What Happens If You Fail the CBCS Exam? Retake Policy and Next Steps
If you do not pass the NHA Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) exam on your first try, you are not out of options. NHA’s Candidate Handbook, updated June 2026, allows 3 total attempts, with a minimum 30 day wait required before each retake. Fail all 3 attempts and you must wait 1 full year before you are allowed to sit for the CBCS exam again. Every attempt, including retakes, requires the full exam fee, since NHA does not offer a reduced retake rate. To pass, you need a scaled score of 390 out of a possible 200 to 500 range, the same passing standard NHA applies across its certification exams. Your score report, available within 48 hours if you tested at a PSI testing center or through Live Remote Proctoring, breaks your performance down across the exam’s 4 content domains and rates each one as above, near, or below the passing standard, giving you a specific place to start studying again rather than a single pass or fail number.
What Your CBCS Score Report Actually Shows
Failing an exam without knowing why is the most frustrating version of the outcome, and NHA’s score report is built to prevent that. Once your exam is scored, NHA posts a final score report to your NHA account. If you tested at PSI, either in person or through Live Remote Proctoring, that report is available within 48 hours; if your exam was administered through your training institution, a preliminary report is available immediately, though NHA treats it as preliminary rather than final. Beyond the overall pass or fail result, the report rates your performance in each of the CBCS exam’s 4 major content domains as above, near, or below the passing standard. NHA is explicit that “near” does not mean satisfactory: it means your performance in that domain was close to the standard, not that it met it. Per NHA’s CBCS test plan, the 4 domains are The Revenue Cycle and Regulatory Compliance (15 of 100 scored items), Insurance Eligibility and Other Payer Requirements (20 items), Coding and Coding Guidelines (32 items), and Billing and Reimbursement (33 items), so Coding and Coding Guidelines and Billing and Reimbursement together account for nearly two-thirds of the scored exam and are worth the most attention when you plan a retake.
How Many Times You Can Retake the CBCS Exam
NHA allows 3 attempts with a minimum 30 day wait between each; after a third unsuccessful attempt, every further attempt requires a 12 month wait, with no published cap on total lifetime attempts, as of September 2026. You wait a minimum of 30 days between each of the first 3 attempts before you can reapply. The table below lays out the schedule as NHA’s Candidate Handbook defines it.
| Attempt | Minimum wait before this attempt | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 1st attempt | None | Full exam fee |
| 2nd attempt (1st retake) | 30 days after the 1st attempt | Full exam fee |
| 3rd attempt (2nd retake) | 30 days after the 2nd attempt | Full exam fee |
| 4th attempt and beyond | 1 year after the 3rd attempt | Full exam fee |
What Happens After a Third Failed Attempt
NHA’s policy after a third unsuccessful attempt is a 1 year wait before you can challenge the exam again, and that wait applies to each further attempt if additional failures follow. There is no published fast track around it. The most productive way to treat that year is as dedicated preparation time rather than a pause: the same domain performance data on your third score report still applies, and NHA notes that a candidate’s category rating in one domain on one exam form does not guarantee the same rating on a future attempt, since each exam form redistributes item difficulty differently. A full year gives you room to close real knowledge gaps instead of repeating the same preparation; use the longer window to change how you study, not just when.
How to Prepare for a Retake
Start with the score report, not a general review of everything. Spend the most time on domains rated below or near the passing standard, particularly Coding and Coding Guidelines and Billing and Reimbursement, since together they make up 65 of the exam’s 100 scored items. Do not assume a domain rated above the standard needs no further review either: NHA’s own guidance notes that “above” covers a range, not a fixed high score, so a domain you passed comfortably can still be a source of a few missed items on a retake. Since the CBCS exam has been closed book since September 24, 2024, with coding reference information built into each question rather than looked up in a manual, scenario based practice that mirrors that format matters more than manual lookup speed. Timed practice under the same 180 minute, 125 question conditions also helps rebuild the stamina and pacing a retake requires.
Reapplying for Your Next Attempt
Once your required wait period has passed, log back into your NHA account, apply to retake the certification exam, and submit the full exam fee to schedule your next attempt. You can test again at a PSI testing center in person or through PSI’s Live Remote Proctoring, the same two options available on your first attempt. On NHA’s public certification verification tool, failed attempts and exam scores are not shown. Per the Candidate Handbook, NHA does not disclose exam scores to third parties other than your institution, or where required by law to provide results to regulating agencies, so if you tested through a school, your institution can see your score.
Start full length CBCS practice tests built around the exam’s actual domain weights to target the areas your score report flagged, or try a free CBCS practice test to sample questions across all 4 domains before you commit to a retake date.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many times can you take the CBCS exam?
NHA allows 3 attempts with a minimum 30 day wait between each; after the third unsuccessful attempt, every further attempt requires a 12 month wait. There is no published cap on total lifetime attempts.
How long do you have to wait to retake the CBCS exam after failing?
At least 30 days between each of your first 3 attempts. After a third unsuccessful attempt, the wait extends to 1 full year before you can attempt the exam again.
Do you have to pay again to retake the CBCS exam?
Yes. NHA requires the full exam fee for every attempt, including retakes; there is no reduced retake rate.
How is the CBCS exam scored, and what does the score report show after a fail?
NHA uses a scaled score from 200 to 500, with 390 required to pass. The score report shows your overall result plus a rating of above, near, or below the passing standard for each of the exam’s 4 content domains.
Sources
- NHA Candidate Handbook, nhanow.com (updated June 2026)
- Certified Billing and Coding Specialist (CBCS) certification page, nhanow.com
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