GPC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows

What the Public Data Actually Shows

Anyone searching for a "GPC pass rate" wants one number: the percentage of candidates who pass. For GEOINT Professional Certification Aeronautical Analysis, Proficiency Level II (AA-II), that number has not been verified in the public record. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) publishes the program handbook, the Essential Body of Knowledge (EBK), and a Job Task Analysis executive summary. None of the retrieved public documents state a current AA-II pass rate or a numeric passing score.

That matters because several other credentials share the "GPC" acronym, and some publish cohort statistics. Those figures describe different programs, different candidates, and different exams. Importing them here would be misleading. This article sticks to what is documented for the NGA credential and explains how to reason about difficulty without a headline statistic.

Why No Pass Rate Is Published

The absence of a pass rate is not an oversight you can fix with a better search. Several structural features of this credential explain it.

A controlled, government-administered assessment

The AA-II assessment is administered through the NGA GPC Program Management Office, at authorized assessment sites, by approved GPC proctors at government facilities. The handbook marks the AA-II assessment U//FOUO, and the actual assessment content is controlled and not authorized for public release. An exam handled this way is not run like a commercial test with public score reports and annual statistics.

A small, restricted candidate population

This is not an open-enrollment certification. The assessment is free for eligible candidates and is not an unrestricted public purchase. Eligibility depends on an active GEOINT role within the National System for Geospatial Intelligence, a qualifying clearance, and good standing with your employing agency or component. The pool is limited to working aeronautical analysts, which makes aggregated percentages both sensitive and statistically thin.

Scoring against a standard, not a curve

Passing is determined against a score approved by the Governance Council, not against a ranking of the current cohort. A criterion-referenced standard means your result depends on whether you meet the bar, not on how other candidates performed. That makes a pass rate less meaningful as a planning tool than it would be on a curved exam. For more on how the cut is set, read our explainer on the GPC passing score.

How Passing Is Determined

The program uses a Governance Council-approved score, and no current numeric AA-II value was verified in the retrieved public sources. Do not assume a familiar threshold such as 70% or 75%. Those numbers belong to other exams, and applying them here would be guesswork.

What you can say with confidence:

• The exam has 110 questions and a 150-minute limit.
• Items are objectively scored. The program-level list of permitted item types includes multiple-choice, true/false, matching, and fill-in-the-blank.
• That program-level list does not establish the exact AA-II item-type mix, so do not plan around a specific proportion of any one format.
• The six formal examination core competencies carry weights that total 100%.

Because the numeric cut is not public, the most useful preparation target is broad competence across all six competencies rather than a calculated minimum. A candidate who aims at the minimum with no visible target has no margin for the weighted domains they are weakest in.

Who Sits the AA-II Assessment

Understanding the candidate pool is the closest thing to "pass rate analysis" the public record supports. AA-II is a Proficiency Level II credential, and its prerequisites filter the field heavily.

A pool like this tends to skew toward well-prepared test-takers, so you should not interpret difficulty from the pool's size alone. A credential can have a demanding standard and still see many qualified candidates succeed because they were screened before they ever sat down. The full eligibility picture is covered in our GPC requirements guide.

Format and Testing Conditions

Format affects performance as much as content knowledge. Several features of the AA-II sitting are specific and worth planning around.

• Paper-based delivery: The assessment is paper-based and delivered in English, so there is no on-screen flagging, strikethrough tool, or built-in timer to lean on.
• Pacing math: 110 questions in 150 minutes works out to roughly 82 seconds per question on average. Matching and fill-in-the-blank items, where permitted, can run longer than a straightforward true/false item.
• Proctor-supplied materials: Proctors supply assessment materials, and personal electronics are prohibited in the testing area.
• Identification and registration: Advance registration and valid government-issued photo identification are required.

Where Candidates Lose Points: The Six Domains

The six domain lines are formal AA-II examination core competencies, drawn from the EBK dated January 19, 2023 and confirmed in Appendix J of the March 11, 2025 program handbook. They are not preparation-curriculum headings, so they describe what the exam measures rather than how to study. Weights total 100%.

Safety of Navigation and Production together make up half the blueprint, so weakness in either one is hard to offset elsewhere. For a deeper walkthrough of every competency, see the complete GPC exam domains guide.

Retake Rules and What a Failed Attempt Costs

Pass-rate curiosity often masks a more practical question: what happens if I fail? The rules here are clear in the handbook and should shape how seriously you treat your first sitting.

• 90-calendar-day wait: Retaking the same assessment after failure requires a 90-calendar-day wait after each exposure, even if the assessment was not completed.
• "Exposure" is broad: Starting the assessment and not finishing still counts, so there is no free look at the paper.
• No fee reset to worry about: The assessment is free for eligible candidates, so the cost of failure is time and scheduling, not a new exam fee. Our GPC certification cost breakdown covers the money side in more detail.

The real price of a miss is the delay. Because AA-II expires and renews with GPC-F rather than running an independent three-year cycle, a late pass can leave less runway before the shared renewal. A total of 100 professional development units during the three-year GPC-F cycle maintains all held GPC credentials, along with good standing and the required Certification Management System renewal submission. Timing questions are addressed in our GPC exam dates guide.

Readiness Signals Better Than a Pass Rate

Since no verified pass rate exists, replace it with concrete self-checks tied to the actual blueprint.

1. Domain-by-domain confidence: Can you explain each of the six competencies in your own words, without notes, including the governance and industry framing in Domain 1?
2. Weighted weakness audit: If your weakest area is Safety of Navigation or Production, treat that as a red flag, because those two carry 25% each.
3. Timed paper runs: Can you work through a 110-item practice set in 150 minutes on paper, with time left to review?
4. Source discipline: Are you studying from the public EBK and handbook rather than from leaked or reproduced assessment content? The controlled nature of the real exam means anything claiming to be "real questions" should be treated with suspicion.
5. Scope accuracy: Are you preparing for AA-II specifically? GPC-F is the prerequisite, not a substitute, so do not rely on GPC-F question banks as AA-II coverage.

Sequencing Your Prep by Domain Weight

This is the one place where scheduling advice belongs, and it is tied directly to the weights above. The plan below front-loads the two 25% competencies, then fills in the rest, and ends with timed integration.

Adjust the length to your own experience. A seasoned analyst may compress the schedule, while someone newer to the tradecraft should extend it. For printable quick-reference material to pair with the plan, see the GPC cheat sheet, and build timed repetitions with our practice question sets.

If you want to understand where this credential fits into a career, the ROI analysis and GPC jobs overview cover the employer side, and the salary guide addresses compensation context.

Frequently Asked Questions