- The Certified Archivist exam has 100 multiple-choice questions across 8 domains, no guessing penalty.
- Registration is $125; passing candidates add $75 first-year ACA dues within 30 days.
- No education or work prerequisites currently required to sit for the exam.
- Content follows the revised 2025 Role Delineation Statement and 2026 Reading List, including a Cultural Competency domain.
Exam Snapshot: The Numbers You Must Know
If you only have five minutes before your Certified Archivist (CA) exam appointment, memorize these figures. The Academy of Certified Archivists (ACA) administers the exam virtually, and the structure has stayed intentionally simple: 100 multiple-choice questions, one correct answer each, delivered inside a three-hour time limit. There is no penalty for guessing, so every question deserves an answer before time runs out.
Unlike many professional credentials, the current application guidance sets no education or work-history prerequisites to sit for the exam - a detail that surprises a lot of first-time applicants. For a deeper breakdown of who qualifies and what documentation ACA actually asks for, see CA Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
The Eight Domains at a Glance
The 2026 exam content is built on the revised 2025 Role Delineation Statement, which organizes the profession into eight domains. Two domain titles were updated in the revision - Selection and Appraisal, and Outreach, Advocacy, and Marketing - and a standalone Cultural Competency domain was added. Use the exact domain names below when you build your study outline; ACA graders and the reading list use this exact terminology.
Domain 1: Selection and Appraisal
Covers criteria for determining what records have enduring value and belong in a collection.
- Appraisal theory and value criteria
- Deaccessioning decisions
Domain 2: Arrangement and Description
Focuses on organizing collections and creating finding aids that make materials discoverable.
- Descriptive standards and metadata schemas
- Original order vs. imposed arrangement
Domain 3: Reference Services and Access
Tests knowledge of how researchers interact with archival materials and the policies governing access.
- Restrictions, privacy, and donor agreements
- Reading room and remote-request procedures
Domain 4: Preservation and Protection
Addresses physical and digital preservation, environmental controls, and disaster planning.
- Storage environment standards
- Emergency preparedness and recovery
Domain 5: Outreach, Advocacy, and Marketing
Covers how archivists build audiences, justify budgets, and demonstrate institutional value.
- Exhibits, social media, and community engagement
- Advocacy for funding and institutional support
Domain 6: Managing Archival Programs
Tests administrative competencies: staffing, budgeting, and strategic planning for an archives.
- Policy development and program assessment
- Grant management and resource allocation
Domain 7: Professional, Ethical, and Legal Responsibilities
Covers the ethical codes and legal frameworks that shape archival decision-making.
- Copyright and intellectual property basics
- Professional codes of ethics
Domain 8: Cultural Competency
A newly delineated domain emphasizing equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive archival practice.
- Working with underrepresented communities and collections
- Bias awareness in description and access decisions
For a full walkthrough of task statements and how heavily each domain tends to be represented on the exam, read CA Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 8 Content Areas. If you're still deciding how tough this exam really is relative to your background, How Hard Is the CA Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through that honestly.
Fees, Dues, and Money Mechanics
Budget for the credential in two stages, not one. The exam registration fee is $125. If you pass, you then owe $75 in first-year ACA membership dues, due within 30 days of receiving your results, to actually activate the Certified Archivist credential. Skipping that window matters - the credential doesn't activate on its own.
After the first year, ongoing annual dues remain $75, and the ACA membership year runs July 1 through June 30. Renewal itself opens July 1 and closes September 30 each cycle, so mark that window on your calendar the moment you're certified.
| Cost Item | Amount | When It's Due |
|---|---|---|
| Exam registration | $125 | At application |
| First-year ACA dues | $75 | Within 30 days of passing |
| Annual renewal dues | $75 | Renewal window: July 1-Sept 30 |
| Recertification petition fee | $30 | At 5-year recertification, if petitioning |
Want the complete line-item breakdown, including how these fees compare across a full certification cycle? See CA Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Treat the $75 first-year dues payment as part of the exam itself - passing the test is only step one of activating your CA credential, and the 30-day clock starts the moment results arrive.
Dates, Windows, and Deadlines
ACA publishes exam windows well in advance, and the next confirmed annual exam window is June 10-12, 2027, with the corresponding application period running March 1-April 30, 2027. Because the exam is administered virtually, your specific appointment slot within that window depends on scheduling availability, so applying early in the window matters more than it might for an in-person test.
For a calendar-style breakdown of every deadline, including how the application period lines up with study planning, check CA Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Question Format and Scoring Logic
Every question on the CA exam is multiple-choice with a single correct answer - there are no multi-select, matching, or essay components. That simplicity is a gift: your job is pattern recognition and elimination, not creative writing. Because there's no penalty for guessing, never leave a question blank. Even a partially-informed guess carries the same expected value as a fully confident answer when you're running short on time.
With 100 questions and a three-hour limit, you have roughly 1.8 minutes per question on average - but real pacing isn't uniform. Some Domain 2 (Arrangement and Description) questions involving standards or schema names take longer to parse than straightforward Domain 7 ethics scenarios. Build in a mental buffer by answering every question you're sure of first, flagging harder ones, and returning at the end.
If you're unsure exactly how many questions you need right to pass, or how the raw score converts, read CA Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass before exam day - don't guess at the scoring model, know it.
Key Takeaway
Answer every one of the 100 questions - guessing costs nothing, and an unanswered question is guaranteed to be wrong.
Recertification Cheat Sheet
Certification isn't a one-time event. Every five years, Certified Archivists must recertify through one of two paths:
- 60 Continuing Education Credits (CECs) plus a petition, which carries a $30 petition fee.
- Retaking and passing the examination again, if you'd rather demonstrate current knowledge directly.
Anyone recertifying in 2026 or 2027 has transition options between the old and new requirement structures, so double-check which set of rules applies to your specific recertification year before submitting CEC documentation or a petition.
Annual dues of $75 must stay current throughout each five-year cycle - lapsed dues can complicate recertification even if your CECs are in order. If you're weighing whether the ongoing dues and recertification cycle make the credential worthwhile for your career stage, Is the CA Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 covers that tradeoff in depth, and CA Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis looks at how the credential factors into compensation conversations with employers.
Last-Week Review Schedule
In the final stretch before your exam window, resist the urge to start new material. Instead, rotate through the eight domains using short, focused review blocks - this is the one place a generic study technique (timed review blocks) earns its spot here, because it maps directly onto CA's domain structure.
Core Practice Domains
- Review Selection and Appraisal criteria and terminology
- Drill Arrangement and Description standards and finding-aid components
Service and Protection Domains
- Review Reference Services and Access policies
- Refresh Preservation and Protection environmental standards
Program and Ethics Domains
- Review Outreach, Advocacy, and Marketing concepts
- Revisit Managing Archival Programs and Professional, Ethical, and Legal Responsibilities
Cultural Competency and Full Review
- Focus on Cultural Competency scenarios and terminology
- Take a full-length timed practice run under exam conditions
For a complete week-by-week prep plan rather than just the final review stretch, see CA Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. And if you want to gauge readiness with realistic practice questions before committing to an exam date, the full-length simulations on our CA practice test platform mirror the domain distribution and multiple-choice format you'll see on exam day.
Who Actually Hires for the CA Credential
The Certified Archivist designation shows up most often in job postings from university special collections, state and municipal archives, historical societies, corporate records programs, and religious or institutional archives. Hiring managers in these settings use "CA" as shorthand that a candidate has demonstrated competency across all eight domains - not just graduate coursework. If you're mapping the credential to actual job titles and postings, CA Jobs is a useful companion read, and CA Training covers preparatory coursework options some candidates pursue before applying.
Frequently Asked Questions
The exam has 100 multiple-choice questions with a three-hour time limit, and there's no penalty for guessing, so answer every question.
Registration is $125. If you pass, you also pay $75 in first-year ACA membership dues within 30 days of receiving results to activate the credential.
Under current application guidance, there are no education or work prerequisites required to apply and sit for the exam.
Eight domains: Selection and Appraisal; Arrangement and Description; Reference Services and Access; Preservation and Protection; Outreach, Advocacy, and Marketing; Managing Archival Programs; Professional, Ethical, and Legal Responsibilities; and Cultural Competency.
Every five years, through either 60 Continuing Education Credits plus a petition (with a $30 petition fee) or by passing the exam again. Those recertifying in 2026 or 2027 have transition options between old and new requirements.
The next published annual exam window is June 10-12, 2027, with applications open March 1-April 30, 2027.