Federal Workforce: Distribution of Performance Ratings Across the Federal Government, 2013, GAO-16-520R: Published: May 9, 2016. Publicly Released: Jun 8, 2016.

“In calendar year 2013 (the most recent data available at the time of our review), of approximately 1.2 million permanent, non-Senior Executive Service (SES) employees at the 24 Chief Financial Officers (CFO) Act agencies, GAO found that about 71.4 percent (or about 836,900 employees) were rated using a 5-level performance appraisal system. This was followed by a 2-level pass/fail system (about 12.7 percent), 3-level system (about 9.4 percent), and 4-level system (about 6.2 percent).”