How Certification Exam Retakes Work

Fail a CompTIA exam this morning and you can, in principle, book a second attempt for this afternoon. Fail a CISSP attempt and you are locked out for 30 days. Same failure, wildly different rules — because every certification body writes its own retake policy, and the differences are big enough to change your rebooking plans by weeks.

This article is the policy reference: the waiting periods, fees and attempt limits across the major providers, and the fine print that catches people out. If you are deciding when within your allowed window you should actually rebook, that judgement call has its own guide: how long to wait before retaking an exam.

What a "retake" actually is

Administratively, a retake is indistinguishable from a first attempt. You register again through the same channel (usually Pearson VUE for CompTIA, Microsoft, AWS, Cisco, ISC2 and PMI exams), pay again or redeem a new voucher, and sit the same exam under the same conditions. The provider's systems know it is a repeat attempt — that is how waiting periods and attempt caps are enforced — but the exam itself does not get easier, shorter or cheaper.

Three policy levers vary by provider:

1. Waiting period — the minimum time between a failed attempt and the next booking.
2. Fee treatment — almost always full price again; a few programmes sell retake insurance upfront.
3. Attempt cap — some providers limit attempts per rolling 12-month period; others rely on escalating waits alone.

What happened to the money from your failed sitting is a separate (and shorter) story — covered in what happens to your exam fee if you fail.

Retake waiting periods by provider

The spread is wide, so check your specific provider rather than assuming an industry norm.

Provider	Wait after 1st fail	Wait after later fails	Attempt cap
CompTIA	None	14 calendar days from 3rd attempt onwards	No stated cap
Microsoft	24 hours	14 days between subsequent attempts	5 attempts per 12 months
AWS	14 calendar days	14 calendar days	No limit on attempts
Cisco (written exams)	5 calendar days	5 calendar days	No stated cap
Cisco (expert-level labs)	30 calendar days	30 calendar days	No stated cap
ISC2	30 test-free days	60 days after 2nd, 90 days after 3rd+	4 attempts per 12 months
PMI (PMP)	Retakes within 1-year eligibility window	—	3 attempts per eligibility year

Sources for each row are the providers' own policy pages, listed at the end of this article. A few rows deserve unpacking.

CompTIA: no wait for the second attempt

CompTIA's retake policy is the most permissive at the start: there is no waiting period between your first and second attempt at exams such as A+, Network+ or Security+ (SY0-701). From the third attempt onwards, you must wait at least 14 calendar days. There is no stated cap on total attempts, but CompTIA is explicit that it "does not offer any free re-tests or discounts on retakes" — every sitting needs a new full-price voucher, unless you bought a voucher-plus-retake bundle upfront. One more rule: you cannot re-sit an exam code you have already passed without CompTIA's approval.

Microsoft: short first wait, hard annual cap

Microsoft lets you rebook 24 hours after a first fail, then imposes 14 days between all subsequent attempts. The distinctive feature is the cap: a maximum of five attempts per exam in any 12-month period, with the window resetting 12 months after your first attempt. Microsoft can waive limits for documented connectivity or equipment failures during online exams — worth knowing if your OnVUE session collapsed mid-test through no fault of yours.

AWS: a flat fortnight, and a two-year rule after passing

AWS applies a single, uniform rule: 14 calendar days after any fail, no limit on total attempts, full fee each time. Two quirks matter. First, the 50% discount voucher AWS grants for passing an exam cannot be used to soften a retake after a fail — it applies only to future exams while you hold an active certification. Second, once you pass an AWS exam, you cannot retake that same exam for two years (except when a new version is released).

ISC2: escalating waits and a four-attempt ceiling

ISC2 (CISSP, CCSP, SSCP, CC) uses the harshest ladder: 30 test-free days after a first attempt, 60 after a second, 90 after a third and any later attempt, and no more than four attempts per certification in a 12-month period. Fail a CISSP attempt three times in a year and your fourth is realistically your last for a while — which is why ISC2 candidates tend to treat readiness assessment far more seriously before rebooking.

PMI: attempts tied to an eligibility window

The PMP works differently because eligibility itself expires. Once PMI approves your application you get a one-year eligibility window with up to three attempts inside it. Fail all three and you must wait a year before reapplying for the same certification. Secondary sources report PMI's re-examination fees are lower than first-attempt fees — one of the few programmes where a retake costs less — but exact figures shift, so confirm current pricing on pmi.org.

What does a retake cost?

For most providers, exactly what the first attempt cost. CompTIA and AWS both state full price per attempt as policy; Microsoft and Cisco likewise sell each sitting separately. The main exceptions are bought in advance rather than granted after the fact: CompTIA sells voucher-and-retake bundles for exams such as Security+, and Microsoft has offered "Exam Replay"-style retake bundles through its deals page (availability varies — check learn.microsoft.com/credentials before relying on it). PMI's discounted re-examination fee is the notable after-the-fact exception.

Actual per-provider retake prices, and whether a retake bundle is worth buying before your first attempt, are detailed separately in how much it costs to retake a certification exam. And if you paid with a voucher, note that failing consumes it entirely — a second attempt needs a second voucher.