Behavior analysis certification
The BCBA path, built to the 6th edition outline
The BCBA examination follows the BACB's BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.): 9 content areas, 104 tasks, 185 questions in 4 hours. This path follows the outline word for word, task by task, and its mock follows the exam's length, timing and question format.
Free and open to everyone while it is built. No card, no account; your results stay in this browser.
Independent preparation, not affiliated with or endorsed by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) or Pearson VUE. The names BACB and BCBA are used only to describe the examination; every question and guide here is our own, written from the BACB's published BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.).
Everything in the BCBA path
- TodayA short session for the day: some practice, one task to study, the mock when you are ready.
- Practice208 original questions, two for every task, each option explained.
- Mock examA full mock: 185 questions in 4 hours, one at a time, with a report by content area.
- LibraryThe outline's 104 tasks, word for word, and a study guide for each content area.
- ProgressEach content area from learning to secure, your past mocks and your readiness.
- PlayShort rounds of the path's own questions, with your dragon beside you.
Nine content areas, 175 scored questions
- ABehaviorism and Philosophical Foundations8 questions5% · 5 tasks
- BConcepts and Principles24 questions14% · 24 tasks
- CMeasurement, Data Display, and Interpretation21 questions12% · 12 tasks
- DExperimental Design13 questions7% · 9 tasks
- EEthical and Professional Issues22 questions13% · 12 tasks
- FBehavior Assessment23 questions13% · 8 tasks
- GBehavior-Change Procedures25 questions14% · 19 tasks
- HSelecting and Implementing Interventions20 questions11% · 8 tasks
- IPersonnel Supervision and Management19 questions11% · 7 tasks
Number of questions and percentages as the BACB prints them; the percentages are rounded.
The exam, as the BACB delivers it
- Questions
- 185 multiple-choice questions: 175 scored and 10 unscored (pilot) questions, mixed in and not identified.
- Question type
- Each question has 4 possible answers and only 1 correct answer. All questions are equally weighted.
- Time
- 4 hours. The 4 hours include the Terms and Conditions, the exam navigation tutorial and a load time prompt, as well as the examination and any review.
- Breaks
- Taken on your own time: the clock does not stop. A dry-erase board is provided; no calculator, scratch paper or ruler.
- Content
- The BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.): 9 content areas and 104 tasks, from Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations (8 questions) to Behavior-Change Procedures (25).
- Delivery
- Computer based, in person only, at Pearson VUE test centres (and US military bases); no online proctoring. Sites in the United States, Australia (until January 1, 2027) and Canada (except Quebec, and in Ontario until July 1, 2026).
- Language
- The BCBA examination is only offered in English.
- Result
- Pass or fail, at the test centre on completion, confirmed by the BACB by email. A candidate who does not pass receives the percentage of questions answered correctly and the number of questions in each content area.
- Passing standard
- Set by the modified Angoff method and equated across forms; the raw number of questions answered correctly is not reported, and the number needed is not published.
- Retakes
- Up to 8 attempts within 2 years of approval, 30 days apart.
Sources, all from the BACB: Board Certified Behavior Analyst Handbook (updated 11/2026), BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), updated 09/2024, Examination Information, Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts. Outline fetched 2026-11-12. Accommodations for a disability are requested from the BACB before scheduling: Examination Accommodation Request Form.
What the BACB does not publish, and what we do
- The BACB does not say which 10 questions are unscored. Each of our mocks has 185 questions in 4 hours: 175 spread exactly as the outline's counts, plus 10 extra items left out of the score. The review after the mock says which 10 they were; the real exam never tells you.
- The passing score and the raw to scaled conversion are not published. We never show a pass, a fail or a predicted result: our report gives what the BACB gives a failing candidate, the percent correct and the number of questions in each content area, plus the overall percent correct, labelled as ours.
- The minutes taken by the Terms and Conditions, the tutorial and load time are not published. Our timer gives the 4 hours to the questions alone, so finish with time to spare.
- The exam screen's tools are not described by the BACB. Our mock offers one question at a time, Previous and Next, a flag for review and a review screen before ending, the common Pearson VUE layout, as our approximation.
- No break is fixed. Our mock has no pause: the clock runs, as on the day.
- Explanations, study guides, practice by task and the review after a mock are study features, never part of the real exam. Every question is original: none is copied or adapted from BACB questions, Pearson VUE material or anyone else's.