ASE A1 passing score and test rules

A1 facts at a glance

Passing score

ASE releases neither a cut score nor the questions you missed, so neither a percentage nor a count of right answers can be checked against an official number. The pass marks quoted on forums and prep sites are not ASE figures.

What does count is narrower than the question total: only the 45 scored questions. The 10 research items are mixed in with nothing to mark them, so treat every question as one that counts.

Results come by email as you finish. The copy in myASE can lag, and ASE's own pages give two different times for it; both are in the table above.

Format

Four-option multiple choice; the 2026 sample questions ask “Which of these could be the cause?” or pair “Technician A says … Technician B says …”; questions with special instructions, such as EXCEPT, carry the same instructions on the test. Every question has a Spanish version on screen.

Time

75 minutes for 55 questions is a little under a minute and a half each. Diagnosis questions with a compression chart or a meter reading take longer to read, so bank time on the short recall questions.

Where you take it

• Test center: first attempt at a Prometric test center only; remote testing is for recertification.
• Offered in: US and Canada, plus some overseas military bases.
• Booking: 90 days from purchase to schedule and take the test; no changes within 3 days of the appointment.
• If plans change: a test you haven't taken can be canceled for a refund within 90 days of purchase, as long as it hasn't expired.
• Window open now: Oct 10–Dec 31 (fall 2026).

Retakes

A failed A1 can't be bought again for 30 days, counted in full days. The retake is a new purchase: as of Oct 2026 that is $96 if the A1 is the only test in the order, because the registration fee is charged again per order. The arithmetic for adding it to another order is on the A1 cost page.

Recertification

A certificate lasts 5 years, then a recertification test, and a recertification resets the expiry to five years from the recert date. Your choices: test center, remote proctoring (Prometric ProProctor) or the ASE Renewal App.

• Recertification test: 23 questions, 30 minutes; no research questions; open only to those who passed the certification test once.
• Renewal App: $52/yr, one subscription for every A-series certificate you hold.

On list fees, one recertification order costs less than five years of the app ($260), even an order capped at $220 for several tests. What the app saves is the test day, not money: A1 recertification cost.

Work experience

Certification needs 2 years of full-time hands-on work (or the part-time equivalent), and you can test first; the certificate waits until the experience is approved.

Approved training can count toward the 2 years; each route and its limit is listed under ASE certification requirements.

What changed in 2026

Against the 2025 edition the A1 is shorter (50 → 45 scored), and the weight moved between areas: general diagnosis grew from 15 to 18 questions; head and block fell from 10 to 6 and 4; piston and ring measuring tasks were dropped. The area-by-area table and the cut tasks are on the study guide page.

More on the A1

• ASE A1 →The 2026 Engine Repair test: format, the five areas, fees and the path to certification
• ASE A1 practice test →Engine repair questions from all five content areas, every option explained
• ASE A1 cost →One A1 attempt, a retake, a shared order and recertification, as of Oct 2026
• ASE A1 study guide →The 2026 task list against older books: what was cut, what grew, a plan by question count
• ASE A1 engine tests →What vacuum, compression, leak-down and pressure test results point to