Last verified against MCO 1616.1 (JEPES), MCO 6100.13A with Change 5 and MARADMIN 613/25.
For promotion to corporal and sergeant, the Marine Corps ranks you on a monthly Performance Evaluation System (PES) score from the Junior Enlisted Performance Evaluation System (JEPES), and your PFT and CFT make up a quarter of it. They count as percentiles against Marines of your rank, not as raw points, and the Marine Corps updates the percentile tables every year. Because the tables change each year, a fixed calculator would give you the wrong number, so there is none here. To score the tests themselves, use the Marine Corps PFT calculator.
Where the PFT and CFT sit in the JEPES score
JEPES covers Marines from private through corporal. Its PES score has four pillars of equal weight, each worth up to 250 points, and the PFT and CFT form the Physical Toughness pillar.
- Warfighting (25 percent)Your rifle score as a percentile against Marines of your rank, and your Marine Corps Martial Arts Program belt.
- Physical Toughness (25 percent)Your current PFT and CFT scores, each as a percentile against Marines of your rank and each worth 12.5 percent.
- Mental Agility (25 percent)Informal professional military education in grade and civilian self-education.
- Command Input (25 percent)The marks your reporting chain gives for character, mission accomplishment and leadership.
To build the Physical Toughness pillar, JEPES looks up your PFT and your CFT in percentile tables for your rank, adds the two values and multiplies by 1.25. The tables are updated yearly, so a PFT of 280 can be worth a different amount from one year to the next.
Source: MCO 1616.1, chapter 1, paragraph 1c, and appendix B.
The monthly promotion cycle
JEPES recalculates your PES score every month from the scores on record at the end of the previous month. Around the 24th, Headquarters compares each eligible Marine’s score with the cutting score for the MOS, and Marines at or above it are selected for promotion on the first day of the next month. A Marine who does not yet meet the time-in-grade and time-in-service requirements sees a projected PES score instead, for awareness only.
Source: MCO 1616.1, appendix C.
What a failed PFT or CFT does
JEPES lists a PFT or CFT failure as adverse material that warrants a commander’s “not recommended” for the reporting period. A Marine marked not recommended is pulled from the population eligible for promotion until the next reporting occasion or until the commander lifts it.
MCO 6100.13A sets the same consequences for a first or second failure of either test: a page 11 (6105) counseling entry, an adverse fitness report, a promotion restriction, and no eligibility to reenlist or to attend a special school. A Marine who fails the same test in consecutive years is considered for administrative separation. For sergeants and above, PFT and CFT scores go on the fitness report, and a failure makes that report adverse.
Source: MCO 1616.1, chapter 2, paragraph 3c, and appendix C; MCO 6100.13A, chapter 1, paragraphs 3 and 4 and Table 1-1.
The 2026 combat arms PFT standard
From 1 January 2026, Marines in combat arms primary MOSs are scored on the male, age-normed PFT tables and need at least 210 of 300 points. A Marine in a combat arms MOS who passes but scores below 210 by the end of the reporting period goes on remedial physical training and may face reclassification or a promotion restriction. MARADMIN 613/25 adds that no adverse or punitive action will be taken until further guidance is published.
Source: MARADMIN 613/25, paragraph 4.
Sources
- MCO 1616.1, Junior Enlisted Performance Evaluation System (JEPES) Commandant of the Marine Corps, 25 November 2020.
- MCO 6100.13A w/Admin Ch-5, Marine Corps Physical Fitness and Combat Fitness Tests (PFT/CFT) Commandant of the Marine Corps, 28 May 2025.
- MARADMIN 613/25, Advance notification of changes to the Marine Corps PFT and body composition evaluation process CMC Washington DC (DC Training and Education), 18 December 2025.
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