Because there are several changes that occur within the Cisco certification space, it’s important to stay on top of the most recent happenings. This ensures that the most up-to-date technical offerings are not only covered on the exams, but are also being studied by potential candidates. By staying updated, you’ll have a good handle on all technologies that are actively being deployed.
It’s also important that the tests taken to achieve these certifications are affectively secured, as this ensures the integrity of the certification; one of the ways that Cisco can control this is through its certification test retake policies.
The Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) program has been around since the early 90s, and for some time it’s had high failure rate (74 percent, historically). Because of this it’s important that candidates have a good understanding of the CCIE’s technical and cost requirements. The problem with any hard-to-achieve certification is that some people will try to cash in on it by selling cheat sheets.
This article takes a look at some recent changes in Cisco’s CCIE retake policies and how they will affect current and future candidates, as well as make it harder for cheaters.
CCIE retake history
Note: It’s important to know that the CCIE certification requires passing both a written Computer Based Training (CBT) exam and a vigorous lab exam.
Since the CCIE has been around for so long the policies that surround it have changed over time. Before the most recent changes, the policy for CCIE written candidates was that they were able to pay a fee and take the exam every five calendar days for as many attempts as they needed to pass. Generally, there were no problems with this, unless the candidate had ulterior motives.
One way that cheaters are able to pass the exam is by having a professional test taker, so to speak, purposefully fail the exam over multiple attempts. Each time, the test taker writes down as much of the exam as can be remembered (the candidate is not allowed to take notes in or out of the exam room). This information is then compiled into a dump sheet or exam question base that can be studied by folks who are willing to cheat.
The previous CCIE lab policy was that the candidate was able to take the test every 30 calendar days until they passed it. Like the written exam, this is generally not an issue unless the candidate has some other motive.
New CCIE retake policies
As of Aug. 2, 2014, the new retake policies affect both the CCIE written and lab exams. While they make it harder for cheaters, they also make it more challenging for normal candidates who are very close to passing the exam.
Here’s the new CCIE written exam retake policy:
- Candidates must wait for 15 calendar days before attempting a retake.
- Candidates can take the exam up to four times in a rolling calendar year.
Here’s the new CCIE lab exam retake policy:
- Candidates who fail the lab on their first attempt must wait 30 calendar days before retaking the exam.
- Candidates who fail the lab for their second, third and fourth attempts must wait 90 calendar days before retaking the exam.
- Candidates who fail the lab for their fifth and sixth attempts must wait 180 calendar days before retaking the exam.
- These new retake policies will be retroactive from the candidates first attempt.
Takeaway
While these updates to the CCIE retake policies may make it harder for some candidates, it’s an essential change that will hopefully alter the landscape of the Cisco CCIE cheating community. It also has a secondary effect of ensuring that candidates are well prepared to take the exam in the first place.
To get prepared for the exam, see a list of Pluralsight’s CCIE training here.