1.2 Exam Format, Fee, Score, and Reference Rules

Format Facts and Test-Day Judgment

The Salesforce exam guide lists the logistics candidates need for planning: 60 multiple-choice questions plus up to five unscored questions, 105 minutes, a passing score of 68 percent for the English version (65 percent for the Japanese version), a USD 200 registration fee plus applicable taxes, and a USD 100 retake fee plus applicable taxes. It lists the exam version as Summer '25, states that the exam is proctored onsite at a testing center or online, and allows no hard-copy or online references. The unscored questions are mixed in at random and do not affect your result.

You book the exam in Trailhead Academy, and Pearson VUE delivers it: online through OnVUE or at a Pearson VUE test center. If you do not pass, the retake policy allows three attempts per release cycle. Wait 24 hours after a first failed attempt and 14 days after a second; after a third, wait until the next release cycle begins.

These facts are more than trivia. Sixty scored questions in 105 minutes gives an average of 1.75 minutes per item, or about 1.6 minutes if all five unscored items appear. Some questions will be quick recognition items, but scenario questions can consume more time because they ask for the best administrative action, not a definition. Your study routine should therefore include short timed sets where you practice reading the business condition, identifying the domain, eliminating distractors, and choosing the option that fits least privilege, data quality, maintainability, and user impact.

A closed-reference exam changes what good notes look like. A weak note says: Profiles control object access. A stronger note says: If a user can see an app and object tab but cannot create records, inspect object permissions assigned through profile and permission sets; if the record exists but is not visible, inspect org-wide defaults, role hierarchy, sharing rules, teams, territories if relevant, and manual sharing; if a report omits data, also inspect report type, filters, folder access, and record visibility. This is the level of retrieval the exam rewards.

Items that ask for more than one answer deserve special caution. Do not select an option merely because it is true in Salesforce. Select it because it answers the specific scenario. For example, a question about a user missing records in a report might tempt you with dashboard access, field-level security, report folder permissions, and record sharing. Several are real controls, but the right combination depends on whether the problem is opening the report, seeing fields, seeing rows, or seeing dashboard output as a running user.

The 68 percent passing score should not become a target for shallow preparation. Salesforce does not publish a pass rate for this exam, and this guide makes no pass, salary, or employment guarantees. A professional candidate studies for operational competence. If your practice scores are close to a threshold, the conclusion is not that you can guess your way through. The conclusion is that you need to find weak domains, rebuild scenario reasoning, and repeat hands-on tasks in a Playground or Developer Edition org.

Pacing workflow

1. First pass: answer questions where the domain and administrative action are clear.
2. Mark uncertain questions without turning them into time sinks.
3. For scenario items, name the object, user, data, security, and automation issue before comparing options.
4. When an item asks for more than one answer, evaluate each option independently against the prompt.
5. Final pass: revisit marked items, check for words such as all, always, only, best, least, and most appropriate.

Delivery format also affects readiness. Online proctoring and onsite testing both require compliance with current guidelines. The official prep guidance tells participants to review online proctored and in-person exam guidelines. For online delivery, Salesforce lists a Pearson system test (home.pearsonvue.com/salesforce/systemtest) as a step before you register; also plan for a quiet environment, identification, camera requirements, and restrictions on materials. For onsite delivery, plan travel, arrival time, and testing-center rules, and bring ID whose name matches your booking exactly. Do not wait until test day to discover that your laptop, room, ID, or calendar timing creates risk.

Reference rules are an ethics issue as well as a logistics issue. No hard-copy or online references means no notes, Trailhead tabs, unofficial sheets, browser searches, or messaging during the exam. The same professional habit applies during preparation: use official materials to learn, then close the reference and explain the concept in your own words. If you cannot explain when to use a validation rule instead of a required field, when to use a permission set instead of a profile change, or when to use Flow instead of manual process training, you are not ready to rely on recognition.

Use cost facts responsibly. The exam costs USD 200 (JPY 30,000) and each retake costs USD 100 (JPY 15,000), plus taxes collected at registration under local law. You can reschedule or cancel free of charge at least 24 hours before an online exam or 48 hours before a test-center exam; if you miss the appointment without contacting Salesforce Help first, it counts as a no-show and costs the full exam fee.