How ISA credential exams are delivered: paper, computer, fees and retakes

This page reports what the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) says on its own pages and in its program guides. It is not advice on which credential to take. The guide on ISA credentials, step by step covers what each credential is. This page covers the sitting itself: where it happens, who runs it, what it costs and what happens after a miss.

Where exams are held

ISA's Exam Information page says a sitting is either put on by one of ISA's certification partner organizations or held at a Pearson VUE center. ISA's credentials overview page gives the same two options: a paper exam run by a chapter or affiliated organization, or a computer exam at a Pearson VUE facility. ISA says candidates with a valid and approved application can view, search and enroll for available examination events in its credentialing system. For local sittings it points candidates to their local ISA Certification Partner, and for computer-based centers it links Pearson VUE's locator.

The route differs by credential, according to the program guides:

Credential	How ISA's guide says it is delivered
Certified Arborist	Paper through a local ISA Certification Partner, or computer at a Pearson VUE center.
Certified Tree Climber	Written part by partner or Pearson VUE. The skills part is held only at an event that an ISA certification partner sponsors.
Certified Arborist Utility Specialist	Paper through a partner, or computer at Pearson VUE.
Certified Urban Forest Professional	Paper through a partner, or computer at Pearson VUE.
Board Certified Master Arborist	Computer only, at Pearson VUE centers.
Tree Risk Assessment Qualification	Course and exams through an ISA TRAQ host. A written retake alone can be taken on computer.

Dates: what ISA publishes

ISA's Exam Information page, read October 8, 2026, carries no table of sitting dates. The dates sit in ISA's credentialing system, which an approved applicant can search. This page therefore lists no sittings. Chapters publish their own details. The ISA Hong Kong chapter's examination page, last updated September 1, 2026, says its application deadline is 12 US business days before the scheduled exam date. The Arkansas Urban Forestry Council's page for a 2026 prep workshop on July 31, 2026 gives a separate ISA exam registration deadline of July 9, 2026, 22 days ahead of the workshop day. Both show that a chapter's deadline can fall well before the sitting.

The steps, in ISA's order

Application. ISA's guides say the first step is an application through ISA's online credentialing portal, with the Code of Ethics and the Credentialing Agreement accepted at that point, and proof of experience attached where the credential needs it.
Review. ISA says submitted applications are reviewed within five US business days, with approval by email. Only approved applicants can enroll in an exam.
Enrollment. The fee is paid at enrollment. The guides say the enrollment fee is the same whichever exam environment is picked.
Computer-based sittings. ISA gives a 120-day authorization period in which to schedule and take the exam at Pearson VUE.
Arrival. The Certified Arborist guide says candidates arrive 30 minutes before the start and show two forms of valid identification, one with a photo and one with a signature.

ISA's Exam Information page says it gives no refunds for exam enrollments and offers no onsite registration: only candidates enrolled and confirmed can sit on a given site, date and place.

Fees ISA lists

Fee	ISA member or credential holder	Everyone else
Application	US$40	US$50
Exam enrollment, most certifications	US$295	US$369
Exam enrollment, Board Certified Master Arborist	US$495	ISA's Exam Information page gives US$495 with no second figure
Retake, most certifications	US$120	US$120
Retake, Board Certified Master Arborist	US$220	Not published
Reschedule outside the 120-day window, or a paper sitting	US$50	US$50
Hand regrade of a paper exam	US$50	US$50

ISA's Common Questions page says members and current credential holders get a 20 percent discount on specified fees. One difference between ISA's own pages: the Exam Information page and every program guide give US$369 as the standard exam enrollment fee, while the fee table on the Common Questions page prints US$396 in the same cell. This page uses the figure from the Exam Information page and the guides. Tree Risk Assessment Qualification course prices are set by each host, according to ISA's TRAQ guide and Common Questions page.

Rescheduling, no-shows and retakes

Computer-based: the Certified Arborist guide says an appointment can be moved at no cost inside the 120-day period if the request comes at least one US business day before it. A move outside the period costs US$50.
Paper: requests to move a partner-sponsored sitting must reach ISA at least 16 days before the exam date, with a US$50 fee.
No-show: the guide says a missed appointment, or a failure to schedule inside the 120 days, forfeits all exam fees, and the next attempt carries the US$120 retake fee.
Cancelled paper sittings: ISA reserves the right to cancel a paper event that misses its minimum enrollment. The guide says the enrollment then moves to pending and can go to another paper event, or to a computer-based exam at no additional charge.
Retake: after a fail, the Certified Arborist guide says a retake can come 30 days after the most recent attempt, with the US$120 fee for each attempt on paper or computer. Under the Climber guide, a candidate retakes only the component not passed, the written or the skills part. The TRAQ guide sets US$120 for each exam component for up to one year from the original course start, after which the full program must be repeated.

Results and languages

The Certified Arborist guide says computer-based exams give a result on completion and formal results are posted to the candidate's account within four weeks of the sitting. ISA's Common Questions page says posting and mailing take four to six weeks. ISA says question-level results are never released. The Common Questions page says the Certified Arborist exam is offered in French (Canadian), Traditional Chinese and Spanish as well as English, and the Certified Tree Climber exam in Traditional Chinese, Japanese and Spanish.