What is RBT Certified Exam ?
The Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) is a professional certified exam in behavior analysis. After passing exam you will get a certificate letter from BACB that provides details about your certification, including your expiration date and certification number.
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Inc.® (BACB®) has been the leader in behavior analyst certification for over two decades. The BACB is a nonprofit corporation that was established in 1998 to meet professional certification needs identified by behavior analysts, governments, and consumers of behavior-analytic services.
The BACB’s primary role is to operate certification programs, which involves responsibilities similar to regulatory boards. In this role, the BACB establishes practice standards, administers examinations, and provides ethics requirements and a disciplinary system for each of its certification programs.
Eligibility Requirements
You must meet the following five eligibility requirements to apply for the RBT certification exam.
- Candidate must be at least 18 years old
- Must have completed high school-level education or equivalent
- Pass a background check
- 40 hours of qualified training. While the BACB does not provide this training, you can complete 40 hrs training from any company and universities which offers live or online courses with training certificates
- Successfully complete an RBT initial competency assessment. After you complete the required 40-hour training, you must demonstrate that you can competently perform the tasks outlined on the RBT Initial Competency Assessment.
The assessment must be:
- overseen by a qualified BACB certificate who meets the supervision requirements
- completed after successfully finishing the required 40-hour training
- completed no earlier than 90 days prior to submitting payment for your RBT certification application
Step by Step Process to Become an RBT
1. Create a BACB Account
You will need to enter some basic information about yourself to create a BACB account.
- Enter your full name exactly as it appears on your government-issued identification. If it does not match exactly, you will not be able to take the examination. Name changes require review by BACB staff, so a name change could delay your ability to take the examination.
- Use a personal email address and not a work email address. Important notifications and reminders are sent to this address, so if you switch employers, you will not receive reminders, correspondence, or password resets.
- Set up the profile yourself and do not share your account information with anyone else, including your employer. This is your certification—no one else should be managing it for you.
- Update your information in your BACB account as soon as changes occur (e.g., name change, address change).
2. Complete the Certification Application
If you meet all the eligibility requirements, complete the following steps to apply for RBT certification at any time:
- Log into your BACB account and select the “RBT” tab. Complete an RBT certification application.
Note: Certification applications are active for 90 days. If you do not meet all of the requirements within the 90 days, you must reapply and pay the fee for a new application. We highly recommend waiting to apply until you have met all of the eligibility requirements.
2. Upload the required documents:
- certificate of completion for the RBT 40-hour training
- completed RBT Initial Competency Assessment
- copy of a transcript or diploma verifying your completion of a high school degree or equivalent
Note: Ensure that the information you submit is accurate and truthful (see the consequences for submitting inaccurate information in the Submission of False, Forged, or Untrue Information to the BACB section).
- Identify an RBT Supervisor or RBT Requirements Coordinator (see the Supervisor Requirements section to determine who qualifies to serve in this role).
- The RBT Requirements Coordinator or RBT Supervisor will complete their portion of your application in their BACB account, which includes: a. confirmation that you are at least 18 years old b. confirmation that you completed and passed your background check within 180 days of the date you applied for certification c. confirmation of their willingness to provide you with ongoing supervision The application will be in your RBT Supervisor’s/RBT Requirement Coordinator’s BACB account after you submit the first portion, and they will receive an email notification with instructions. If they are unable to see your application in their account, please contact the BACB.
- After the RBT Supervisor or RBT Requirements Coordinator completes their portion of your application, you will receive instructions via email for completing the remainder of your application, including paying the application processing fee and agreeing to the application processing agreement, which includes an attestation that you will abide by the RBT Ethics Code and Self-reporting Requirements.
- Allow two weeks for BACB staff to process your application. Applications are processed in the order in which they are received.
- If your application is: approved you will receive instructions via email for scheduling your RBT certification examination. not approved you will receive feedback and guidance on next steps via email. If you do not meet the requirements within 90 days of submitting your application, you must submit a new RBT certification application, including paying another certification application processing fee.
Note: After submitting your certification application you will receive feedback on whether your documentation has demonstrated your eligibility under our certification requirements. BACB staff will not provide a rationale for the decision beyond what is included in your feedback email (i.e. staff will not explain the review process to you). If you disagree with the application determination and believe that your submitted application materials were rejected in error, you may review our Administrative Appeals Policy to determine if a second, independent review of your application could be triggered. If appropriate, you will need to submit an appeal within 30 days of the determination.
3. Schedule the Examination
Once your application is approved, you will receive an email with instructions on how to schedule your RBT certification examination with Pearson VUE. The examination is continuously available and results are provided immediately on-site upon completion. You have one year from the date your application is approved to sit for the RBT examination. If you do not pass the examination and you have time remaining in your one-year authorization period, you may take the examination starting seven days after your last examination attempt. Once your one-year authorization has expired, you must reapply and meet the eligibility requirements applicable at that time.
Application Fees
Certification Application Processing Fee (paid to the BACB) : $50
Exam Appointment (paid to Pearson VUE) : $45
Exam Result
You will receive a pass/fail report at the test center. If you passed the examination, you will receive an email from the BACB within approximately 24 hours with an attached certificate letter that provides details about your certification, including your expiration date and certification number. You may also find information about your certification status in your BACB account
RBT Exam Pattern and Syllabus
You must be familiar with exam pattern and syllabus to create your study plan to clear the RBT certificate exam.
The RBT certification examination comprises 85 multiple-choice questions, 10 of which are unscored pilot items. Each question has 4 possible answers. Candidates have 90 minutes to complete the examination.
Syllabus:
A. Measurement
A-1 Prepare for data collection.
A-2 Implement continuous measurement procedures (e.g., frequency, duration).
A-3 Implement discontinuous measurement procedures (e.g., partial & whole interval, momentary time sampling).
A-4 Implement permanent-product recording procedures.
A-5 Enter data and update graphs.
A-6 Describe behavior and environment in observable and measurable terms.
B. Assessment
B-1 Conduct preference assessments.
B-2 Assist with individualized assessment procedures (e.g., curriculum-based, developmental, social skills).
B-3 Assist with functional assessment procedures.
C. Skill Acquisition
C-1 Identify the essential components of a written skill acquisition plan.
C-2 Prepare for the session as required by the skill acquisition plan.
C-3 Use contingencies of reinforcement (e.g., conditioned/unconditioned reinforcement, continuous/intermittent schedules).
C-4 Implement discrete-trial teaching procedures.
C-5 Implement naturalistic teaching procedures (e.g., incidental teaching).
C-6 Implement task analyzed chaining procedures.
C-7 Implement discrimination training.
C-8 Implement stimulus control transfer procedures.
C-9 Implement prompt and prompt fading procedures.
C-10 Implement generalization and maintenance procedures
C-11 Implement shaping procedures.
C-12 Implement token economy procedures
D. Behavior Reduction
D-1 Identify essential components of a written behavior reduction plan.
D-2 Describe common functions of behavior.
D-3 Implement interventions based on modification of antecedents such as motivating operations and discriminative stimuli.
D-4 Implement differential reinforcement procedures (e.g., DRA, DRO).
D-5 Implement extinction procedures.
D-6 Implement crisis/emergency procedures according to protocol.
E. Documentation and Reporting
E-1 Effectively communicate with a supervisor in an ongoing manner.
E-2 Actively seek clinical direction from supervisor in a timely manner.
E-3 Report other variables that might affect the client in a timely manner.
E-4 Generate objective session notes for service verification by describing what occurred during the sessions, in accordance with applicable legal, regulatory, and workplace requirements.
E-5 Comply with applicable legal, regulatory, and workplace data collection, storage, transportation, and documentation requirements.
F. Professional Conduct and Scope of Practice
F-1 Describe the BACB’s RBT supervision requirements and the role of RBTs in the service-delivery system.
F-2 Respond appropriately to feedback and maintain or improve performance accordingly.
F-3 Communicate with stakeholders (e.g., family, caregivers, other professionals) as authorized.
F-4 Maintain professional boundaries (e.g., avoid dual relationships, conflicts of interest, social media contacts).
F-5 Maintain client dignity.
