April 2017 Calif. PLS test-Pass rate? # of test takers?

[PLS9379]

Anybody have an idea about how many people took the April state specific PLS test? I passed, so I looked up how many new numbers there were. It seems there are only about 33-35 new numbers which seems awfully low. Either the pass rate was very low, or the number of test takers were low, or both as compared to previous recent tests. Anybody know?

[pls7809]

I know of at least one that passed the state exam and did not pass the National. You could have people that received numbers that had already passed the state exam previously and only took the National exam in April. It's difficult to figure out the reasons without the board releasing the actual numbers of who took the state exam. You might have to research with NCEES also.

[David Kendall]

It seems they are still processing applications because I passed as well and two weeks ago I called the board they told me I won't get a license until the end of June. I thought the test remarkably simple so I would expect the pass rate to be above average. I think the board typically publishes statistical reports around the end of the year

[David Kendall]

I know of at least one that passed the state exam and did not pass the National

Interesting I actually found the National test to be more challenging due to the broader scope of questions

[Gwen del Castillo]

http://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/pubs/bulletins.shtml

The results and statistics are in the Spring 2017 Bulletin from the board.

[PLS9379]

http://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/pubs/bulletins.shtml

The results and statistics are in the Spring 2017 Bulletin from the board.

That shows up through the Fall 2016 test, not the April 2017 test unless I missed something.

[Gwen del Castillo]

Oops, you are correct. I missed the date!

[Ric7308]

We literally finished compiling the latest exam statistics the day before I headed out for the Board meeting last week. I handed out a hardcopy report at the meeting - Rob McMillan, your BPELSG Liaison, has the info as I don't have it right in front of me at this moment.

Licensing for land surveyors (and LSIT's) is happening monthly on a regular basis right now since the FS and PS exams are administered year round. There were more people that passed the State PLS exam than were issued licenses from the April state exam due to various reasons and I'm sure a few more next month once those issues are resolved. The pass rate for the State PLS exam was very consistent with recent years.

At the request of your State CLSA Executive Director, BPELSG will provide a list of new PLS/LSIT each quarter to them.

Edit: As I've been telling Rob and Kathy (CLSA Education Committee Chair), you guys have some big issues and lots of work ahead of you with the dropping pass rates for California FS exam candidates over the last year. 24%-28% pass rates for FS exam translates to a lot less people being eligible for PLS in the near future. Significantly lower than national average. Numbers are slowly climbing but pass rates are plummeting.

[pls7809]

Very cool. Thanks Ric for chiming in.

[PLS9379]

Thanks Ric for the skinny. Very informative AND worrisome for the future!

[Ric7308]

Here is the latest chart I have with FS numbers as of 12-31-16. NCEES updates their exam numbers every 6 months and right now its looking like California exam candidates are raising those pass rates a few points up near the 28%-29% for the first half of 2017. Still substantially different than national overall.

[Steve Martin]

Pretty much everyone in Surveys at EBMUD takes and passes the LSIT because there is incentive to do so.

The Survey Tech I position requires only a trigonometry class to qualify. Promotion to Survey Tech II is almost automatic once the candidate has two years experience and the LSIT. With the rest of the staff already holding LSIT certificates or LS licenses, there is plenty of encouragement and resources to help new staff progress in their careers.

Local CLSA Chapter LSIT review courses help a great deal too.