1.1 Current Exam Facts

Why these logistics decide whether you pass the right exam

Quick Answer: The current ASNT NDT Level II written package, administered by ASNT Certification Services LLC, is a 50-question general exam plus a 40-question specific exam for one chosen method. Each sitting is 2 hours, computer-based, in English, at Pearson VUE or an ASNT authorized exam center (AEC). Initial fees are $740 member / $820 nonmember per method. ASNT does not publish a single fixed pass mark; cut scores use Angoff or item response theory (IRT) and typically fall in the 70%–80% range. Certification lasts five years.

If you treat this credential like a shop SNT-TC-1A composite or like an ASNT NDT Level III Basic-plus-method stack, you will study the wrong outline, budget the wrong fee, and walk into the wrong appointment. This section locks the current public facts so later method chapters have a stable frame. Official program and exam pages to bookmark are ASNT NDT Level II certification and ASNT NDT Level II examinations.

Nondestructive Testing (NDT) means inspecting a component without destroying its serviceability. Level II is the technician level that sets up equipment, applies a procedure, interprets indications, and reports results. ASNT is the American Society for Nondestructive Testing. The certification body that issues this credential is ASNT Certification Services LLC, not your employer and not Pearson VUE. Pearson VUE is the delivery vendor for the computer-based test (CBT).

Current written-package logistics

ASNT membership is not required to certify, but the member price applies only if you join or renew before you start the application. Qualifying 529 plan funds may be used for credentialing expenses such as exam fees, training enrollment, study materials, and continuing education for renewal. Confirm current tax rules with the plan administrator; ASNT's public page states the expanded 529 use, not a dollar cap.

The $740 / $820 package buys the written general-plus-specific pair for one method. It does not buy a practical specimen set, a vision exam, or a second method. Adding a second industry sector after you already hold a specific exam is the sector add-on, not a second full initial package. Recertification fees and the 36-of-60-month experience rule belong in the eligibility chapter; the only recertification fact you need here is the five-year clock.

Method and topic map (teach these current outlines)

You choose one method for each initial package. ASNT currently offers only the five methods in the table above for this program. Eddy Current Testing (ET), acoustic emission, leak testing, neutron radiography, and infrared are not ASNT NDT Level II CBT methods on the current public exam page. Do not study them as if they were sitting options for this credential.

General exam (50 items, 2 hours) — current topic lists

• MT (prior to 15 December 2026): Principles; flux fields; effects of discontinuities on materials; magnetization by electric current; selecting the proper magnetization method; demagnetization procedures; equipment; types of discontinuities; evaluation techniques; quality control of equipment processes.
• PT: Review of PT principles; selection of the appropriate PT method; inspection and evaluation of indications; inspection procedures and standards.
• RT: Review of basic radiographic principles; darkroom facilities, techniques, and processing; indications, discontinuities, and defects; manufacturing processes and associated discontinuities; radiological safety principles review.
• UT (prior to 5 February 2027): Review of ultrasonic techniques; evaluation of base-material product forms; evaluation of weldments; evaluation of bonded structures; discontinuity detection; general evaluation.
• VT: Purpose and scope; elements of vision; elements of lighting; contrast and resolution; optics; VT equipment; visual appearance of discontinuities; evaluation and reporting; codes, standards, and specifications; employer-specific topics.

Specific exam (40 items, 2 hours) for either General Industry or Pressure Equipment covers three headings only: codes, applications, and techniques. The specific exam is not a second copy of the general physics test. It asks whether you can apply the method inside a procedure and a code family. You may sit one sector or both; the second sector is the add-on fee, not another 50-question general.

ASNT has posted revised topic outlines for two methods. MT changes after 15 December 2026. UT changes after 5 February 2027. Those future outlines reorganize work into broader duty areas (equipment care, documentation, training/oversight). Mention them so you do not get blindsided if your appointment slips past the change date. This guide teaches the currently administered outlines. If you will test after a change date, re-read ASNT's live exam page before you schedule.

Scoring, results, and what “70%–80%” does not mean

Employer programs written to Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A often require something like a 70% minimum on each exam and an 80% composite across general, specific, and practical. That employer composite is not the published ASNT CBT cut score. ASNT Certification Services does not post one fixed public pass percentage for NDT Level II. The psychometrics page explains that cut scores are criterion-referenced using Angoff or IRT, and that “ASNT exams are typically in the 70% to 80% range.” Treat 70%–80% as ASNT's published typical band, not a promise that 35 of 50 items will pass every form.

ASNT also states that exam forms can include pretest items that are not scored. ASNT has not published how many pretest items sit on a Level II general or specific form, so do not invent a scored-versus-unscored split. Your result letter shows domain percentages to guide restudy. It does not show an overall score or how close you were to passing. You also cannot recover the overall result by averaging those domain percentages, because domains are not equally weighted.

After you pass the written exams and the rest of the application is clean, ASNT updates the MyASNT record and issues a digital badge. The exam page currently says the badge typically arrives by email in one to two weeks; ASNT's certification FAQ describes a four-to-six-week window after results are processed. Use the certificate holder directory as the verification source rather than waiting on the badge email. ASNT no longer mails hard-copy certificates.

Realistic exam scenarios

Wrong composite. A candidate memorizes “80% composite, 70% each test” from the shop written practice and assumes the Pearson VUE general exam uses that same arithmetic. The shop rule still governs the employer practical and any employer-written tests. The ASNT CBT uses a psychometric cut that is not published as that SNT-TC-1A composite.

Wrong method family. A thickness-gaging technician books “ASNT Level II” expecting an eddy-current coating exam. The current ASNT NDT Level II menu is MT, PT, RT, UT, and VT only. That technician needs either UT (if the work is ultrasonic thickness) or a different credential, not a phantom ET Level II CBT.

Wrong time budget. A candidate schedules general and specific back-to-back and treats them as one 90-question, four-hour blob. They are two separately timed two-hour exams. A long break between them does not add time to either clock. ASNT's exam page tells you to plan at least half a day and to arrive 30 minutes early.

Change-date trap. An MT candidate delays until January 2027 and keeps drilling only the ten pre-December-2026 headings. After 15 December 2026, ASNT administers the revised MT outline. Confirm the outline that matches your appointment date on the official examinations page.

Keep the program document and the two certification URLs above next to this chapter. If a number is not on those pages, it is not published — do not borrow a shop percentage, a Level III item count, or an old $800 marketing figure and treat it as the current ASNT CBT rule.