CRES Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling

The Two Regular Testing Windows

The Certified Radiology Equipment Specialist (CRES) credential is offered by the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) through its ACI certification program. Unlike many credentials that let you test almost any day of the year, CRES is built around fixed testing windows. There are two regular windows annually:

Each window is only about two weeks long, so the practical planning unit is not "which day do I feel ready" but "which window am I aiming for, and when is the application cutoff." Missing a deadline does not cost you a few days. It can cost you roughly six months, until the next window opens.

If you are still deciding whether this credential fits your career, the overview in What Is CRES Certification? explains the credential, and CRES Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify covers who can sit for it.

The November 1-15, 2026 Window in Detail

For candidates targeting the fall 2026 administration, the published dates are:

• Testing window: November 1-15, 2026
• Application deadline: October 16, 2026
• Late registration closes: October 23, 2026, with a $50 late fee

Notice the gap between the standard deadline and the late cutoff: one week. That week is a safety net, not a plan. Late registration adds $50 on top of the exam fee, and it compresses the time you have to secure an appointment at a testing center. Because the testing window is so short, appointment availability at a convenient Kryterion location can be limited, especially for candidates who apply at the last minute.

Because the application also involves documenting your qualifications, give yourself time before October 16 to gather paperwork, particularly if you are claiming a degree or military-program pathway, where documentation is required.

Deadlines, Late Fees, and Exam Fees

The dates and the money are tightly linked, so it helps to see them together. The published exam fees are:

The gap between member and nonmember pricing is $50 on each fee, which is worth weighing against the cost of AAMI membership if you are on the fence. For a full breakdown including renewal costs, see CRES Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

A few practical notes on how fees interact with timing:

• Paying the late fee stacks on top of the exam fee, so a nonmember registering late would be paying $460 plus $50.
• Retake pricing applies if you need to test again, which means a failed attempt carries both a financial cost and a wait for the next window.
• Fees and deadlines can be updated by AAMI, so verify them on the official AAMI certifications page before you pay.

Settle Eligibility Before You Pick a Date

Dates only matter if you qualify to use them. The most common planning mistake is choosing a testing window first and discovering an eligibility gap afterward. CRES offers three routes to full eligibility:

1. An associate degree or higher in electronics, technology, or science, plus two years of full-time biomedical equipment technician (BMET) experience.
2. A U.S. military biomedical equipment technology program, plus two years of full-time BMET experience.
3. Four years of full-time BMET experience.

On top of the pathway, there is a specialty-focus requirement: at least 40% of your work experience during the preceding two years, or 25% during the preceding five years, must be in the designated specialty, which here means radiology equipment. If your day-to-day work is mostly general biomedical repair with only occasional imaging service, run the numbers on your actual duties before you commit to a window.

Many candidates sit for the exam while still building toward full certification, so your testing window and your eligibility timeline are two separate clocks. For the complete rules, read CRES Requirements 2026 before locking in a date.

How Scheduling Works: Webassessor and Kryterion

The CRES exam is delivered by computer at approved Kryterion testing centers, and appointments are scheduled through Webassessor, Kryterion's scheduling portal. This is an in-person, center-based exam. It is not a remote-proctored, test-from-home format, so you should plan travel, parking, arrival time, and time off work accordingly.

A sensible sequence looks like this:

1. Confirm eligibility against your chosen pathway and the specialty-focus percentages.
2. Submit your application to AAMI/ACI before the application deadline for your target window, with any required degree or military documentation.
3. Pay the exam fee at the member or nonmember rate.
4. Schedule through Webassessor once you are cleared, choosing a Kryterion testing center and a time inside the window.
5. Confirm your appointment details and review the identification and testing-center rules provided with your confirmation.

Because the window is short, look at testing-center locations early. If the nearest Kryterion center is a long drive, you may want to budget a travel day, particularly for a three-hour exam where fatigue matters.

What You Are Scheduling: Format and Content

Picking a date is easier when you understand what the exam day will demand. The CRES exam is closed-book, with 165 multiple-choice questions and a three-hour time limit. A simple calculator is permitted, which matters for the electricity and electronics material where quick arithmetic on circuits and signal values can come up.

Three hours for 165 questions leaves a little over a minute per item on average, so pacing is a real skill rather than an afterthought. Questions are practical and scenario-oriented in tone, reflecting the work of a technician supporting imaging systems, so you are rewarded for applied reasoning rather than rote definitions.

The Six Content Areas

AAMI labels all six percentages approximate. The examination is organized around these domains:

Domains 3, 4, and 5 are each approximately 25%, together roughly 75% of the exam. That concentration should shape how you use your time between now and your window. For a deeper walk-through, see CRES Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 6 Content Areas.

Choosing Between May and November

With only two windows, the decision comes down to readiness, workload, and eligibility timing rather than preference. Consider these factors:

• Your eligibility milestone. If you will cross a work-experience threshold (for example, completing two or four years of BMET experience) between windows, align your test to the window after that milestone.
• Your work calendar. Both windows fall at the start of a month for about two weeks. If your department has predictable busy periods, such as equipment upgrades or fiscal-year-end projects, avoid stacking exam week on top of them.
• Your starting point. A technician already servicing imaging equipment daily will need less runway than someone moving into radiology from general biomedical work. Be honest about the gap; How Hard Is the CRES Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 can help you calibrate.
• Retake buffer. If you test in May and need a second attempt, the next regular window is November. Testing in November leaves May as your retake. Neither choice is better, but knowing the cadence helps you plan around employer expectations or promotion timelines.

It is also worth understanding how a result is judged. CRES uses a criterion-referenced standard set through the modified Angoff method, not a guessed fixed percentage. For more on what that means, see CRES Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass, and for outcome context, CRES Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.

Working Backward from Your Window

The one place generic planning earns its keep is in sequencing the domains. Because the three co-largest areas carry roughly 75% of the exam, schedule them for the most time and the earliest start, and let the smaller domains fill the remaining gaps. Here is an example for a candidate preparing across the final weeks before an application deadline and testing window:

Adjust the length of this plan to your own baseline, then count backward from the application deadline, not from exam day. For resources and structure, see CRES Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and use CRES Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts for last-week review. When you are ready to test yourself under realistic conditions, the CRES practice tests are built around the exam's multiple-choice format.

After the Exam: Retakes, Candidate Status, and Renewal

Your testing window is the beginning of the credential's lifecycle, not the end. Three timing details are worth knowing now.

If You Need a Retake

Retakes cost $355 for members and $405 for nonmembers. Because testing is tied to the May and November windows, a retake generally means waiting for a later window and applying again by its deadline, so build that possibility into any employer or promotion timeline.

Candidate Status and the Five-Year Clock

If you tested under candidate status, you have five years to meet the full-certification requirements. That is a long runway, but it is still a deadline; track it from the start rather than discovering it late.

Renewal Timing

Maintaining the credential requires at least 30 ACI CEUs in a three-year reporting cycle, including at least 15 in Category IV: Professional Development. You report through My Active CEU Journal and pay $100 for members or $150 for nonmembers. The current FAQ requires the CEUs to be earned by December 31 of the recertification year.

For the initial cycle, do not calculate your own expiration date from an assumption. Earlier handbook language described the first cycle as the remainder of the certification year plus three full calendar years ending December 31, but that detail could not be re-verified against the current handbook. Use the actual expiration date that ACI assigns to you.

Thinking about what the credential does for you after you pass? See Is the CRES Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026, CRES Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis, and CRES Jobs for the career side of the decision.

Frequently Asked Questions