The ASE® A-Series Tests: A1 to A8

You register for the tests you choose, one certification at a time. Each total below includes 10 unscored questions that are not identified, so the scored count is 10 lower.

The time per question runs from about 72 seconds on A3 and A4 to 90 seconds on A6. A7 and A8 have the same number of questions as A6 with a quarter of an hour less. If you prepare for several tests with one habit of pace, set it by the tightest of them.

These figures are from ASE's current study guide, which is copyright 2026. Many other websites still quote older and larger counts, A1 as 60 questions with 50 scored for example. ASE's own A-series page confirms the scored counts used here: 45, 45, 40, 40, 45, 50, 50 and 50.

Anyone may register and sit an ASE test. Certification is granted only once you have also documented two years of full-time, hands-on repair experience, or the part-time equivalent. Formal training can stand in for up to one year of that, or for the full two years in the case of certain OEM-sponsored co-op programs.

So a student or a new technician can pass tests first and complete the experience requirement afterwards. Certification in all eight tests, A1 through A8, is what Master Automobile Technician status requires. ASE's study guide also covers a ninth test, A9 Light Vehicle Diesel Engines, which is not required for Master status and is not covered on this site.

Each test costs $62, and ASE charges a $34 registration fee for each order. Because the registration fee is per order and not per test, buying two or three tests together costs one registration fee, not two or three.

The catch is the calendar. A purchased test must be scheduled and taken within 90 days. Buy only the tests you can be ready for in that time.

By appointment, on a computer, at a Prometric test center. First-time certification tests must be taken in person.

Recertification is more flexible: it can also be done by remote testing through Prometric's ProProctor or, for the A-series, through the ASE Renewal App.

Each test is reported as Pass or Fail, and a score report is emailed after the appointment.

ASE's study guide and its certification guide do not state a fixed passing percentage. A figure you see quoted for 'the ASE passing score' did not come from those documents, and this page does not repeat one.

After a result, Pass or Fail, you must wait 30 full days before you can buy and schedule the same test again.

Certification lasts five years and is kept by recertifying.

ASE publishes how many scored questions come from each content area of each test, and on most tests the largest single area is diagnosis. On A1, 18 of 45 scored questions are general engine diagnosis. On A2, 26 of 45 are transmission diagnosis. On A8, general diagnosis and computerized engine controls together are 25 of 50. The exceptions are informative too: A3 spreads its 40 questions across six areas with none above 8, and on A6 the largest area is body electrical systems, at 17 of 50.

The tests therefore reward the ability to reason from a symptom and a test result to a cause more than the ability to recall a procedure. This site's independent study guide takes the eight tests one at a time.