fabricated statistics, see our complete difficulty guide for the CSWAP-SM exam.
What the Issuer Does Document
Instead of a pass rate, the issuer publishes the structural facts of the exam. Taken together, these shape how hard it is to pass. The table below separates what is documented from what is not.
| Item | What the sources support |
|---|---|
| Official pass rate | Not published; not verified |
| Exam style | Hands-on sheet-metal modeling in SOLIDWORKS |
| English exam duration | 90 minutes ("2011 Version"), SOLIDWORKS 2011 or later required |
| Non-English (2006-2010) version | Listed separately at 2 hours |
| Question count | 15 questions, per the issuer-linked exam guide |
| Passing criterion | 75% minimum per the current exam page |
| Fee | USD 20, North America, one attempt |
| Retake wait | At least 14 days, with a fresh exam credit |
| Topic weighting | Not published; the 18 topics are unweighted |
| Expiration | No official expiration date for customer/student certificates |
Notice what is missing: topic percentages. The 18 coverage topics are listed without weights, so you cannot assume that, say, gauge tables carry more points than hems. You can read each topic in detail in our complete guide to all 18 content areas.
Reconciling the 75% Rule With the 100-of-145 Guide
The single most confusing fact for candidates is that two issuer-linked documents describe passing differently. The undated exam guide and practice test (printed page 5) documents 15 questions and 145 total points, with 100 points needed to pass and a 90-minute limit. The current exam page, however, states a 75% minimum. These do not line up: 100 of 145 points is roughly 69%, not 75%.
How to handle this conflict:
- Use the current exam page for the passing criterion. It is the more recent and authoritative statement, so plan around 75%.
- Treat the guide as provenance for the question total. The 15-question and 145-point figures come from the guide and are best viewed as structural background, not a guarantee of how your attempt will be scored.
- Do not treat the six-question practice test as the real exam. The guide's practice test is a sample, not the full 15-question format.
Planning against the stricter figure costs you nothing and protects you if the older guide is outdated. For a dedicated treatment, read what you need to pass, score by score.
Where Attempts Realistically Break Down
Without an official pass rate, we cannot say how many people fail. We can, however, reason from the exam's design about where points are most likely to be lost. The exam is hands-on: you build or modify sheet metal parts and report measurable results, such as mass, flat-pattern dimensions, or overall length. That makes precision the dominant skill.
Setup errors that poison a whole question
Sheet metal answers often depend on material, thickness, and bend settings being exactly right before you model a single flange. If the gauge table is applied incorrectly, or the wrong bend calculation method is active, every downstream number shifts. This is the classic cause of a sheet metal mass mismatch: your geometry looks right, but the reported mass does not match the expected value because of a material, thickness, or bend-setting discrepancy.
Gauge Tables and Excel
The exam expects gauge-table functionality, and the issuer notes that Excel should be installed for it to work. Do not discover this on exam day.
- Confirm Excel is installed and launches from your testing machine.
- Practice selecting a gauge table and a gauge/thickness entry rather than typing thickness by hand.
- Check that bend parameters tied to the table behave as you expect.
Bend Calculation: Allowance, Deduction, and K-Factor
Three of the 18 listed topics (Bend Allowance, Bend Deduction, K-Factor) plus "Bending calculation options" all feed the flat-pattern length.
- Know which method you are told to use and where to set it.
- Understand how the methods differ conceptually so you can sanity-check a flat length.
- Rebuild a part under each method and compare flat results to build intuition.
Flange, Hem, Jog, and Corner Features
Linear Edge Flange, Curved Edge Flange, Miter Flange, Closed Corner, Hem, Jog, and Sketched Bend are the core forming operations.
- Practice each until you can place it without hunting through menus.
- Learn how Hem Improvements change behavior compared with the original hem.
- Expect to combine several features on a single part.
Conversion, Unfold/Fold, Flatten, and Cut Lists
Convert to Sheet Metal Feature, Unfold and Fold, Flatten, Forming Tool, and Sheet Metal Cut List Properties round out the scope.
- Know how to bring non-sheet-metal geometry into the sheet metal workflow.
- Practice flattening and reading the flat pattern for dimensions.
- Know where cut list properties live and what they report.
Time is also a factor. With 90 minutes for the English exam and a 15-question structure per the guide, pacing matters. Our first-attempt study guide covers how to build that pacing into your practice.
Retake Rules and the One-Attempt Fee
The fee and retake mechanics are part of the pass-rate picture because they define the cost of a miss. The exam fee is USD 20 in North America, covering one attempt. If you do not pass, you cannot simply retry the next day: retakes require at least 14 days and a fresh exam credit. The guide's older 30-day rule is superseded by the current exam page and program policy, so ignore any source still quoting 30 days.
The low per-attempt fee changes the risk calculation. A miss is inexpensive in dollars but costs you at least two weeks. Use that window deliberately: review which sheet metal features you hesitated on and rebuild them until they are routine. For the complete fee picture, see our pricing breakdown, and for timing and scheduling, our guide to testing windows and deadlines.
Key Takeaway
Do not treat the 14-day retake gap as a reason to take the exam "to see what happens." One attempt is included in the fee, and the wait plus a new credit is the real price of an unprepared try. Prepare to pass the first time.
CSWAP-SM, CSWPA-SM and CSWP-SM: Same Credential, Different Labels
Part of the confusion around pass rates comes from naming. The issuer's primary page is titled "SOLIDWORKS Sheet Metal Professional (CSWP-SM)," while the program's exam guide uses "CSWPA-SM: Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional Advanced Sheet Metal." On this site we use CSWAP-SM for Certified SOLIDWORKS Advanced Professional Sheet Metal, with CSWPA-SM and current CSWP-SM recognized as issuer aliases for the same sheet metal credential.
Why this matters for pass-rate research: when you search, you will encounter all three labels, and any statistic attached to a similarly named credential from a different certifying body is simply not relevant. Only evidence tied to the SOLIDWORKS sheet metal exam applies here. If you are still orienting yourself, start with what the credential is and what the acronym stands for.
Sequencing Your Prep Around the 18 Topics
Because the 18 topics are unweighted, a sensible plan front-loads the topics whose errors cascade into everything else, namely the setup and bend-calculation topics, and then layers features on top. Recommended preparation resources from the issuer include SOLIDWORKS Design Essentials, Sheet Metal, and the issuer's CSWPA-Sheet Metal exam-preparation course; these are preparation resources, not mandatory training hours, and the exam has no formal entry prerequisites. See eligibility and qualification details for more.
Setup and bend math
- Gauge Tables with Excel working end to end
- Bending calculation options, Bend Allowance, Bend Deduction, K-Factor
- Rebuild one part under each method and compare flat lengths
Flange and corner features
- Linear Edge Flange, Curved Edge Flange, Miter Flange, Closed Corner
- Hem, Hem Improvements, Jog, Sketched Bend
Workflow and verification
- Forming Tool, Unfold and Fold, Flatten, Convert to Sheet Metal Feature
- Sheet Metal Cut List Properties and mass checks
- Timed full-length runs against the 90-minute limit
This is the one place we lean on a schedule, and it is tied directly to the exam's topics rather than to generic study habits. For a one-page recap of the facts to memorize, use our review cheat sheet, and when you want realistic timed repetition, try the CSWAP-SM practice tests.
How to Read Third-Party Pass-Rate Claims
Training providers, community posts, and video channels discuss this exam. Some may be genuinely useful for technique, and the supplied research identified several of them as leads (including GoEngineer, SolidWize, OpenExamPrep, and creators on LinkedIn and YouTube). Treat them as leads, not as verified sources of official exam facts or pass statistics. None of them has been verified here as an authoritative source for a pass rate.
When you see a pass-rate claim, ask:
- Who measured it? The issuer has not published a figure, so a claimed number needs a named, verifiable source.
- Which credential is it about? Make sure it refers to the SOLIDWORKS sheet metal exam, not a different certification with a similar acronym.
- Which version? The English 2011 version (90 minutes) and the 2006-2010 non-English version (2 hours) are different, and the 18 topic headings describe the English scope.
- Is it promising outcomes? Claims about guaranteed passes, or salary jumps tied to this credential, require evidence. No certification-specific salary uplift was verified; our earnings analysis and ROI discussion treat that honestly.
Frequently Asked Questions
There is no official pass rate published by SOLIDWORKS, and none was verified in the sources reviewed. Any specific percentage you encounter is unverified. Focus on the documented scoring rule and the exam's topics instead.
The current exam page states a 75% minimum. An older issuer-linked guide describes 100 points of 145, which conflicts with that figure. Use the current exam page for the passing criterion and plan to the stricter standard.
The English exam is 90 minutes and requires SOLIDWORKS 2011 or later; a non-English 2006-2010 version is listed at 2 hours. The issuer-linked guide documents 15 questions. The guide's six-question practice test is a sample, not the full exam.
You can retake after at least 14 days, using a fresh exam credit. The fee is USD 20 in North America for one attempt. The older 30-day rule in the guide has been superseded by current policy.
Customer and student certificates have no official expiration date, and there are no formal entry prerequisites for Associate/Professional exams. Recommended preparation includes SOLIDWORKS Design Essentials, Sheet Metal, and the issuer's exam-preparation course, but these are not mandatory.
Without a published pass rate, your best lever is controlled, topic-by-topic practice across all 18 areas, from gauge tables and K-Factor to hems, forming tools, and cut list properties. Read the credential overview if you are new to it, and explore where the credential is used in hiring to decide how it fits your path.