BCBA certification
BCBA Certification: Your Board Certified Behavior Analyst Hub
Cadence BCBA Prep is a free, timed mock built to the TCO 6th-edition blueprint — 185 items, 4 hours, roughly 78 seconds a question. You train the clock, not just the content. Answer the sample on the right, then run the full mock.
What a BCBA Actually Is
BCBA certification is the Board Certified Behavior Analyst credential, issued by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB). It is a graduate-level qualification in applied behavior analysis (ABA), and it is the credential a clinic, school district, or autism-services provider looks for when someone will design behavior-change programs and supervise the staff who run them.
Earning it is a sequence of gates, not a single test. You complete a qualifying graduate degree, finish the ABA coursework tied to the current task list, log a period of supervised fieldwork, and only then sit the exam. The first three gates decide whether you are eligible; the exam decides whether you pass. The exact degree, credit, and fieldwork-hour totals are set by the BACB and change between task-list editions, so confirm your own numbers with the BACB (bacb.com) rather than any third-party page.
The Exam, By the Numbers
The BCBA exam is 185 items in 4 hours under the TCO 6th edition — 175 scored items plus 10 unscored pilot items you cannot tell apart from the rest. It is delivered at a Pearson VUE test center, in person, as four-option multiple choice. Do the arithmetic before you walk in: 240 minutes across 185 items is about 78 seconds each. That is your budget.
78 seconds is an average, not a rule for every item. Bank time on the questions you know cold and the meter refills for the two-paragraph scenarios that need it. Answer the easy ones first, mark anything that stalls you, and come back with the minutes you saved — you do not want to leave a gift item blank because a hard one ran the clock down.
185
items · 6th ed.
175 scored + 10 pilot
4 hrs
one sitting
Pearson VUE, in person
~78 s
per-item budget
240 min ÷ 185 items
Where the Exam Spends Its Points
The 175 scored items are not spread evenly across the nine TCO 6th-edition domains. Two carry the most weight — B (Concepts & Principles) and G (Behavior-Change Procedures) at 14% each — with Ethics (E) and Behavior Assessment (F) close behind at 13%. Behaviorism (A), at 5%, is the lightest. Weight is where you spend your study hours first.
That is the taste; the study guide renders the full blueprint table and opens the two heaviest domains, B and G, as their own guides.
Start Here
Four pages carry the work on this site, and they connect in order: learn the blueprint, build a plan, drill against the clock, and check the eligibility path. Pick the one that matches where you are.
Study guide
The TCO 6th-ed. blueprint
All nine domain weights and deep guides to the two heaviest, B and G.
Mock exam
Free timed mock
185-item practice on the 78-second clock, with an explanation on every item.
Exam prep
Build a study plan
Turn the domain weights and your test date into a week-by-week plan.
Requirements
How to become a BCBA
The degree, coursework, and supervised-fieldwork path to eligibility.
Common Questions
What is a BCBA?
A BCBA is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst — a graduate-level credential in applied behavior analysis issued by the BACB. BCBAs design behavior-change programs and supervise the staff who deliver them, most often in autism services, schools, and clinical settings.
How many questions is the BCBA exam?
Under the TCO 6th edition the exam is 185 items in 4 hours: 175 scored items plus 10 unscored pilot items. It is four-option multiple choice, delivered in person at a Pearson VUE test center. That works out to a budget of about 78 seconds per item.
How hard is the BCBA exam?
It is a timed, application-heavy exam: most items give you a scenario and ask you to apply a principle, not just recall a definition, and the weight sits in domains B and G at 14% each. Pacing is half the challenge. For current difficulty and pass-threshold details, check the BACB directly rather than a third-party figure.
How do I become a BCBA?
You complete a qualifying graduate degree and the ABA coursework, log a period of supervised fieldwork, and then pass the BCBA exam. The exact degree, credit, and hour requirements are set by the BACB and change between task-list editions — confirm yours at bacb.com and use the requirements page here for the overview.
On this page
Run the timed mock
Answer against the 78s-per-item clock, free on this site.
Cadence BCBA Prep
Practice on the clock, not just on the content
Get the app for the full item bank sampled to the TCO 6th-ed. weights, or run the timed mock free on this site.