ABA Exam CoachBCBA exam content areas and weights (6th edition)
The BCBA exam is built from one document: the BACB's BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), often still called the "task list". It has been the basis of the exam since 2025. If you know how it's organised and how much each part weighs, you can plan your study time with real numbers instead of guesswork.
Read the outline itself on the BACB site (linked at the end). This page summarises its structure and shows how to use it. It doesn't reproduce the task wording.
The exam at a glance
- 185 questions: 175 scored and 10 unscored pilot questions. You can't tell which are which.
- 4 hours, including the time spent on the terms and conditions and the navigation tutorial.
- 4 options per question, one correct answer, and every question weighted equally.
- 104 tasks organised into 9 content areas.
- Pass or fail is decided by your overall performance, not by passing each area.
The 9 content areas and their weights
These are the BACB's published numbers of scored questions per area. Percentages are the BACB's, rounded.
| Content area | Scored questions | Share of exam | Tasks in outline |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations | 8 | 5% | 5 |
| B. Concepts and Principles | 24 | 14% | 24 |
| C. Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation | 21 | 12% | 12 |
| D. Experimental Design | 13 | 7% | 9 |
| E. Ethical and Professional Issues | 22 | 13% | 12 |
| F. Behavior Assessment | 23 | 13% | 8 |
| G. Behavior-Change Procedures | 25 | 14% | 19 |
| H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions | 20 | 11% | 8 |
| I. Personnel Supervision and Management | 19 | 11% | 7 |
| Total | 175 | 100% | 104 |
What the numbers tell you
Four areas make up more than half the exam. G, B, F and E together account for 94 of the 175 scored questions (54%).
Area A is small. At 8 questions it's the smallest area. Know it, but don't spend a week on it.
Questions per task varies a lot. This is our own arithmetic, not a BACB figure. Dividing questions by tasks gives an average of about 1 question per task in B, but nearly 3 per task in F (23 questions, 8 tasks) and about 2.7 in I (19 questions, 7 tasks). The BACB doesn't say how questions are spread across tasks within an area, so treat this as a rough guide only. It does suggest each task in F, H and I carries a lot of weight, and that B rewards wide coverage of many concepts.
Ethics is bigger than many people expect. At 22 questions (13%), E is about the same size as Behavior Assessment. Our guide to BCBA ethics questions covers how to approach them.
How the outline was built
The BACB says the outline reflects the knowledge and skills its most recent job task analysis identified as important for entry-level BCBA practice. A job task analysis includes a survey of practising certificants, so the outline is meant to match what new BCBAs actually do. That's why so many tasks begin with practical verbs like identify, distinguish, design, select and apply. Expect to use concepts in scenarios, not just recite definitions.
If you studied with older materials
The BACB says candidates test under the outline that is current when they sit, and that if a new edition takes effect during your authorization period, you test under the new edition. If your notes or question bank were written for the 5th edition, check every topic against the 6th edition outline before you rely on it.
Turn the outline into a study checklist
- Print or save the outline from the BACB site.
- Rate each of the 104 tasks red, amber or green, using practice results rather than gut feeling. Our free diagnostic gives you a starting point by content area.
- Rank your study time by area size × your gap. A red task in a 25-question area matters more than a red task in an 8-question area.
- Work task by task. Every task has its own lesson in the ABA Exam Coach course, for example B.4: positive vs negative reinforcement.
- Re-rate every two weeks with fresh, mixed questions.
FAQ
How many content areas are on the BCBA exam? Nine (A to I), with 104 tasks in total, under the BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.).
Which content area has the most questions? G. Behavior-Change Procedures, with 25 of the 175 scored questions. B. Concepts and Principles is next with 24.
Do I need to pass every content area? No. The BACB bases your result on your overall performance on the exam, not on each content area.
Is the 6th edition the same as the "task list"? It's the current version of the same idea. The BACB now calls it the Test Content Outline, and the 6th edition has been used for the exam since 2025.
Sources
- BACB, BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.): https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/bcba-outline-6thEd (9 domains, 104 tasks, questions per domain, 175 scored and 10 unscored questions, use from 2025, job task analysis)
- BACB, Board Certified Behavior Analyst Handbook (updated 06/2026): https://www.bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/BCBAHandbook_260529-2-a.pdf (question format, 4 hours, equal weighting, overall-performance rule, outline edition rule, job task analysis process)
- BACB, Examination Information: https://www.bacb.com/examination-information/