Evaluation — The testing stage where a trader must reach a profit target while staying inside the firm's risk rules to qualify for a funded account.
How evaluation works in prop trading
An evaluation is the paid audition. You buy access to a demo account sized like the funded account you want, and you have to reach a profit target — typically 6% to 10% of the account size in futures programs — without touching the maximum drawdown or the daily loss limit. Meet both conditions and you qualify; touch a limit and the account fails.
The difficulty is set less by the profit target than by the ratio between the target and the drawdown. A $50,000 account with a $3,000 target and a $2,000 trailing drawdown gives you very little room to be wrong, while the same target against a $2,500 static drawdown is a materially easier test. Read those two numbers together, never separately.
Key points
- The profit target and the drawdown together define the difficulty — a target-to-drawdown ratio above 1.5 is demanding.
- Most futures evaluations have no time limit; many forex-style evaluations still do.
- Minimum trading days are common and stop a single lucky session from passing the account.
- Failing normally means buying a reset or a new evaluation; the original fee is not refunded.
Example
A $50,000 one-step evaluation with a $3,000 profit target and a $2,000 trailing drawdown means you must make $3,000 while never giving back $2,000 from your highest balance — a 1.5:1 target-to-risk test.
Also known as
- evaluation account
- eval phase
- assessment
Frequently asked questions
How long does a prop firm evaluation take?
Most firms impose a minimum number of trading days — commonly 1 to 10 — and increasingly no maximum. Traders who pass typically take a few weeks rather than a few days, because hitting the target quickly usually means taking size that risks the drawdown. Check whether the program has a time limit before you buy it.
What percentage of traders pass an evaluation?
Published pass rates across the industry generally sit in the single digits to low teens, and firms define 'pass' differently — some count the evaluation, some count reaching a first payout. Treat any specific figure as a marketing claim unless the firm explains its methodology.
Put this into practice
Evaluation is described here as a plain-language educational definition. Firms, platforms, and account programs may apply different conditions or calculations. Verify the current official terms before using this definition to make an account decision.