100+ Free LARE Section 1 Practice Questions

LARE Section 1, titled Inventory, Analysis, and Project Management, tests how landscape architects gather and interpret site information and manage projects. The CLARB blueprint divides it into five areas: Physical Analysis (39%), Inventory and Data Collection (21%), Contextual Analysis (19%), Stakeholder Engagement Process (14%), and Project Management (7%). Physical Analysis is by far the heaviest area, covering topography, soils, hydrology, microclimate, and vegetation. The section emphasizes interpreting existing conditions, regulatory context, and stakeholder input before any design work begins.

LARE Section 1 contains approximately 90 scored items, along with a number of unscored pretest items that CLARB uses to develop future exams. The exam is computer-based and delivered at Prometric test centers. Candidates are scheduled for an appointment of roughly three hours. Item types include traditional multiple-choice questions, where you select one answer, and multiple-response questions, where you must select two or more correct answers. Selecting all correct responses, and no incorrect ones, is required to receive credit on multiple-response items.

LARE sections are scored using a criterion-referenced, scaled scoring method, and candidates must achieve a scaled score of at least 650 to pass each section, including Section 1. Because scoring is criterion-referenced, you are measured against an established standard of minimum competency rather than against other candidates. Your raw number of correct answers is converted to the scaled score, so the exact number of questions you must answer correctly can vary slightly between exam forms. CLARB reports results as pass or fail with diagnostic feedback by content area.

The examination fee is charged per section, and Section 1 costs approximately $535, paid to CLARB when you schedule. Additional costs may include CLARB Council Record fees and any fees required by your individual licensing jurisdiction. Because the LARE has four separately passed sections, the total examination cost to complete all four is roughly four times the per-section fee, plus record and jurisdiction fees. Always confirm current fees directly with CLARB, since fees are periodically updated.

The four LARE sections, Inventory/Analysis/Project Management (Section 1), Planning and Design (Section 2), Construction Documentation and Administration (Section 3), and Grading/Drainage/Stormwater (Section 4), may be taken in any order and are passed independently. Many candidates begin with Section 1 because it covers the early project phases of inventory and analysis that logically precede design and documentation. Others sequence sections around their work experience, taking the sections that align with their current responsibilities first. There is no required order, so choose the sequence that fits your preparation and schedule.

LARE Section 1 uses objective, computer-scored item types: multiple-choice questions, where you choose one best answer from four options, and multiple-response questions, where two or more options are correct and you must select all of them. Unlike the later, more graphic sections, Section 1 does not rely on hand-drawn graphics; it is fully objective and auto-scored. This makes Section 1 well suited to traditional practice-question study. Reading each prompt carefully to determine whether one or multiple answers are expected is an important test-taking skill.

Focus your study time proportionally to the blueprint weights, giving the most attention to Physical Analysis (39%) and Inventory and Data Collection (21%). Build fluency in reading topographic surveys, calculating slope, interpreting soils and hydrology data, and using GIS and survey sources. Review zoning and regulatory overlays, circulation and context analysis, and public engagement frameworks such as the IAP2 spectrum. Round out preparation with project-management fundamentals like scope, fees, scheduling, and risk. Practice with timed questions to build pacing, and use the CLARB orientation guide and blueprint as your primary references.

Yes. Passing all four sections of the LARE, including Section 1, is required to become a licensed (registered) landscape architect in the jurisdictions that use the LARE across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands. Each individual licensing board also sets its own education and experience eligibility requirements that you must meet before or around the time you take the exam. Passing the LARE demonstrates the minimum competency needed to protect public health, safety, and welfare in landscape architecture practice.