NCARB to Launch Exam Portal in My NCARB

In late August 2013, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) will launch a new portal within My NCARB for Architect Registration Examination® (ARE®) candidates to access their examination information and schedule appointments. The new portal will be located within your NCARB Record and will offer several benefits, such as easy access to your:

• Exam history
• Authorization to test information
• Rolling clock dates
• Score reports

The portal will be the place where you schedule exam appointments going forward. You will no longer be able to schedule exams by calling Prometric or through Prometric’s website.

More information will be available to you in the months to come regarding the portal, how to use it, how to access it, all of its benefits, and more.

2013 Blackout: Begins 1 July 2013
As announced in September 2011, Alpine Testing Solutions, Inc. will take over content and candidate management for the ARE, and Prometric will continue to be the Council’s site management consultant beginning 1 July 2013.

In order to facilitate the migration of data to the new consultant, there will be an estimated eight-week blackout for candidates. This means:

• No exam appointments may be scheduled for on or after 1 July 2013 until the blackout ends in late-August 2013.
• There will be no exams administered beginning 1 July 2013 until the blackout ends.
• The last day to take an exam before the blackout will be 30 June 2013.
• The last batch of exams taken on or before 30 June 2013 will be scored by Prometric prior to the data migration to the new consultant.
• The last day to contact Prometric to receive authorization to test or candidate ID numbers will be 30 June 2013.
• Staff at your state board will not have access to the candidate database during the blackout so it will not be able to enter or create exam eligibilities or update your name or address information during this time.

There will be no changes to exam content post-blackout. However, the process to schedule an exam appointment and receive score reports will be different.

ARE Rolling Clock
For all candidates, NCARB will grant an automatic 12–week extension to the rolling clock post-blackout. If you are eligible to test through a jurisdiction with its own rolling clock rules, please contact your board to see how the blackout may impact you.

Planning for the Blackout
In spring 2013, NCARB will have several resources available to introduce the new processes for the ARE. In the meantime, here are some things you should do over the next several months:

• Review your ARE plan and see if it will be affected by an eight-week blackout.
• Find your candidate ID and authorization to test numbers. Both are available on your past ARE score reports.
• If you can’t find a past score report, you will need to contact your state board prior to 30 June 2013 to compile this information.
• This information may be required to gain access to your exam information in My NCARB.
• Make sure your NCARB Record is active. An NCARB Record has been required for newly eligible candidates to take the ARE since May 2008. Post-blackout, you will only be able to schedule ARE appointments through your NCARB Record. In addition, all future score reports will be distributed electronically in your Record.

Reminder: ARE Policy Changes

Authorization to Test Policy Change
As of 1 January 2011, exam candidates must take a division of the ARE (pass or fail) once every five years to keep their Authorization to Test (ATT) valid.

Authorization will not become inactive if the applicant tests and fails; it will only become inactive if the applicant does not take at least one division every five years. Candidates whose authorizations have become inactive will need to establish new eligibilities under the then current procedures of their registration boards.

ARE Divisions Passed Prior to 2006
When the ARE Rolling Clock was implemented on 1 January 2006, all exam divisions passed prior to 1 January 2006 were exempt from the rolling clock. In June 2009, NCARB’s Member Boards voted to have all exempt divisions expire on 1 July 2014 if the candidate hasn’t passed all divisions of the ARE.

If you have divisions that are currently exempt because you passed them prior to 1 January 2006, you will need to complete all divisions of the ARE by 1 July 2014 to prevent them from being affected by this policy. If you do not pass all divisions by 1 July 2014, be advised you may be further impacted by the transition to ARE 4.0 and have additional divisions to pass.

Learn more about the rolling clock here, and the transition to ARE 4.0 here.

Attention Canadian ARE Candidates

For almost 20 years, NCARB has supported the inclusion of Canadian documents, standards, codes, and terms in all divisions of the ARE. Due to the recent creation and administration of the Examination for Architects in Canada (ExAC), the number of Canadian candidates taking the ARE has significantly declined. After analyzing this shift in administrations, the NCARB Board of Directors has determined that effective July 2013 the ARE will no longer include the references to Canadian content. The ARE will, however, continue to be delivered in Canada by our testing partner, Prometric, to those Canadian candidates that wish to write the ARE.

If you wish to complete the ARE to satisfy the examination requirement for initial licensure and NCARB certification and prefer to test based on the current examination content (which includes the Canadian references), you still have the opportunity to do so until 30 June 2013. In the event that you fail a division of the ARE, you must still wait a minimum of six months to retest the same division.

If you have any additional questions about this change or how it may impact your licensure process, please contact your provincial or territorial association directly. For a list of contact information, please visit the Canadian Provincial Associations page.

Changed your name?
Exam security is important, so the name on your Authorization to Test letter must match the name on your identification exactly. If you've changed your name, you'll need to update your testing information prior to scheduling an examination. If you arrive at the test center and your ID does not match your Authorization to Test, you may not be permitted to test and no refund will be granted.