By Free RBT Practice Test Editorial Team | Updated September 2026
Short answer
Three out of four people pass the RBT exam on their first try. The BACB’s 2025 data report shows 109,341 first-time candidates and a 75% first-time pass rate. The exam gets much harder the second time: 54,674 retakers sat it in 2025 and only 38% passed.
So the honest answer is: the exam is passable if you prepare for it the first time, and expensive to fail, because the odds roughly halve on a retake.
First-time pass rates, 2020 to 2025 (BACB)
| Year | First-time candidates | First-time pass rate | Retake pass rate |
| 2025 | 109,341 | 75% | 38% |
| 2024 | 90,741 | 73% | 36% |
| 2023 | 73,690 | 74% | 41% |
| 2022 | 58,322 | 77% | 44% |
| 2021 | 43,452* | 83% | 53% |
| 2020 | 28,794* | 84% | 52% |
*2020 and 2021 exclude one region the BACB removed for anomalous activity; with that region included the first-time rates were 80% and 79%.
Two things stand out. The number of people taking the exam has almost quadrupled in five years, and the first-time pass rate has drifted down from the low 80s to the mid 70s over the same period. The exam did not get easier as it got more popular.
Why retakes fail so often
The retake pass rate has stayed between 36% and 44% for four years. That pattern usually means the same gaps carry over: candidates re-sit after a short gap without changing how they study, so the second attempt tests the same knowledge with more anxiety attached. If you fail, treat it as a diagnosis, not a delay: look at which of the six content areas you were weakest in and rebuild that domain before booking again.
Your training provider matters more than you think
The BACB also publishes first-time pass rates by 40-hour training provider (2025 report, published May 2026). The spread is enormous:
- Behavior Development Solutions: 93.5% (923 candidates)
- Rethink: 81.1% (10,690)
- Relias: 80.4% (19,418)
- CentralReach: 79.6% (13,705)
- Behavior Webinars: 79.0% (4,100)
- Behavior University: 76.6% (2,008)
- Autism Partnership Foundation: 61.2% (13,456)
- ABA 4 LOVE: 36.7% (1,201)
The three biggest paid providers (Relias, CentralReach, Rethink) trained about 44,000 first-time candidates between them and all landed near 80%; Autism Partnership Foundation trained 13,456 and landed at 61%. If your provider is on the low end of this table, plan on doing more practice on your own; the 40-hour course alone is not carrying its candidates over the line.
What “hard” actually means on this exam
- Format: 85 multiple-choice questions, 75 scored and 10 unscored pilot items, 90 minutes. That is about 64 seconds per question.
- Content: six content areas from the RBT Test Content Outline (3rd edition, in effect since January 1, 2026): Data Collection and Graphing, Behavior Assessment, Behavior Acquisition, Behavior Reduction, Documentation and Reporting, and Ethics.
- Question style: mostly scenario-based. The exam rarely asks “define extinction”; it describes a session and asks what the technician should do. Candidates who memorized definitions but never practiced applying them are the ones who fail on the first attempt.
How to be in the 75%
- Take a full-length mock (our five mocks have 75 questions each, the number of scored items) under a 90-minute timer before you book, and score it by content area, not just overall.
- Re-study the two weakest areas until a second mock puts every area above 80%.
- Practice scenario questions specifically; that is where the exam’s difficulty lives.
- Book the exam within a few weeks of finishing your 40-hour training and competency assessment, while the material is fresh.
- If you fail, do not re-book the next available date. Use the score report to target the weak areas first.
Frequently asked questions
What score do you need to pass the RBT exam? The exam is reported as pass/fail. The BACB sets the passing standard with a criterion-referenced (modified Angoff) method and does not publish a fixed percentage; most prep resources use roughly 80% of scored questions as a working benchmark.
How many times can you take the RBT exam? The BACB allows up to eight attempts within a one-year authorization window, with a waiting period between attempts. Check the current RBT Handbook for the exact rule before you re-book.
Practice the whole exam with our free RBT practice tests (five 75-question mocks and six area quizzes), or look up any term in the RBT Exam Glossary.
