January 2021 Exam Moved to March 2021 with new Exam Delivery Partner

October 29, 2020

ABO is excited to announce a new partnership with Scantron to deliver our board certification exam beginning in 2021. Scantron is a leader in certification and licensure testing and has delivered over 200 million digital assessments. With exam locations throughout the US, they are industry experts in delivering and maintaining a quality credentialing program.

As the testing industry works to catch up with months of canceled and delayed exams due to COVID closures and site restrictions, ABO has made the decision to move our traditional January exam to March of 2021. Bad weather, difficulty traveling, and an extended holiday period have also contributed to the decision to move our testing period later into the year. We anticipate this change will be permanent and we will no longer offer the exam in January.

In addition, candidates can expect a few other changes to our exam process beginning in 2021.

A new exam format – Every five years, ABO conducts a job task analysis (JTA) and adjusts the exam accordingly. Exam content for 2021 will be based on the results of our 2020 JTA and candidates will no longer be required to choose an area of emphasis.
New exam length – The exam will be 4 hours in length and will have a total of 160 questions.
New exam dates – Beginning in the summer of 2021, exam periods will change to 2 months each, July/August for the summer exam and February/March for the winter exam. Note that the March 2021 will still be limited to one month.

Registration for each exam period will continue to open approximately 90 days prior to the first exam day. Registration will continue until 15 days prior to the last day of the exam period. As an example, registration for the March 2021 exam will open in early December and will close approximately March 15^th.

We hope the changes to our exam delivery will ensure a more flexible and streamlined process and enhance the overall experience for every candidate. For questions regarding the exam process or our new partnership with Scantron, please contact us at [email protected].