Candidates who do not follow NCARB’s rules and security measures are subject to our policy on exam candidate conduct. 

The NCARB Board of Directors has created the Policy for the ARE: Exam Candidate Conduct  (Updated January 2019) to establish procedures in the case of candidate misconduct while preparing for, taking, or after taking the ARE.  

Exam candidate misconduct includes, but is not limited to, the particular violations described in the document, any other violation of ARE test center regulations, and any other misconduct, inappropriate behavior, or breach of examination security. The Board anticipates that these procedures will be applicable to most exam candidate misconduct. Nevertheless, the Board reserves the right to impose any sanction it believes appropriate, either more or less than those noted below. Action taken by the NCARB Board of Directors is final and non-appealable. In addition, if the individual subsequently seeks NCARB certification, the matter will be considered in deciding whether to grant NCARB certification.

The ARE is copyrighted. At the time each candidate takes the ARE, they also enter into the ARE Candidate Agreement affirming, among other things, not to copy, disclose, or obtain any ARE questions or their content. Copying, disclosing, or obtaining test questions or any other examination content is a violation of NCARB’s copyright and the ARE Candidate Agreement. In addition to the sanctions described in the Policy for the ARE: Exam Candidate Conduct, where warranted, NCARB may pursue all legal remedies available to recover monetary damages caused by such conduct and to enjoin violations of its rights with respect to the ARE.

Upon discovery of any exam candidate misconduct in any category, NCARB shall have the authority to place a “hold” on pending scores and all open exam eligibilities to test and cancel any scheduled exam(s) pending further investigation, review by NCARB’s Professional Conduct Committee (PCC), and action by NCARB’s Board of Directors if applicable. If no action is taken or only a warning letter is issued, NCARB will reopen any closed eligibilities to test and assist the candidate in rescheduling the canceled exam(s) at no additional cost to the candidate.

Review all of NCARB's ARE policies in the ARE 5.0 Guidelines.