Failed the CRC Exam? Retake Rules, Fees, and the One-Year Clock (2026 Guide)
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The short version of the CRC retake rule
I've sat on both sides of this: I've passed the CRC, and I've coached HCC coders on my team who walked out of attempt one knowing it hadn't gone their way. The first question is always the same — "Do I have to pay full price again?" The answer depends entirely on which voucher you bought before you ever opened a code book.
AAPC sells the CRC exam two ways: a single attempt, or a bundle that includes a second attempt. If you bought the 2-attempt option, your retake is already paid for. AAPC states that you get one free retake for the same exam type if it's taken within one year of your original exam date, and retakes are scheduled from the Members area. If you bought the single-attempt voucher, there's no free retake attached to it — you're buying again.
All AAPC exam fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, which is worth reading twice before you click purchase.
How the 2-attempt purchase actually works
Think of the 2-attempt price as insurance you buy up front. You can't retroactively upgrade a failed single-attempt voucher into a bundle — the decision happens at checkout.
| Purchase option | Standard price | Student price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 attempt | $425 | $400 |
| 2 attempts (retake included) | $499 | $475 |
An active AAPC membership is required to sit for the exam, and membership dues are separate from the exam fee. One flag before you budget: older AAPC and forum content floating around online cites $299 for online and $399 for in-person testing, which appears to predate the current schedule. Check AAPC's current exam-cost page before you commit a dollar figure to your department's training budget.
The one-year clock — and there are two of them
This trips people up more than the policy itself, because "one year" shows up twice and the start dates are different.
Clock one: purchase to first sitting
After you buy an exam voucher, you schedule your date through the AAPC Members area — either an online Live Remote Proctored slot or an in-person site. The exam must be taken within one year from the date of purchase. Buy a voucher in a burst of motivation, let life happen, and that clock keeps ticking.
Clock two: first sitting to retake
The free retake window runs from your original exam date, and it's one year. So if you tested and didn't pass, you have a full year to regroup, study, and sit again on the included attempt. A colleague of mine failed in the spring, told himself he'd "get to it," and rebooked with about six weeks of runway left. He passed — but he studied on panic mode, which is a terrible way to learn hierarchical condition categories.
My advice: pick your retake date the same week you get your result. You can always study up to a date. You can't study up to "someday."
What failing means when the standard is a flat 70%
The CRC is refreshingly blunt about scoring. It's 100 multiple-choice questions in 4 hours, and you need an overall score of 70% or higher — at least 70 of 100 questions correct. Each question is weighted equally at one point. There's no scaled-score conversion published for the CRC, and the 70% standard is overall rather than per-section, so a weak domain doesn't fail you on its own if your total holds up.
A couple of honest caveats. AAPC does not publish a pretest or unscored (pilot) question count for the CRC exam, and it doesn't publish a scored-versus-pretest split either — the 70% pass standard (70 of 100 correct) implies all 100 are scored. AAPC also does not publish an official CRC pass-rate percentage, so ignore anyone quoting one at you in a Facebook group. If you want the scoring mechanics in more detail, our breakdown of what counts as a passing score on the CRC covers it.
The practical upshot for a retake: you know exactly how many questions you needed. That's a much friendlier target than a mystery cut score.
Diagnosing attempt one before you book attempt two
The worst retake plan is "study everything again, harder." The CRC covers seven content domains:
- Compliance
- Diagnosis Coding
- Documentation Improvement
- Pathophysiology / Medical Terminology / Anatomy
- Purpose and Use of Risk Adjustment Models
- Quality Care
- Risk Adjustment Models
Diagnosis Coding is the largest section, followed by Risk Adjustment Models and Compliance. Here's the wrinkle you need to know about: AAPC's published per-domain question counts sum to the retired 150-question format and are inconsistent with the current exam, so don't build a study split off an old blueprint you found in a PDF. Pull the current CRC content outline from AAPC for up-to-date counts, and use our domain-by-domain walkthrough for the shape of each area.
When I debrief someone after a failed attempt, I ask three questions: Did you run out of time? Did you miss on code-book navigation? Or did you miss on concepts — model mechanics, RAF logic, MEAT documentation standards? Those are three completely different fixes. Time pressure means drilling with a timer. Navigation means tabbing and highlighting your manual until you can find guidelines without thinking. Concepts mean going back to source material, not more practice questions.
Rebooking: online proctored or in-person
Your retake doesn't lock you into the same delivery format as attempt one. AAPC offers the CRC as an online Live Remote Proctored exam using an external webcam, proctored by Examity, or in person at an approved exam site — including local chapter events.
If your first attempt was derailed by a technical hiccup, a cramped home setup, or a nervous eye on the webcam, switch. Plenty of coders test better in a room with other people and a proctor at the front. Others need their own chair and their own coffee. Neither choice affects the content or the 4 hours you get.
What about the code book on a retake?
AAPC exams are open-code-book, and the CRC centers on ICD-10-CM diagnosis coding and risk adjustment, so the ICD-10-CM manual is the primary approved reference. Officially published errata sheets are permitted and no other references are allowed. One caution: the exact approved-manual list specific to the CRC should be confirmed on AAPC's current CRC exam page before you pack your bag — don't rely on a book list you saw in a study group post. If you bought a new edition between attempts, re-tab it. Muscle memory in the wrong book is worse than no tabs at all.
Eligibility doesn't reset or tighten on a retake
Nothing about your qualifications changes because you didn't pass. There's no mandatory education or experience prerequisite to sit the CRC exam. AAPC recommends relevant experience — commonly two years of coding or risk-adjustment work — and an associate's degree is recommended, but neither is a gate.
What you do need is active AAPC membership at the time of exam application and/or when results are released. If your dues lapsed between attempts, renew before you schedule. It's a boring administrative detail that has ruined more than one testing morning.
Building a retake study plan that isn't just repetition
The gap between attempts is the most useful study time you'll ever have, because for the first time you know what the exam actually feels like. Use that.
Rebuild timing first
You have 100 questions and 4 hours. Practice in full-length blocks with your code book, not in ten-question snacks on your phone. The skill you're building isn't recall — it's sustained accuracy while flipping pages.
Work backward from your weakest domain
Diagnosis Coding is the heaviest area, so if that's where you bled points, it's not optional. Risk Adjustment Models and Compliance come next. Quality Care and the anatomy/pathophysiology material are smaller, but they're also the easiest points to bank with focused review.
Change at least one input
If the same materials produced the same result, the materials weren't the problem — or they were. Either way, add something: a different question bank, a study group, chart-audit practice with real documentation. Our rundown of CRC study resources is a decent place to shop for that second input.
The takeaway
The CRC retake policy is simple once you strip the anxiety out of it: the 2-attempt purchase includes one retake, that free retake has to be used within one year of your original exam date, and you schedule it yourself from the Members area. Fees are non-refundable and non-transferable, so buy the option that matches your honest confidence level.
Failing an attempt tells you something specific — 70 of 100 was the bar, and you now know roughly where the gap sits. That's data. Book the date, fix the gap, and go take it again.