- The Number: 70% on 13 Hands-On Questions
- What the Score Actually Measures
- CSWP-FS and CSWP-Flow: Same Exam, Two Names
- Where Points Hide: The 11 Exam Topics
- Hitting 70% Inside 90 Minutes
- Mesh Choices That Protect Your Score
- Passing Score Is Not Pass Rate
- Fee, Retakes, and Setup Rules That Affect Your Result
- What Happens After You Pass
- A Domain-Ordered Prep Sequence
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The minimum passing grade is 70% on a 13-question, 90-minute, hands-on exam.
- The issuer lists 11 exam topics without published weights, so no domain can safely be skipped.
- A 70% passing score is a threshold, not a pass rate; published pass rates were not verified.
- The online timer cannot be paused, and retakes require 14 days plus another exam credit.
The Number: 70% on 13 Hands-On Questions
The Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional - Flow Simulation (CSWP-FS) exam has one headline requirement: a minimum passing grade of 70%. The exam consists of 13 hands-on questions to be completed in 90 minutes. That is the entire scoring contract the issuer publishes, and everything else in this article builds from those three facts.
Unlike a multiple-choice credential, this exam does not ask you to recognize a correct statement about computational fluid dynamics. You open SOLIDWORKS with Flow Simulation, set up a study, run it, and report numbers. The score therefore reflects whether your model produced the expected results, not whether you remembered a definition. If you are still orienting yourself to the credential, start with What Is CSWP-FS? and then return here for the scoring detail.
What the Score Actually Measures
According to the issuer, candidates set up and run fluid-flow studies, interpret results, and demonstrate a basic understanding of the finite volume method. That description translates into three kinds of scoring evidence:
- Setup accuracy: Did you define the fluid, the flow type, the boundary conditions, and the goals correctly?
- Result extraction: Can you pull a force, velocity, pressure, or temperature value from the finished study and report it in the requested units?
- Conceptual grounding: Do you understand enough of the finite volume method to explain why a mesh or a solver setting behaves the way it does?
Because the questions are hands-on, partial understanding is hard to hide. A candidate who has only watched tutorials tends to stall at the moment a study must actually converge. For a sense of how that translates into perceived difficulty, see How Hard Is the CSWP-FS Exam?.
CSWP-FS and CSWP-Flow: Same Exam, Two Names
Candidates often get confused by naming. The credential this site covers as CSWP-FS is the one the issuer publicly designates SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Professional, CSWP-Flow. The two labels refer to the same Flow Simulation exam, and the governing body is SOLIDWORKS, part of Dassault Systemes. When you search for official information, you will often land on pages using the CSWP-Flow wording, and that is the right page. Our explainers on what CSWP-FS stands for and the CSWP-FS meaning walk through the naming in more depth.
It also helps to separate this exam from structural simulation credentials. Flow Simulation deals with fluids and heat transfer, so the scoring is about velocities, pressures, forces from fluid action, and temperatures, not stress or displacement. Studying for the wrong simulation discipline is a quiet way to fall short of 70%.
Where Points Hide: The 11 Exam Topics
The issuer lists 11 exam topics, and it does not publish percentage weights for them. The page describes included topics rather than an exhaustive, weighted blueprint, so any claim that "Domain X is worth 20% of your score" would be invented. The honest planning assumption is that every topic can appear and that questions often combine several of them in one study. A fuller walkthrough lives in CSWP-FS Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 11 Content Areas; here is how each one tends to protect or cost points.
Domain 1: Liquids and gas
Fluid selection is the foundation of every study. A wrong fluid definition invalidates everything downstream.
- Know how to choose and confirm the working fluid in the wizard
- Recognize when a problem involves a gas versus a liquid and what that implies for the study
Domain 2: Internal and external flow simulations
The exam expects you to know which analysis type fits the geometry and to set the computational domain accordingly.
- Internal flow requires a sealed model, usually with lids over openings
- External flow requires a sensible computational domain around the body
Domain 3: Internal systems involving multiple inlets or outlets
Multiple inlets and outlets are where boundary condition mistakes multiply. Mixing a pressure condition and a flow-rate condition incorrectly can leave a study ill-posed.
- Understand which combinations of conditions are valid together
- Check that flow entering and leaving the system is consistent with your setup
Domain 4: Mixing of various fluids
Fluid mixing studies require defining more than one fluid and tracking how they combine.
- Set up the fluids and their respective inlet conditions carefully
- Read mixture-related results at the correct location
Domain 5: Conjugated heat transfer
Heat transfer through solids and fluids together demands that you assign solid materials and heat sources correctly.
- Define solid materials and thermal loads before running
- Confirm that heat conduction in solids is actually enabled
Domain 6: Natural and forced convection
Forced convection is driven by a fan or imposed flow; natural convection is driven by buoyancy. The setup differs, and so do the physical settings.
- Know when gravity must be enabled for buoyancy-driven problems
- Distinguish the two cases when reading the question stem
Domain 7: Extracting results such as force, velocity, or pressure
This is where the points are actually collected. Goals, cut plots, and surface or point parameters feed the numbers you type into the answer field.
- Set goals before solving so the values are available afterward
- Report to the requested precision and in the requested units
Domain 8: Working with various units
A correct simulation reported in the wrong unit system still earns no credit.
- Verify the unit system in the study and in the result readout
- Convert deliberately rather than by eye
Domain 9: Working with configurations
Questions may require you to run a study on a different configuration of the model, such as an open versus closed valve.
- Confirm which configuration is active before building or cloning a study
- Recognize that studies are tied to the configuration they were created in
Domain 10: Duplicating and editing studies
Cloning a study and changing one parameter is faster than rebuilding it, and the exam rewards that efficiency.
- Clone the base study, then edit only the condition the question changes
- Re-check that edited conditions did not leave stale settings behind
Domain 11: Controlling mesh size
Mesh settings influence both accuracy and solve time, so they are a lever on your score and on your clock.
- Understand global mesh level versus local refinement
- Balance resolution against the minutes remaining
Because no weights are published, a sensible candidate treats the list as a coverage checklist rather than a priority ranking. If you want a structured plan built around those 11 areas, the CSWP-FS study guide lays one out.
Hitting 70% Inside 90 Minutes
Ninety minutes for 13 questions averages out to roughly seven minutes each, but hands-on CFD questions are not uniform. A study that must be built from scratch and solved with a fine mesh costs far more than a question that edits an existing study. The timer is also unforgiving: the online exam timer cannot be paused.
Triage by solve cost, not by question order
Scan the questions that reuse a prior setup first. Duplicating and editing a study (Domain 10) is typically cheaper than starting fresh, so answering those early banks points while longer studies are not yet competing for your attention.
Launch solves, then work in parallel
When a study is running, use the waiting time to read the next question and plan its boundary conditions. Idle time during a solve is the most common place candidates lose minutes.
Mesh Choices That Protect Your Score
Mesh size and solver time are linked, and the link matters for result interpretation. A coarser mesh solves faster but can shift the values you report; a finer mesh improves resolution but can threaten your clock. The exam includes a conceptual layer here, since candidates are expected to show a basic understanding of the finite volume method, which is the numerical idea behind how the domain is divided into cells.
| Mesh decision | Benefit | Risk on the exam |
|---|---|---|
| Lower global mesh level | Faster solves, more time for other questions | Reported values may drift from the expected answer |
| Higher global mesh level | Better resolution of flow features | Longer solver time that can starve later questions |
| Local refinement at a feature | Targets accuracy where the answer is read | Extra setup time if the feature is not critical |
| Cloning a study with the same mesh | Consistent results across variants | Stale mesh settings if geometry or configuration changed |
The practical lesson is to practice recognizing which questions need a refined mesh and which can tolerate the default. That judgment, rather than raw software skill, is what separates borderline attempts from comfortable ones.
Passing Score Is Not Pass Rate
Two numbers are easy to conflate: the passing score (70%) and the pass rate (the share of candidates who succeed). The first is published by the issuer. The second, as a population figure, was not verified, and you should be skeptical of any site that quotes one without a source. A 70% passing score tells you what you must achieve individually; it says nothing about how many others reach it. For a careful treatment of what is and is not known, read CSWP-FS Pass Rate: What the Data Shows.
Key Takeaway
Plan against the 70% threshold, not against a rumored pass rate. Your preparation should aim to make 70% a routine outcome on timed practice runs, with margin to spare for exam-day surprises.
Fee, Retakes, and Setup Rules That Affect Your Result
Several logistical facts influence how you approach the score, because they raise the stakes of a single attempt.
- Fee: US$49 for one attempt in the North American catalog, excluding software and training. See CSWP-FS Certification Cost for how to budget the full picture.
- Delivery: SOLIDWORKS tests through Tangix/VirtualTester, and current delivery instructions use the VirtualTester Web Client. Current browser-client instructions supersede legacy TesterPRO setup references.
- Software: You supply compatible licensed software and Internet access. The minimum is SOLIDWORKS Standard with SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2018, or SOLIDWORKS Student Edition 2018, or later, as specified on the exact exam page. The 2018 figure is a compatibility minimum, not an exam-outline year.
- Retakes: At least 14 days must pass, and you need another CSWP-Flow exam credit.
- Prerequisites: The general certification FAQ imposes no prerequisite certification for Professional exams. The Flow Simulation course and Learning Path are recommended preparation, not gates. Details are in CSWP-FS Requirements.
Note the distinction between the two-day training course and the exam itself. The course length is a preparation resource, not a mandatory training-hours requirement and not the 90-minute exam timer.
What Happens After You Pass
Once you reach 70%, the credential does not lapse on a schedule. The issuer's 2020 Certification Program Q&A states that customer and student certifications do not expire. That makes the one-time effort of clearing the passing score more durable than credentials that require renewal fees or recertification exams.
As for career value, avoid assuming a guaranteed premium. The better framing is that the certificate verifies a skill, and employers weigh it alongside project evidence and role requirements. If you are comparing roles, our pages on CSWP-FS jobs, the salary guide, and whether the certification is worth it take a role-based approach rather than promising a fixed raise.
A Domain-Ordered Prep Sequence
Generic study schedules are less useful than one ordered by how the exam topics depend on each other. Setup skills must come before result extraction, and mesh judgment should come once you can reliably finish a study. Here is one reasonable ordering built around the 11 topics.
Foundations: fluids and flow types
- Liquids and gas selection
- Internal versus external flow setup and lids
- Units, so every later answer is reported correctly
Boundary conditions and complex systems
- Multiple inlets and outlets
- Mixing of various fluids
- Goals and result extraction for force, velocity, and pressure
Thermal physics
- Conjugated heat transfer
- Natural versus forced convection
- Reading temperature results at the right location
Workflow speed and timed runs
- Configurations and duplicating or editing studies
- Mesh size versus solver time trade-offs
- Full 90-minute timed rehearsals scored against 70%
Finish with timed rehearsals under exam-like conditions. You can build those with your own geometry, and you can use the free practice resources at our main practice test site to check readiness. A more detailed plan, including resource choices, is in the full study guide, and a compact recap is in the CSWP-FS cheat sheet. Whichever route you take, treat a failed timed run as information about which domain needs reinforcement, not as a verdict.
Frequently Asked Questions
The minimum passing grade is 70%. The exam has 13 hands-on questions to be completed in 90 minutes. The issuer designates this exam as SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Professional, CSWP-Flow.
No. Seventy percent is the score you need to pass. The pass rate would describe what share of candidates succeed, and published population pass rates were not verified, so treat any quoted figure with caution.
The issuer lists 11 topics but does not publish percentage weights. Because of that, prepare for all of them rather than betting on a few, and expect individual questions to combine several topics.
Yes. Retakes require at least 14 days between attempts and another CSWP-Flow exam credit. The North American fee for one attempt is US$49, excluding software and training.
According to the issuer's 2020 Certification Program Q&A, customer and student certifications do not expire. Check the current SOLIDWORKS certification pages for any updates to that policy.
For the practical side of scheduling your attempt once you are scoring comfortably above 70% in practice, see CSWP-FS Exam Dates: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling, and revisit the practice test hub as your final rehearsal before booking.