How to Use WGU Preassessment Results to Build a Smarter Study Plan
Your WGU preassessment coaching report gives two figures for each competency: the level of weakness and the portion of the exam it covers. Multiply the two, and you have a study plan that allocates hours to where they change the result.
Most advice goes no further than ‘study your weak areas,’ but that is only half the data. An area worth a large share of the objective assessment, and just below the line, deserves far more of your week than a small area you have barely encountered.
What the Coaching Report Actually Tells You
What is a WGU coaching report?
The results document for a WGU preassessment or objective assessment, located in the Assessments section of your course of study. It displays your overall result, and the breakdown by competency for you to see strengths and gaps.
What is the difference between the PA report and the OA report?
The preassessment coaching report shows you each question, your response and the correct response. The objective assessment report groups results by competency, expands to topics, and provides a percentage value for each competency’s share of the exam.
That percentage is the number upon which this entire post is built, and which most students never look at.
Your Course Instructor can walk through the report with you, WGU’s own policy suggests reviewing it with your mentor and instructor.
The Four Categories — and Why Competent Is the Target
What are the four categories on a WGU coaching report?
Unsatisfactory, Approaching Competence, Competent and Exemplary. You need an overall result of Competent or Exemplary to pass. Competent is a pass, and there is no reason to push an area you pass into Exemplary.
This point gets you out of wasting the most hours. A student who is continually drilling an area that is already passing is spending hours that cannot move the result. How to read each band:
- Unsatisfactory: learn it from scratch
- Approaching Competency: best value per hour; near
- Competent or Exemplary: stop; revisit in a final pass to keep it fresh.
One honest caveat: WGU faculty set what qualifies as competence for each assessment. So read the category labels and coaching report not a raw percentage.
Weight × Gap: The Allocation Rule
How do I use WGU preassessment results to study?
Read the coaching report’s four categories, then weight each weak competency by how much of the objective assessment it represents. Study high-weight gaps first. WGU preassessment’s own guidance is for you to focus on concepts, not the specific questions you saw.
How much of the exam is each competency worth?
The objective assessment coaching report lists a percentage value for each competency indicating how much of the assessment it represents. Weight your study time using that number, not treating each weak area equally urgent.
To rank your weak areas, use the following rule:
Priority = exam weight x distance below Competency
Here is a worked example:
| Competency | Share of exam | Result | Priority |
| Data analysis | 30% | Approaching Competence | 1: heavy weight, close to the line |
| Technical writing | 25% | Unsatisfactory | 2: heavy weight, far from the line |
| Terminology | 10% | Unsatisfactory | 3: far from the line, but small |
| Lab safety | 5% | Competent | None: already passing |
This rule fixes two common mistakes:
- Looking to study a small competency hard because leaving it at Unsatisfactory feels bad.
- Ignoring a heavy competency because it scraped Competent and feels fine.
Put the bulk of your hours in rows 1 and 2. Give row 3 a single session, and give row 4 nothing until a final review.
Not each course’s report displays percentage values. If yours does not, ask your Course Instructor. You can also use the time your course materials spend on each competency as a substitute.
Read the Bar, Don’t Trust It
Why did I fail when I was close to the pass line?
WGU does not round up. If your overall result falls short of Competent, a further attempt is required regardless of how near the line you came. The overall result bar on the coaching report is informative, and you should not read precision into it.
The Preassessment Is a Gate, Not Just a Diagnostic
Do I have to take the WGU preassessment?
Yes. WGU preassessment requires you to attempt the preassessment at least once prior to being approved to sit the objective assessment. It is no stakes and unproctored, so it works well as a baseline before you have studied.
Do treat it as a scheduling item, not just a course of study tool. It is the step that unlocks the exam, and if the real assessment falls short, another attempt is required, which has its own rules.
Because it is no stakes, it is also the cheapest honest baseline you will get. Take it early, before studying, so your preassessment results reflect real gaps, not what you read yesterday.
Sequence: High-Weight First
Which competency should I study first for WGU preassessment?
The one that is both weak and heavily weighted.Order matters as much as allocation, because your overall category is what counts. Work top-down by priority, not the order of the material. Three rules help:
- Fix one competency at a time: Spreading a week thinly across four gaps tends to move none of them over the line.
- Re-check before moving on: Confirm the competency moved before starting the next one.
- Keep a short final pass: Use that for everything you parked at Competent.
This sequence improves your chances of crossing the overall line. It does not guarantee it. A Course Instructor can help you judge if your study plan is realistic.
Study the Concept, Not the Question
Should I memorize WGU preassessment results questions?
No. The objective assessment does not use the same questions. WGU’s own policy guides students to focus follow-up study on overarching concepts, not questions and answers shown in the preassessment report.
you can only answer the question you saw, you have memorised an item. If you can answer a different question on the same concept of your coaching report, you have learned the competency.
Uncertain what a question was testing? That’s exactly why your Course Instructor is for. For more on learning for the exam itself, see how to pass WGU objective assessments.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I find my WGU coaching report?
In the Assessments section of your course of study. Open the coaching report from there. Your overall result is at the top, with individual competencies listed beneath.
Do I have to take the WGU preassessment?
Yes. WGU preassessment requires you to attempt it at least once before you can be approved to sit the objective assessment. It is no stakes and unproctored, so it works well as a baseline.
What score do I need to pass a WGU preassessment?
An overall result of Competent or Exemplary. WGU uses four categories (Unsatisfactory, Approaching Competency, Competent and Exemplary) and does not round up to the next category.
Should I memorize the questions from my preassessment?
No. The objective assessment does not use the same questions. WGU advises making the study plan to understand the concepts behind the questions rather than the questions and answers shown in preassessment results.
Conclusion
Read the four categories, weight each gap by its share of the exam, work top-down, and study plan rather than questions. The real value of your WGU preassessment coaching report is that it tells you what not to study. If you want help turning your coaching report into a plan, our WGU exam tutoring services can walk you through it.
