ARRT exam: how the Radiography certification exam works

It’s the exam you pass to become certified and registered with the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT), a credentialing body based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s the last of three requirements: you must also meet ARRT’s education and ethics rules. ARRT says employers, state licensing agencies and federal regulators treat its credential as proof that you’ve met professional standards. ARRT says most technologists enter the profession as radiographers, so Radiography is the exam this guide follows, but ARRT also gives exams in sonography, MRI, nuclear medicine technology, radiation therapy and several postprimary disciplines.

No. ARRT awards the credential and runs the exam. The American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) is a professional society for medical imaging and radiation therapy. ARRT describes it as shaping the profession through practice standards and curricula, offering career resources and advocacy, and approving, tracking and transferring continuing education (CE) credits for ARRT. ASRT also sells practice tests of its own.

The Radiography exam has 230 questions: 200 scored and 30 unscored pilot questions you can’t tell apart. You get 230 minutes of test time. Your appointment is 250 minutes in all, because ARRT adds 8 minutes for a tutorial, 2 for the nondisclosure agreement and 10 for a survey at the end. Other disciplines differ, and ARRT’s handbook for your pathway lists each one’s length.

No. ARRT exams are computer-based, but you take them at a Pearson VUE test center. ARRT’s handbook says Pearson has more than 200 centers in the U.S. and its territories and offers ARRT exams in selected Canadian, European, Asian and Australian cities. It describes no remote option. Practice tests sold by other companies are online, but they aren’t the ARRT exam.

Yes. ARRT follows the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Answer yes to the accommodations question on your application, and ARRT sends instructions for applying through Paradigm Testing, the company that reviews requests, with your documentation and a personal statement. Your application waits until the review is done, and you can’t book until you get the decision letter. You must ask again each time you apply, including for a retake. Comfort aids such as an inhaler or eye drops don’t need a request.

Its length doesn’t: the Radiography exam keeps 200 scored questions. What changes is the content. Exams through February 28, 2027 follow the content specifications that took effect on January 1, 2022. From March 1, 2027, they follow a version ARRT’s board approved in January 2026, which moves a few questions from patient care and radiation protection into the procedures sections. ARRT’s didactic and clinical competency requirements for Radiography programs change on the same date.