RRT Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling

There Is No Fixed Calendar: How Scheduling Really Works

Candidates searching for "RRT exam dates 2026" often expect a published list of testing days, like a college entrance exam. The Registered Respiratory Therapist pathway does not work that way. The National Board for Respiratory Care (NBRC) administers its exams at supervised PSI assessment centers, and candidates choose an appointment after their application is approved. The dates that matter most are therefore program-level deadlines, not individual exam days.

That distinction shapes everything in this guide. Your real planning question is not "which Saturday is the RRT exam?" but "when do I need to be approved, when do I need to book, and how many attempts can I fit before a policy window closes?" For 2026, that last question is more urgent than usual because the current two-step route is nearing its end.

The 2026 Deadlines That Matter

The current RRT route is a sequence: you must achieve the Therapist Multiple-Choice Examination (TMC) high cut score, and then pass the Clinical Simulation Examination (CSE). In 2026, the sequence is compressed by a hard stop on the TMC side.

The practical lesson is to avoid the final weeks entirely. A candidate who aims for a December appointment has no room for a rescheduling problem, a testing-center closure, or a failed first attempt followed by a retake. Because the 120-day interval applies to later attempts, a late-year failure may not leave time to try again under the current pathway. Our RRT requirements guide walks through the eligibility side of this in more detail.

Two Separate Exams, Two Separate Appointments

A common planning mistake is treating the RRT as one long exam. It is not a single 182-question appointment. The TMC and the CSE are separate examinations with separate applications, fees, appointments, and results.

Notice that each CSE problem can contain multiple sections and choices, so "22 problems" understates the volume of decisions you will make during the four hours. The pretest problems are unscored, but you will not know which they are, so treat every problem as if it counts. For a fuller breakdown of how difficult each format feels, see how hard the RRT exam is.

Eligibility Checkpoints Before You Can Book

You cannot schedule until the NBRC approves your application, so your timeline starts with eligibility, not with study. Standard eligibility requires that you are age 18 or older and hold at least an associate degree from an eligible CoARC-supported or accredited entry-into-practice respiratory program. For the CSE, you must also hold CRT status and a qualifying high-cut TMC result.

Conditional legacy routes

The NBRC lists conditional legacy routes for certain candidates, including:

• Four years as a CRT plus 62 specified college hours
• Two years as a CRT plus a qualifying respiratory associate degree
• Two years as a CRT plus a non-respiratory bachelor's degree and 62 specified hours
• A separately listed route for CSRT holders

These exceptions do not automatically continue into the 2027 pathway. If you rely on a legacy route, your window to use it is the current one, which makes early scheduling even more important. Review the full RRT requirements breakdown before you apply, and check any unusual circumstance against the Candidate Handbook, copyright 2026.

Fees and Timing: What You Pay and When

Because the exams are separate, you pay separately and at different points. The TMC fee is USD 190 for a new candidate and USD 150 for a repeat attempt. The CSE fee is USD 200 whether new or repeat. Eligible AARC members can apply a one-time USD 40 discount to their first CSE using the prescribed application process.

For a standard candidate passing each exam on the first attempt, the exam fees total USD 390, or USD 350 with the AARC discount. Those figures exclude education, preparation materials, membership, and licensure. Every failed attempt adds the repeat fee, which is one more reason to schedule when you are ready rather than as early as the system allows. Our RRT certification cost breakdown covers the full financial picture, including costs beyond exam fees.

Test-Day Rules That Affect Your Scheduling Plan

Several logistics rules should influence which appointment slot you choose.

• Supervised testing center only. Live remote proctoring ended December 31, 2024, so initial at-home delivery is not a current option. Plan for travel time to a PSI center, especially if you live in a rural area with few sites.
• Closed book. Only the supplied virtual calculator is allowed. Practice with an on-screen calculator rather than a handheld one.
• Break time counts against exam time. A bathroom break during the TMC's three hours or the CSE's four hours does not pause the clock. Choose a slot when you can arrive rested and fed.

Because the CSE runs four hours and is a decision-heavy simulation, many candidates prefer a morning appointment when focus is strongest. That is a personal call, but it is worth deciding deliberately instead of taking whatever slot appears first.

Retake Windows and the Three-Attempt Rule

For each examination, three initial attempts are permitted without the subsequent-attempt waiting interval. After that, later attempts require 120 days between attempts. This applies per exam, so your TMC attempts and CSE attempts are counted separately.

Why this matters for dates: if you burn through your initial attempts, the 120-day interval can push your next try past a policy deadline. With TMC testing ending December 31, 2026, a candidate who is still trying to clear the TMC late in the year may simply run out of calendar. For that reason, treat the early part of 2026 as your safe window and the final quarter as a buffer, not a plan.

To understand how candidates have actually fared on each exam, read our analysis of RRT pass rates. The reported calendar-2025 figures are separate cohorts and should not be combined into a single probability of becoming an RRT. TMC high-cut pass rates were 68.2% for new candidates and 29.4% for repeat candidates, while CSE rates were 63.6% new and 53.0% repeat. The gap between new and repeat TMC results is a strong argument for preparing thoroughly before your first appointment rather than treating it as a trial run.

Sequencing Your Prep Around the Domains

The structure of the exams suggests a natural order for your preparation, and it ties directly to your booking date. The six content headings come from two assessments: Domains 1 through 3 are the TMC objective headings, and Domains 4 through 6 are the CSE objective headings. Six is the supplied heading count across two assessments, not an official combined six-domain RRT examination. For a deeper look, see our complete guide to the content areas.

The CSE's scored cases are assembled from clinical groups: Adult Chronic Airways Disease (seven), Adult Medical or Surgical (five), Adult Cardiovascular (two), Pediatric (two), Neonatal (two), Adult Trauma (one), and Adult Neurological or Neuromuscular (one). These are case-assembly groups, not extra domains, but they tell you where to build clinical fluency. Chronic airways disease cases appear most often, so scenario practice there pays off.

A domain-driven prep schedule

Book your TMC only once your timed practice results are consistent, and book the CSE after you have a qualifying TMC result. A broader plan is laid out in our RRT study guide, and you can pressure-test your readiness with the practice tests on our main site. Note that the numeric cut scores are currently unverified, so judge readiness by consistent strong performance across domains rather than by chasing a single number. Our passing score article explains what is and is not known.

The 2027 Transition: What Changes and What Does Not

A new single-exam pathway, the Respiratory Therapy Examination, takes effect in January 2027. It contains 185 multiple-choice questions (160 scored, 25 pretest) with four hours allowed. Fees are USD 360 for a new candidate and USD 300 for a repeat, and the lower and higher cut scores lead directly to CRT and RRT respectively. Applications opened October 1, 2026, and the first examination is available January 4, 2027.

Your decision comes down to timing and eligibility. If you are on track to meet the current route's requirements and can test comfortably before the December deadlines, the TMC-then-CSE path remains available. If your eligibility or readiness points to 2027, you will plan around the new exam instead. Weigh the career impact with our ROI analysis and, if you are still comparing roles, the salary guide and RRT jobs overview. Transition dates, fees, and clarifications are posted on the NBRC resources page, which is the authoritative place to confirm anything that affects your own date.

After You Pass: Maintenance Timing

Once you hold the credential, a different calendar begins. Maintenance runs through the five-year Credential Maintenance Program (CMP), with a published exemption for credentials earned before July 1, 2002. Routes include assessment-based continuing education of zero, 15, or 30 Category I credits depending on performance, passing the highest relevant examination during the final year of the cycle, or earning an additional qualifying NBRC credential.

CMP payment is USD 25 per payment year before 2027 and USD 30 beginning in 2027. The CMP brochure's text and rendered page show mixed old and new fee versions, but the live issuer FAQ confirms the 2027 effective date, so rely on the NBRC's current published fee when you budget.

Frequently Asked Questions