C-AA

To sit for the Certification Exam, you must be matriculated in an accredited anesthesiologist assistant program and making satisfactory progress toward graduation. Citizenship is not a requirement, and prior training or experience outside the United States does not replace this requirement. NCCAA applies the same standard to U.S. and non-U.S. candidates.

NCCAA publishes exam results and pass rates by administration, but the retrieved pages do not give a numeric pass rate or difficulty rating. The public pages also do not list item count or time limit. The exam is administered at Pearson test centers, and computer-based answers are continuously saved to a backup. Use the Certification Exam Handbook and timed practice to judge readiness.

The retrieved NCCAA pages do not publish a detailed content blueprint. NCCAA directs candidates to the Certification Exam Handbook for exam content and exam-day information. The certification represents the knowledge, skills, and competency to practice, and exam items are written and reviewed by practicing CAAs. Treat the handbook outline as the authoritative study map.

NCCAA has posted 2027 Certification and CDQ exam windows: February 9–13, 2027, with registration November 9, 2026–February 6, 2027; June 1–5, 2027, with registration March 1–June 2, 2027; and a Certification Exam window October 5–9, 2027, with registration July 5–October 6, 2027. Confirm appointment availability through NCCAA and Pearson.

You may attempt the Certification Exam up to six times within a two-year period from your initial attempt. You are not required to take the next consecutive administration after a failure. You may choose when to retake within that two-year window, using regularly scheduled and posted administration periods. Use the flexibility to prepare.

The retrieved NCCAA pages do not state a Certification Exam fee. A Fee Schedule page is linked from the site, but no dollar amount appears in the source text provided. Confirm the current fee directly with NCCAA before you register, and do not rely on older figures.

Reschedule through your NCCAA account; the new appointment is not final until you select Submit on Pearson’s scheduling platform. No refund is issued if you fail to schedule with Pearson, cancel less than 24 hours before the exam, arrive more than 15 minutes late, or do not appear. Emergency documentation must be emailed within 24 hours; emergency refunds carry a $100 administration fee. Missing photo ID or recording the wrong date, time, or location is not an emergency.

Report the problem immediately at the test center before leaving. Then email NCCAA within three business days with your full name, test center location and address, and a detailed description. NCCAA will not consider later reports. If the computer fails, answers are continuously saved and the exam resumes from the interruption; a test-center-caused failure that cannot be resumed the same day may lead to a new exam at no additional cost.

Start with the Certification Exam Handbook so your study map matches the official content outline and exam-day rules. Then build a cycle around anesthesia practice knowledge, using practice questions to identify weak areas rather than rereading only familiar material. Because items are written and reviewed by practicing CAAs, practice applied clinical reasoning. Schedule a timed review near the end and confirm your appointment logistics early.

Common avoidable problems include underpreparing because the two-year retake window feels generous, skipping the handbook outline, and losing an appointment through late arrival or no-show. Others miss the 24-hour emergency documentation deadline or the three-business-day test-center report window. Put registration, study blocks, and test-day checkpoints on one calendar so none of these deadlines surprise you.