OAT Test Dates 2026: Year-Round Testing, Timing and Retakes

Are there fixed OAT test dates?

No. You choose your own day, and once the Department of Testing Services (DTS) processes your application, you can test for six months, unless the retest rules give you a shorter window. You book with Prometric. The OAT Program suggests doing that at least 60 to 90 days before the date you want, since schedules fill up.

If you need more time, you can extend the window once per application by 45 days, weekends and holidays included, from your OAT personal identification number (PIN) account. You can’t have an appointment booked when you ask, so cancel it first. The extension has a fee.

Booking Prometric after you register →The extension fee →

When should you take the OAT?

The OAT Program suggests the second semester of your junior year, or the summer between junior and senior years, once you’ve taken the subjects it covers, especially organic chemistry. The Candidate Guide also encourages taking it well before the admission cycle you’re applying in.

In the program’s 2025 Examinee Information Report, 41.2% of the examinees who answered had 91 to 120 semester hours when they tested, and 37.0% had a bachelor’s degree.

The OAT test schedule on the day

Every appointment runs in the same order: the optional tutorial, the Survey of the Natural Sciences, Reading Comprehension, an optional 30-minute break, Physics, Quantitative Reasoning and an optional survey. Arrive at least 30 minutes early. Section times are on the overview.

How the OAT works, with section times →

Retaking the OAT

You must wait 60 days between attempts, with no more than four attempts in any 12 months. After four, your fifth can’t come until 12 months after the first of them.
After three or more attempts, you need permission to test again, with proof of a recent application to optometry school each time.
After your fifth attempt, you can retest only once in each 12 months.
Every attempt is a new application with a new fee.

An attempt counts once you’re seated at the test center computer and have agreed to the confidentiality statement. These rules can’t be appealed.

Asking for a fourth or later attempt

Email oatexam@ada.org with one of these from the last 18 months:

A copy of a submitted optometry school application.
A rejection letter from an optometry school.
A letter from an optometry admissions officer encouraging you to retest.
A letter from a college health professions advisor or instructor saying you’re applying.

Changing your OAT date

You reschedule or cancel with Prometric, on its website or by contacting it, not with the test center. Do it by the business day before your test and at least 24 hours ahead. The fee depends on how much notice you give.

Rescheduling and no-show fees →

Sources: OAT Program and 2 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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