Brightwood College purchased Kaplan Architecture Education in September 2015. Kaplan Architecture Education is now Brightwood Architecture Education. You will still receive the same high-quality education you’ve come to expect from Kaplan Architecture, written and led by the same industry-leading authors and instructors.
Your online courses will include 12-months of access.
ARE 4.0 product access will expire on June 30, 2018.
You may log in to your courses via brightwoodarchitecture.com using the login button at the top of each page. Or, you may login to your courses at www.knowledgehub.com/login. Please update any saved bookmarks with this new URL. Please contact our customer support team if you have any questions.
Yes, Brightwood Archecture will continue to offer the same great exam prep materials for the ARE 5.0. We have also recently updated any known errata within the Brightwood ARE Libraries and Packages.
Yes, Brightwood Architecture now offers study guides, question banks, and flashcards for the ARE 5.0. These study materials align with the ARE 5.0 exam division structure, as designed by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), as well as with NCARB's ARE Guidelines.
Brightwood College is a new school that now includes campuses that were formerly Kaplan College. The goal of Brightwood College is to prepare you with the education you need to pass your exams and excel in today’s job market. You can learn more about Brightwood College at www.brightwood.edu.
A committee of architects made up of representative members from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB), Committee of Canadian Architectural Councils (CACC), consulting engineers, and code officials.
You register for the exam with your state. Contact your state board for application requirements.
Yes. Every state gives the same examination.
You can take the exam whenever you want. The exam is administered Monday through Saturday, year-round, at authorized test centers around the country. Hours of operation vary, so contact your test center of choice to verify business hours.
There are more than 350 standardized test centers across North America. Once your application has been processed, you will receive a list of test centers with your approval notification.
No. The computer-based format of the exam allows candidates to take any portion of the test at any test center. However if you do relocate to another area before completing the exam, you will need to make sure that your scores are forwarded to the state jurisdiction where you initially began registration.
Candidates should start preparing as early as possible, at least four to six months before taking any division of the exam.
Most candidates study 10 to 15 hours a week. It is important to study at a steady pace, rather than cramming just before the test.
The exam is computer-based. There are six different divisions of the ARE 5.0 exam. Six divisions (Practice Management; Project Management; Programming & Analysis; Project Planning & Design; Project Development & Documentation; and Construction & Evaluation) are comprised of multiple-choice, check-all-that-apply, fill-in-the-blank, hot spot, and drag-and-place questions. Case studies are also included.
Calculators are allowed into the exam only for the multiple-choice divisions. (The graphic divisions have a calculator built into the software interface.) However, calculators are not provided at the test centers, so you will have to bring your own. Only non-programmable, non-communicating, non-printing calculators are allowed, and the center administrator has to approve the calculator before you begin the exam.
The examination is closed book. In other words, no reference material is permitted. For some exam divisions, reference material can be accessed electronically. This material may contain excerpts from sources such as the AISC Manual of Steel Construction and the UBC. Candidates should therefore obtain copies of these books prior to the exam in order to become familiar with their scope and format.
NCARB allows candidates to choose the order in which they take the exams.
Each multiple-choice test has a fixed number of questions that must be answered within a fixed time period. A tutorial is delivered before each exam to explain how the program works for that particular division.
As you go through the exam, you will only see one question at a time. However, you have tools to mark a question for review so that you will be able to go back to it later. Any unanswered questions will be counted as wrong answers, so it is in your best interest to attempt to answer every question, even if you aren't sure of it.
To pass the ARE and become a registered architect, a candidate must pass all divisions of the ARE. Scores from the individual divisions are not averaged.
Test scores are reported to candidates by their state boards as pass or fail several weeks after the exam. Actual arrival times vary between the states, but a good approximation is to allow two to four weeks to receive results from a multiple-choice division exam and four to six weeks for results from a graphic division exam.
If you fail a division, you will have to retake it. However, you will not be allowed to retake the same exam until at least 60 days has passed from the time of the first administration. Candidates may only take the same division of the ARE three (3) times within any 12-month time frame.
Contact your state board or NCARB
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