Translation certificate examinations are administered by international organizations, governments, translators' associations, and authorized institutes to assess the ability of an individual to provide quality translation in a specified language combination. The outcome of a translation certificate examination is often presented in a standardized report format, which is shown with a grade or a pass or fail result. These exams, however, can offer translation teachers and researchers with much more information than a simple letter grade. This study explored the differences between high performing translations and low performing translations by using corpus-based text analysis and qualitative analysis. By comparing the performance of different candidates in their translation competency exams, translation teachers can diversify and increase the efficacy of translation strategies and techniques taught in the classroom, enabling students to apply these translation skills to the various situations they will encounter in their careers.