PANCE Exam Pass Rates

These National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) reports are for the UW–Madison PA program (number 1052).

Definitions of the report headings are provided. All Physician Assistant National Certifying Examination (PANCE) information is current as of the date the report was generated unless otherwise specified.

NCCPA PANCE Exam Performance Summary Report Last Five Years

Report date: September 24, 2026, 3:39 p.m. CST

Location :

Group :

Graduation Year	Location	Group	Number of Candidates Who Took PANCE	Number of Exam Attempts	Number of Exams Passed	Program Exam Pass Rate	National Exam Pass Rate for the Class Graduation Year	% of Candidates Who Ultimately Passed PANCE
2026	Madison	All Takers	43	43	43	100%	90%	100%
2026	Madison	First Time Takers	43	43	43	100%	94%	100%
2026	Platteville	All Takers	12	12	11	92%	90%	92%
2026	Platteville	First Time Takers	12	12	11	92%	94%	92%
2026	Wausau	All Takers	10	11	9	82%	91%	90%
2026	Wausau	First Time Takers	10	10	8	80%	94%	90%
2025	Madison	All Takers	40	42	40	95%	88%	100%
2025	Madison	First Time Takers	40	40	38	95%	91%	100%
2025	Platteville	All Takers	10	13	10	77%	88%	100%
2025	Platteville	First Time Takers	10	10	9	90%	91%	100%
2025	Wausau	All Takers	10	10	10	100%	88%	100%
2025	Wausau	First Time Takers	10	10	10	100%	91%	100%
2024	Madison	All Takers	46	50	46	92%	89%	100%
2024	Madison	First Time Takers	46	46	43	93%	92%	100%
2024	Wausau	All Takers	10	11	10	91%	89%	100%
2024	Wausau	First Time Takers	10	10	9	90%	92%	100%
2023	Madison	All Takers	43	48	43	90%	89%	100%
2023	Madison	First Time Takers	43	43	38	88%	92%	100%
2023	Wausau	All Takers	12	13	12	92%	89%	100%
2023	Wausau	First Time Takers	12	12	11	92%	92%	100%
2022	Madison	All Takers	43	47	43	91%	89%	100%
2022	Madison	First Time Takers	43	43	40	93%	92%	100%
2022	Wausau	All Takers	11	12	11	92%	89%	100%
2022	Wausau	First Time Takers	11	11	10	91%	92%	100%
	Location	Group

*The PANCE testing window ends each year near mid-December. Classes that graduate in December may be required to test in the following calendar year due to their graduation dates. Similarly, individual December graduates may elect to test after the start of the new year. Accordingly, it may be appropriate for programs that graduate in December to compare their first-time taker pass rates with the national averages from the following calendar year.

**NCCPA conducts practice analysis and standard setting studies approximately every three to five years and, based on the most recent analyses, implemented a new PANCE blueprint and passing standard effective January 1, 2019. The pass rate, based on first-time taker performance for the 2026 calendar year, will be available in early 2027.

Table Heading Definitions

Group: All takers include first time takers as well as those individuals in the class who repeated the exam one or more times. First time takers are those candidates who took PANCE for the first time.

Number of Candidates Who Took PANCE: Number of individuals from the class who have taken PANCE. Fist time takers are included in the all takers group.

Number of Exam Attempts: Total number of exams administered, including multiple exam attempts for an individual candidate in the all takers group. (This is a count of exams administered, not a count of individual candidates.)

Number of Exams Passed: Number of exams administered that resulted in a passing score.

National First Time Taker Pass Rate for the Class Graduation Year: National percent of first time takers who passed PANCE in the calendar year corresponding to the class graduation year. National pass rate data is not provided until the full calendar year’s data is available.

Program Exam Pass Rate: Percent of exams that were passed as compared to the number of exams that were administered to the class, including multiple exams taken by individual candidates.

National Exam Pass Rate for the Class Graduation Year: Percent of exams that were passed at the national level as compared to the number of exams that were administered. The calculation is based on the total number of exams administered and passed, not the number of individual candidates. The reporting period is based on the calendar year corresponding with the class graduation year and will only be provided after the end of the current calendar year.

% of Candidates in the Class Who Ultimately Passed PANCE: Percent of candidates from the specified class that have passed PANCE as of the date the report was generated, regardless of the number of attempts or the calendar year in which PANCE was passed.