The ARE exam: how the Architect Registration Examination works

It’s the national exam for architecture licensing in the US, written and run by NCARB. The ARE checks the parts of practice that affect the public’s health, safety and welfare, such as how sound a building is and how an architect manages projects and other professionals. NCARB says each jurisdiction’s requirements typically combine education, experience through the Architectural Experience Program (AXP) and the ARE, and every jurisdiction requires all six divisions of ARE 5.0. NCARB doesn’t issue licenses itself: the board in each state or territory does.

Practice Management (PcM), Project Management (PjM), Programming & Analysis (PA), Project Planning & Design (PPD), Project Development & Documentation (PDD) and Construction & Evaluation (CE). They follow the stages of a typical project and match the six AXP experience areas. You can take them in any order, and each one is scheduled and paid for on its own. The divisions page has the questions, time and case studies for each.

Yes. NCARB offers online-proctored appointments 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, in places that meet its physical and technical rules, and you can mix online and test center appointments. The rules, tools and security are the same either way. You must finish a free 30-minute test run with PSI before each online appointment; if you skip it and can’t start or finish because of a technical problem, you lose the exam fee. A printed translation dictionary, one of the English as a second language (ESL) accommodations, can only be used at a test center.

Not after a set number of years. NCARB retired its five-year rolling clock on April 30, 2023 and replaced it with a score validity policy. A passed ARE 5.0 division stays valid while ARE 5.0 is offered and then earns credit in the version that follows it. NCARB says it will give at least 18 months’ notice before it retires a version, and it doesn’t offer extensions. NCARB’s blog, updated December 10, 2025, says all 55 jurisdictions have aligned with the policy.

NCARB updated ARE 5.0 on April 27, 2026 to match its Competency Standard for Architects. It adjusted 12 of the 91 exam objectives and reformatted the case studies so each has fewer items and one or two resources. The number of questions and the testing time in each division didn’t change, and passed divisions kept their credit. The Guidelines that apply from October 1, 2026 carry these changes. NCARB has set no launch date for a later version of the exam.

NCARB’s scheduling page and its ARE 5.0 Guidelines name PSI as the company that delivers the exam, at PSI test centers in the US and Canada, at several international locations and online. Prometric doesn’t appear in the text of NCARB’s ARE pages or the Guidelines. You don’t book on PSI’s own site: you schedule every division from the Exams tab of your NCARB Record. PSI may phone you to finish the booking if you have an approved accommodation.

Yes, with an approved accommodation. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), NCARB’s common examples are extra break time, up to 50 percent more testing time and a separate room, and they also cover pregnancy and breastfeeding. If English isn’t your first language, the ESL accommodation adds 20 percent to the testing time. Apply through My NCARB and wait for written approval before you schedule; NCARB asks you to allow 7 to 10 business days.

In 2025 the median time to finish was 2 years, from first division to last, by NCARB’s own count in its 2026 NCARB by the Numbers report. More than 1,000 candidates finished in under a year. Candidates who finished in 2025 took 9 division attempts on average across the six divisions.