Each candidate is allowed to take the exam three times every 12 months. If you have attempts remaining, you may schedule to take the exam again. We sometimes have a waiting period before you can take the exam again. This occurs only while we are waiting to process information, like scoring a paper exam.  

We recommend you read the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook several times before attempting the knowledge exam. This is more important than being a skilled test-taker, as we have written our questions to require knowledge from the handbook. 

Certification application fees do not including testing fees. Most exams cost either 30 USD for paper exams or 80 USD for computer exams. 

There are two ways to get certified without taking the knowledge exam. For ASEP and CSEP, you may bypass the exam through an academic equivalency. ESEP candidates do not have to take a knowledge exam at all.