The study compares three methods for establishing cut-off scores that effect a compromise between absolute cut-offs based on item difficulty and relative cut-offs based on expected passing rates. Each method coordinates these two types of information differently. The Beuk method obtains judges' estimates of an absolute cut-off and an expected passing rate, and constructs a cutting line whose slope is the ratio of the absolute and relative standard deviations and which passes through the point of mean absolute/relative cut-off. The judges can be either test-oriented or examinee-oriented depending on whether they show greater agreement (small standard deviations) on the absolute or relative cut-offs. The Hofstee method draws a cutting line through two extreme points: (1) maximum cut-off, minimum failure point; and (2) minimum cut-off, maximum failure point. The DeGruijter method is similar to the Beuk method, but uses confidence estimates for the absolute and relative cut-offs to define a criterion ellipse. These methods were applied to two tests from a certification program. Judges rated item difficulty by the Angoff method and estimated a desirable passing rate. All three compromise methods brought the cut-off two points below the absolute level, in line with an acceptable passing rate. This study suggests that further research into all three of the compromise methods is needed. (LPG)