1.1 Current Exam Facts

Current Exam Facts for ARRT Mammography

Quick Answer: The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) Mammography exam is a postprimary credential. The 2026 Postprimary Eligibility Pathway Handbook lists 115 scored items plus 30 unscored pilots (145 items on screen), 150 minutes of test time, and a 170-minute Pearson VUE appointment. Passing is a scaled score of 75 on a 1–99 scale, not 75 percent. The postprimary application fee is $225. Content specifications that took effect September 1, 2025 govern current forms.

The ARRT Mammography examination is how a Registered Technologist (R.T.) adds the (M) discipline after already holding Radiography. After ARRT posts the credential, the usual listing is R.T.(R)(M)(ARRT). This section is the published logistics map: item counts, clocks, delivery vendor, passing rule, and the application fee that belongs to the first attempt. Later sections cover eligibility, retakes, and the scored blueprint. Do not skip the logistics. Candidates lose attempts by studying an old item count, treating 75 as a percentage, or arriving for a 150-minute block when Pearson VUE reserved 170.

What postprimary means on exam day

ARRT splits certification into primary and postprimary pathways. Primary exams are first credentials (Radiography, Nuclear Medicine Technology, Radiation Therapy, and the primary versions of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Sonography, and Vascular Sonography). Mammography is not a primary exam. It sits with other postprimary disciplines such as Computed Tomography, Bone Densitometry, Breast Sonography, and Vascular Interventional Radiography.

That status changes three things you will feel before you ever see a craniocaudal image on a practice test. First, you cannot apply until Radiography is already certified and registered and you remain inside ARRT ethics compliance. Second, the fee line you use is the postprimary line, not a student primary package. Third, ARRT assumes general radiography knowledge is already in place. The Mammography exam still tests mammography-specific patient communication, digital acquisition, quality assurance, anatomy, pathology, and positioning. It does not replay the entire Radiography content outline.

Postprimary also means the handbook that owns the timing row is the Postprimary Eligibility Pathway Handbook, not a primary-program student handbook. If a classmate quotes Radiography appointment minutes, those minutes are for a different exam.

Item counts you will actually see

ARRT’s Examination Content Specifications for Mammography (Board approved July 2024; implementation date September 1, 2025) set 115 scored questions. A footnote on that document states that the exam also includes 30 unscored (pilot) questions. Pilots are not labeled. They appear at random among the scored items. Your answers on pilots help ARRT build later forms; they do not raise or lower the scaled score.

115 + 30 = 145 items on the screen. ARRT’s November 6, 2024 content-specification announcement is explicit that scored volume stayed at 115 while pilots increased from 25 to 30. An older card that says 140 total items is describing the pre-September 2025 form. Do not drill to 140.

Do not confuse those 115 scored items with the size of any commercial bank, including this site’s practice inventory. Official exam-question figures describe the real ARRT exam. Practice-set length is a study tool, not a substitute for the handbook row.

Handbook timing: test time versus appointment time

The 2026 Postprimary Eligibility Pathway Handbook is the source for the Mammography timing row. Test time is the clock that runs while you answer the 145 items: 150 minutes. Appointment time is longer because Pearson VUE also seats you for a tutorial, a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), and a post-exam survey.

One hundred fifty minutes for 145 items is about one minute per item with a thin reserve. You can flag and return, but the 150-minute exam clock is the exam clock. Confirm current Pearson VUE break rules when you schedule; do not assume the tutorial minutes can be rolled onto the exam. The eight-minute tutorial is the last low-stakes moment to practice strikeout, highlighter, and the review screen.

The exam is computer-based at Pearson VUE professional centers. ARRT does not publish a take-home or remotely proctored Mammography option on the postprimary handbook row you are studying to. Bring the identification the current handbook and Pearson VUE list. A name mismatch can cost the seat and still consume attempt-window time.

Passing score: 75 is a scale, not a percent

ARRT scores Mammography on a 1 to 99 scale. You need a total scaled score of 75 to pass. ARRT’s exam-scoring pages repeat that 75 is not 75% correct and that the raw number of correct answers needed for a 75 can differ across forms. An easier form can require a few more correct answers; a harder form can require a few fewer. The scaled 75 is meant to represent the same performance standard.

You will see a preliminary scaled score at the test center. ARRT states that official results typically appear in your online account in about 10 business days. The preliminary printout is not the certificate. Score-report section numbers (0.1–9.9) are diagnostic only; they are taught in the scoring section of this chapter.

Application fee that belongs to this sitting

ARRT’s public fees page lists the postprimary application fee as $225. Mammography is in that postprimary group. Reapplication after an unsuccessful attempt is a different line ($200). Annual renewal is another line ($65, regardless of how many ARRT credentials you hold). Do not budget $225 as if it covered retakes or yearly maintenance.

Which document wins if numbers disagree

Use this order: (1) current Postprimary Eligibility Pathway Handbook for appointment length, the discipline timing row, and test-day rules; (2) Mammography Examination Content Specifications with the September 1, 2025 implementation date for scored blueprint weights; (3) the ARRT Fees page for dollars; (4) the Annual Exam Report for historical pass rates, which may still tabulate the previous blueprint. If a 2024 deck or a 2025 statistics table conflicts with the September 2025 specifications, study the specifications.

ARRT does not publish your form’s exact raw cut score in advance. Treat any claim that you must get a fixed number of the 115 scored items correct, unless it is clearly labeled as an Annual Exam Report approximation, as unofficial.