- Who Sets the RRA Exam Dates
- The Windows That Matter Right Now
- Application Deadlines and Postmarks
- Eligibility Clocks That Control Your Timing
- Fees, Attempts, and the Three-Year Limit
- What Your Appointment Day Looks Like
- Planning Backward From Your Window
- After You Pass: Renewal Dates
- Frequently Asked Questions
- ARRT announced an additional October 2026 administration; the next published window after October 14, 2026 is January 13-16, 2027.
- The application postmark deadline for the January 2027 window is November 11, 2026.
- The initial exam fee is USD 225; reapplication is USD 200; annual renewal is USD 65.
- You get three attempts within three years, and the ordinary three-year clock starts at program completion.
Who Sets the RRA Exam Dates
The Registered Radiologist Assistant (R.R.A.) examination is administered by the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) and delivered at Pearson test centers. That matters for planning because there are two separate calendars in play. ARRT publishes the testing windows and the application deadlines. Pearson controls the individual appointment slots inside those windows at specific test centers.
Unlike many professional exams that run continuously, the R.R.A. exam is offered in defined administration windows. You do not simply pick any Tuesday next month. You apply to ARRT, receive approval, and then schedule inside a published window. Candidates who treat the window as flexible often discover that the center near them has already filled the days that fit their work schedule.
If you are still confirming that this is the right credential, start with What Is RRA? and RRA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify before building a calendar around it.
The Windows That Matter Right Now
As of the sources checked on October 14, 2026, ARRT announced an additional October 2026 administration. If you are reading this after that window has closed or if you missed the application cutoff for it, the next published window is January 13-16, 2027, with an application postmark deadline of November 11, 2026.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Additional 2026 administration | October 2026 (announced by ARRT) |
| Next published window after October 14, 2026 | January 13-16, 2027 |
| Application postmark deadline for that window | November 11, 2026 |
| Delivery | Pearson test center |
| Authoritative source | ARRT R.R.A. exam dates page |
Application Deadlines and Postmarks
The deadline language is deliberate: the cutoff for the January 2027 window is a postmark date. That wording tells you the application is submitted as a packet, and it should be treated as a document-assembly project rather than a same-day online click. The packet includes items that take real time to gather:
- Clinical portfolio documentation (portfolio requirements were implemented in January 2023)
- Current ACLS certification, which must be valid, so check the expiration date against your window
- Proof of current ARRT Radiography certification and registration
- Education verification from your recognized Radiologist Assistant program, including degree documentation where applicable
- Ethics compliance disclosures
- The USD 225 application/examination fee (USD 200 for reapplication)
Work backward from November 11, 2026 rather than toward it. Request transcripts and program-completion letters early, because registrar offices are rarely fast. If your ACLS card expires between your application date and your exam date, renew it first so the packet and the appointment are both covered. For the full fee picture, see RRA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Eligibility Clocks That Control Your Timing
Dates are not only about when ARRT offers the exam. Your own eligibility has timers attached, and these are the ones that quietly eliminate candidates.
The ordinary three-year deadline
For standard eligibility, requirements including degree completion must be established within three years of completing the professional program.
- The clock runs from program completion, not from when you decide to apply
- Degree completion is part of what must be established inside that window
- Missing it can change which pathway you qualify under
Graduate degree and experience by completion date
The requirements depend on when you completed your program, and the earlier rules must be kept separate from the current route.
- Completion on or after January 1, 2023: a master's or doctoral degree is required
- Completion on or after January 1, 2025: two years of full-time patient-care-related medical-imaging experience after earning Radiography credentials, which cannot be earned concurrently with RA-program activities
- Pre-2025 exception: the published exception is one year of experience with concurrent experience permitted
The 2025 experience rule is the one with the largest scheduling consequence. If you finished your program in 2025 or later, the two-year post-credential experience requirement cannot overlap with your program, so you cannot compress it. Count your dates carefully before choosing a window.
Full details on qualifying are in RRA Requirements 2026, and the credential itself is explained in What Is RRA Certification?.
Fees, Attempts, and the Three-Year Limit
| Item | Amount or Rule |
|---|---|
| Initial application/examination fee | USD 225 |
| Reapplication fee | USD 200 |
| Annual renewal | USD 65 |
| Attempts allowed | Three within three years |
| Member/nonmember exam differential | None listed |
The attempt limit is what turns a calendar decision into a strategy decision. Three attempts within three years sounds generous, but the windows are limited, and each attempt requires a reapplication at USD 200 and a wait for the next published window. A failed attempt does not merely cost money; it can push your retake months out. The practical implication is to avoid using an attempt as a diagnostic. Schedule when you are consistently scoring where you need to, not when the deadline happens to arrive.
The renewal fee is also worth understanding up front: the ordinary annual renewal fee covers your ARRT credentials rather than charging separately for each discipline. For the pass-rate context that should inform how you use your attempts, read RRA Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows. The calendar-2025 first-time pass rate was 75.0% among 24 first-time candidates, which is a small cohort, so interpret it with caution.
What Your Appointment Day Looks Like
The R.R.A. exam is a two-session format, and the structure affects how you should think about your appointment time and stamina.
- Session 1: 200 scored selected-response questions plus 30 pilot questions, with four hours allowed
- Session 2: two hours, containing at least 30 scored case-study questions plus a variable pilot allocation; the 2026 handbook table displays 30+ scored and 20+ pilot items and labels the overall total approximately 280
- Total testing time: six hours
- Full appointment: 410 minutes, including the break and non-testing activities
Two format facts are easy to miss. First, case-study responses are objectively scored; the essay format used before January 2023 is gone. Second, Session 1 cannot be reopened after Session 2 begins, so you must finish reviewing flagged items before you move on. You also may not bring personal reference materials or a personal calculator, though an approved supplied or on-screen calculator is available.
Key Takeaway
Book the earliest slot in your window that your travel and work allow. A 410-minute appointment is a fatigue test as much as a knowledge test, and a morning start leaves you the cleanest cognitive runway for the four-hour first session.
Scoring is on a scaled score of 75 on a 1-99 scale, which is not the same as 75% correct. See RRA Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass for how to read that correctly, and How Hard Is the RRA Exam? for what the length and format demand.
Planning Backward From Your Window
This is the one place a study calendar belongs, and it should be driven by how the exam is weighted rather than by generic habits. The published whole-exam reporting weights are: Patient Management 14%, Pharmacology 7%, Patient Safety, Radiation Protection, and Equipment Operation 11%, Abdominal Section 16%, Thoracic Section 9%, Musculoskeletal and Endocrine Sections 9%, Neurological, Vascular, and Lymphatic Sections 9%, and Case Study 25%. Selected response contributes 75% of points and case study 25%.
Case Study is the largest separately reported category, and Abdominal is the largest separately reported procedural category at 16%. That should shape what you schedule early versus late. A sensible sequence for a January 2027 window, counting back from the November 11, 2026 postmark deadline for the application and then toward test day:
Documents first
- Confirm ACLS validity, portfolio completeness, and degree verification
- Mail the packet with margin before the November 11 postmark deadline
Largest procedural block
- Abdominal Section (16%), because it is the biggest procedural category and rewards repetition
- Patient Management (14%) alongside it
The 9% sections and safety
- Thoracic, Musculoskeletal and Endocrine, and Neurological, Vascular, and Lymphatic
- Patient Safety, Radiation Protection, and Equipment Operation (11%) and Pharmacology (7%)
Case Study integration
- Timed case-study practice, since it carries 25% of points
- At least one full-length simulation to rehearse the six-hour endurance demand
Resist treating case studies as a late add-on. They integrate content from every other domain, so they work best as the last layer rather than the first. For the content behind each block, see RRA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 8 Content Areas, and for a fuller prep method see the RRA Study Guide 2026. When you want timed repetition on this question style, the RRA practice test is built for exactly that.
After You Pass: Renewal Dates
Your scheduling does not end at the exam. Annual renewal is normally due by the end of your birth month, and the supporting Radiography credentials must be maintained for the R.R.A. to stay in good standing. Biennial continuing education is 50 credits, including at least 25 Category A+ credits and at least 35 RRA-relevant credits. These are overlapping requirements, not additive totals, so a single well-chosen credit can count toward more than one requirement. All RRA credentials carry a ten-year Continued Qualifications Requirements (CQR) cycle.
If you are weighing the long-term return of all this effort, Is the RRA Certification Worth It? and the RRA Salary Guide 2026 cover the payoff side, and RRA Jobs looks at where credentialed assistants practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
The next published window after October 14, 2026 is January 13-16, 2027. The application postmark deadline for that window is November 11, 2026. Confirm both on ARRT's official R.R.A. exam dates page before applying.
No. The exam is offered in published administration windows, delivered at Pearson test centers. You apply to ARRT, get approved, and then schedule an appointment inside a window. ARRT has also announced an additional October 2026 administration, so check for added dates.
Three attempts are allowed within three years. Reapplication costs USD 200 after the initial USD 225 fee. Because windows are limited, a failed attempt can delay your retake by months, so schedule when your practice scores are consistently strong.
The full appointment is 410 minutes, including the break and non-testing activities. Testing time is six hours: four hours for Session 1 and two hours for Session 2. Session 1 cannot be reopened once Session 2 begins.
Yes. Program completion on or after January 1, 2023 requires a master's or doctoral degree, and completion on or after January 1, 2025 adds two years of full-time post-Radiography imaging experience that cannot overlap with program activities. Ordinary eligibility must be established within three years of program completion, with the RPA-to-R.R.A. pathway as a separate route.