About the ACP AutoCAD Exam
Key Takeaways
The ACP in AutoCAD for Design and Drafting exam has 45–60 questions in 120 minutes and costs US$200 at standard retail price.
All questions are selected response and answered without AutoCAD; item types include multiple-choice, drag-and-drop, active-screen, hot-area, and graphic-interpretation.
The December 2025 objectives weight Author and Edit Drawing Content at 29%, Application and Drawing Management at 22%, Annotation at 20%, Output at 16%, and Collaboration at 13%.
Results are pass or fail, Autodesk does not disclose the passing score, and the certification is valid for three years.
After a second failed attempt, candidates must wait 72 hours before each further retake.
About the ACP AutoCAD Exam
Quick Answer: The Autodesk Certified Professional (ACP) in AutoCAD for Design and Drafting exam has 45–60 questions in 120 minutes and costs US$200 at standard retail price. It is delivered in English by Pearson VUE at a test center or online through OnVUE. You answer every question without access to AutoCAD, results are pass or fail, and the certification is valid for three years.
The ACP is Autodesk's professional-level AutoCAD credential. Autodesk aims it at people who create and complete 2D design sets in AutoCAD-based applications, including AutoCAD LT, and who can solve complex challenges in production workflows and designs. Autodesk's exam objectives describe the typical candidate as someone who has used AutoCAD regularly for at least two years, roughly 400 hours (minimum) to 1,200 hours (recommended) of real-world experience. Autodesk refreshed the objectives in December 2025; its official prep course is labeled for the exam "December 2025 and beyond." This guide follows that December 2025 outline.
Exam Facts at a Glance
| Item | Official detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Autodesk Certified Professional in AutoCAD for Design and Drafting |
| Questions | 45–60 |
| Time | 120 minutes |
| Price | US$200 (standard retail price) |
| Language | Exam and proctor available in English |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test center, or online with Pearson OnVUE |
| Format | Selected response; no access to the software during the exam |
| Scoring | Pass or fail; Autodesk does not disclose passing scores before the exam |
| Validity | Three years; retesting is required to renew |
You register, pay, schedule, see results, and connect to online proctors through your Autodesk Account. Autodesk requires ID verification, and every exam is proctored. OnVUE candidates should run Pearson's system check before exam day.
Question Types
Because there is no software during the exam, every item tests whether you know what a command, setting, or dialog option does. Autodesk lists these item types:
- Multiple-choice: a question with several possible answers.
- Drag-and-drop: select and reposition answer options within a list or graphic, such as ordering steps or matching settings to results.
- Active-screen: interactive images of the AutoCAD interface, testing whether you know where controls live and what they do.
- Hot-area: select the correct "hot" region of an exhibit, essentially multiple choice with graphical answers.
- Graphic-interpretation: read a screenshot or drawing and interpret what it shows, such as an override highlight, a compare color, or a grip menu.
Study implication: learn the names of options, prompts, and dialog controls as well as what they do. Many sections of this guide include the exact option names shown in AutoCAD dialogs for that reason.
The Five Domains and Their Weights
| Domain | Weight | Objectives | Where this guide teaches it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Application and drawing management | 22% | 1.1 Layers; 1.2 User coordinate systems; 1.3 Query object properties; 1.4 Application environment; 1.5 Drawing health | Chapters 1–2 (xref layer origins also in 10.1) |
| 2. Design annotation and detailing | 20% | 2.1 Annotation and table styles; 2.2 Annotative scaling; 2.3 Adding annotations and tables | Chapters 3–4 |
| 3. Author and edit drawing content | 29% | 3.1 Reusing content (blocks, WBLOCK, Blocks palette, clipboard); 3.2 Creating and editing geometry; 3.3 Grips; 3.4 Precision drawing | Chapters 5–7 |
| 4. Configure and manage design output | 16% | 4.1 Page setups and layout viewports; 4.2 Plotting, publishing, eTransmit; 4.3 Sheet Set Manager | Chapters 8–9 |
| 5. Collaboration | 13% | 5.1 Design feedback (shared drawings, Traces, compare); 5.2 References and underlays; 5.3 External data (PDF import, data links, fields) | Chapters 10–11 |
Autodesk does not publish how many questions come from each domain. Applying the weights to a 45–60 question form gives a rough guide only: about 13–17 questions from Domain 3, 10–13 from Domain 1, 9–12 from Domain 2, 7–10 from Domain 4, and 6–8 from Domain 5.
Prerequisite Skills Autodesk Assumes
The objectives list skills candidates should already have before starting exam prep. They are not separate test domains, but every domain builds on them:
- Comprehend and apply drafting concepts and standards.
- Navigate the user interface and set up workspaces.
- View and navigate drawings.
- Link and reference external files and data.
- Set up and manage drawings.
- Create and modify geometry and objects.
- Use tools for precision drawing.
- Annotate designs.
- Organize drawings.
- Use collaboration tools.
- Produce layouts, prints, and other output files.
If any of these feels shaky, fix it first; professional-level items assume the basics and test the options, exceptions, and system variables behind them.
Retakes and Renewal
Autodesk's certification policies set the retake rules:
- After a first failed attempt, you may reschedule right away, subject to appointment availability.
- After a second failed attempt, you must wait three days (72 hours) before retaking, and the same 72-hour wait applies before every later retake.
To recertify, submit a new certification application within the six months before your certification expires, then schedule, purchase, and pass the exam before the expiration date. There is no grace period: once the credential expires, you start over with a new application and a passing exam, and the new certification is dated from that exam.
How to Use This Guide
- Spend time in proportion to the weights. Chapters 5–7 (29%) and Chapters 1–2 (22%) deserve the most hours.
- Practice in AutoCAD, then test yourself without it. Run each command while reading, then answer the quiz items from memory, the way the exam requires.
- Learn the exact names. Expect items built on option labels such as Use Current Viewport, Paste to Original Coordinates, or Remove Viewport Overrides for.
- Know the system variables that change behavior, such as
VISRETAIN,ANNOAUTOSCALE,PLINEGEN,HPGAPTOL,FRAME, andFIELDEVAL. - Finish with mixed practice. Use the OpenExamPrep practice questions for ACP AutoCAD and Autodesk's official prep course practice test to find weak domains before you book the exam.
Which statement about the ACP AutoCAD for Design and Drafting exam format is correct?
Candidates answer 45–60 selected-response questions in 120 minutes without access to AutoCAD
Candidates complete a 150-minute performance-based exam inside a live AutoCAD session at Pearson VUE
Candidates answer exactly 50 questions and must score 70 percent to pass
Candidates may open AutoCAD Help in a side window during the online exam
Which exam domain carries the largest weight in Autodesk's December 2025 ACP AutoCAD objectives?
Application and drawing management, at 22 percent
Design annotation and detailing, at 20 percent
Author and edit drawing content, at 29 percent
Configure and manage design output, at 16 percent
A candidate fails the ACP AutoCAD exam on a first attempt and again on a second attempt. Under Autodesk's certification policies, when can the third attempt take place?
Immediately, subject only to Pearson VUE appointment availability
After a waiting period of 14 calendar days from the second attempt
After a waiting period of three days (72 hours) from the second attempt
Only after a new certification application is approved by Autodesk
An ACP AutoCAD certification expires next March. What must the holder do to recertify without a gap?
Submit a new application in the six months before expiry, then schedule, buy, and pass the exam before it expires
Log 40 continuing-education hours in an Autodesk Learn course and upload the completion certificate before it expires
Pay a renewal fee within 90 days after it expires, during the grace period that Autodesk allows
Do nothing, because Autodesk Certified Professional credentials do not expire for current users
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.