ITS Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling

There Is No Fixed Exam Calendar for ETA ITS

Candidates searching for "ITS exam dates 2026" often expect a published list of testing windows, like the quarterly sessions some vendors announce. Information Technology Security (ITS) from ETA International does not work that way. The exam is arranged with an ETA Certification Administrator, and the date is largely a matter of coordinating with that administrator and choosing a delivery method. There is no registration deadline tied to a national exam day.

That flexibility is useful, but it shifts the planning burden onto you. Instead of asking "when is the next window?", the productive questions are: which delivery method fits my situation, how much lead time does it require, and how long do I need to prepare before I book?

A quick identity note before going further. This article covers the ETA International Information Technology Security credential only. It is a different credential from Certiport's Information Technology Specialist exams, which follow their own scheduling and fee structures. If you are weighing the two, the page on what ITS certification is explains where ETA's credential fits.

Two Delivery Paths: Trapeza, Paper, and ExamRoom.AI

ETA offers three practical ways to sit the written knowledge examination, and your choice drives both cost and scheduling.

Every route tests the same content: 100 questions, a two-hour limit, a 75% passing score, and a USD 105 exam fee. There is no hands-on assessment, so you will never need to book lab time or a practical station. For the full fee picture including the remote add-on, retake treatment, and maintenance charges, see the ITS certification cost breakdown.

Choosing between in-person and remote

In-person Trapeza or paper testing suits candidates who want a controlled room and do not want to worry about hardware. Remote testing suits candidates who live far from an administrator or whose schedules are tight, but it carries a technical checklist (covered below) and an extra fee. If your home internet is unreliable, the USD 16 saved is not worth a connection drop mid-exam.

Remote Scheduling: The 72-Hour Lead Time

Remote proctored testing through ExamRoom.AI requires you to register with ETA first. After registration, initial scheduling can take up to 72 hours. In practical terms, that means a same-day or next-day remote exam is not a realistic plan.

The remote requirements are specific:

• A working webcam and microphone
• A recent computer
• At least 3 Mbps internet
• Photo ID

Run a hardware and bandwidth check well before your booked slot, not in the final hour. A candidate who discovers a dead microphone on exam morning has effectively turned a scheduling problem into a rescheduling problem.

Exam Day Rules That Affect Your Timing

The two-hour limit for 100 questions works out to roughly 72 seconds per question on average. Because candidates may not leave the room once testing starts, you cannot pause for a break and recover the lost minutes. A few logistics are worth planning around:

• Photo ID is required. Check that the name on your ID matches your ETA registration.
• Scratch paper and non-programmable or scientific calculators are permitted. Used scratch paper must be surrendered at the end.
• Phones are prohibited.
• No leaving the room after the exam starts. Handle everything beforehand.

The calculator allowance is a hint about content. Domain 7 covers operational standards, policies and risk assessments, where annualized loss expectancy style math can appear. Practice the arithmetic by hand and with an allowed calculator so that exam-day mechanics are automatic. Working a few single loss expectancy, annualized rate of occurrence, and annualized loss expectancy problems at your desk is time well spent; the ITS practice test is a convenient place to rehearse under timed conditions.

The Retake Clock: 30 Days and One Year

If you do not pass, ETA allows one eligible free retake. The conditions define your second timeline:

1. You must wait 30 days after the unsuccessful attempt.
2. The retake must be completed within one year of the first exam.
3. A remote retake still incurs the proctoring fee.

The 30-day wait is a mandatory cooling-off period, so a failed attempt on a Monday cannot be retried by Friday. Use the gap deliberately. Because Trapeza displays results immediately, you leave the exam knowing your outcome and can start diagnosing weak areas the same day while the questions are fresh. Write down which competency areas felt shaky before the memory fades.

Since the free retake expires one year after the first exam, do not bank on indefinitely deferring it. If you fail and then life intervenes, the clock keeps running. For context on what a failed first attempt usually signals, how hard the ITS exam really is sets realistic expectations. Note that the 75% threshold is a score you must reach, not a statistic about how many candidates succeed; no issuer-wide pass rate has been verified, and the ITS pass rate discussion explains how to interpret that gap.

Backward Planning From a Target Test Date

Since you control the date, the smartest scheduling approach is to pick a target, then work backward. This is the one place a week-by-week structure earns its keep, and it should follow the ten ETA competency areas rather than generic study blocks. ETA states that examination questions derive from its published competencies, and the document does not publish percentage weights, so do not assume any domain is worth more than another.

This sequence groups related material so each week builds on the last: hardware and physical controls first, then the software and wireless layers that run on them, then threat and governance topics, and finally the cross-cutting areas. The seven-week length is an editorial suggestion, not an ETA requirement; compress or stretch it based on your background. ETA's competency document recommends prior computer-systems and networking experience, and prior IT or networking certification, so candidates who already have that foundation can shorten the early weeks. The ITS study guide expands each stage, and the guide to all ten ITS exam domains breaks down what each competency area covers.

Worked scenarios worth scheduling time for

Certain topics reward hands-on practice problems rather than rereading. Block time for these specifically:

After You Pass: Four-Year Term and Maintenance Deadlines

Passing resets your calendar rather than ending it. The ITS certification runs on a four-year term, and keeping it active follows ETA's general, non-hands-on maintenance program. You have two routes:

• Continuing education route: submit the Certification Maintenance Form with 10 relevant continuing-education hours each year, totaling 40 over the four-year cycle, plus USD 25 annually (USD 100 over four years).
• Employer verification route: submit a supervisor-completed Employer Verification Form instead of tracking hours, with the same annual fee.

The annual submission includes ETA membership. Put a recurring reminder on your calendar for each year of the term rather than waiting for year four, because the continuing-education hours are spread across annual submissions. Candidates who bank all 40 hours in the final months are inviting a scramble.

If you later want to advance, a Journeyman upgrade requires Associate CET (CETa) and at least two years of combined training and experience, with a USD 55 upgrade fee. The Stand-Alone ITS route itself does not require CETa, so you can certify first and consider the upgrade later. The ITS requirements guide covers eligibility in detail.

Security+ Rollover: Skipping the Exam Calendar Entirely

One route sidesteps exam scheduling altogether. A valid CompTIA Security+ (ce) credential provides an alternative ITS rollover path for USD 105 with proof of your current certificate. Lifetime Security+ certificates are excluded.

Two clarifications keep expectations accurate. First, the rollover is an alternative credential route, not an equivalence of syllabi. It does not mean a CompTIA outline is the ETA ITS blueprint; ETA's published 2024 competency objectives remain the authoritative content list for the written exam. Second, rollover removes the need to schedule a proctored sitting, which matters if you are short on time, but it only works if your Security+ is current and of the eligible type.

If you are deciding whether the credential is worth pursuing at all, the ROI analysis of ITS certification weighs the investment, and the ITS salary guide explains why ETA's older wage figures should not be read as a current pay premium.

Scheduling Pitfalls and Source Conflicts

A few traps catch candidates who gather information from scattered sources.

Outdated fee figures

Some indexed reference pages, including an ETA Press listing, show older prices of USD 100 for the exam and USD 50 for the upgrade. The current ETA figures are USD 105 for the exam and USD 55 for the upgrade. Budget using the current numbers, and confirm with ETA when you register.

Confusing similarly named credentials

"ITS" is a crowded acronym. Fees, dates, and exam formats you read about for other credentials do not apply here. If a page lists exam dates, domain weights, or pass rates that do not match ETA's published two-hour, 100-question written format, it is probably describing something else.

Mistaking study-product hours for exam facts

Preparation products carry their own numbers. For example, eITprep's study guide listing mentions six months of access, two custom practice exams, 100 electronic flashcards, and 45 course contact hours. Those are product features, not exam facts. The real exam is 100 questions in two hours, and the 45 contact hours describe course length, not test duration. If you use that resource, map it to ETA's published 2024 competency objectives, since the public description does not identify a Security+ exam edition and the course does not confer certification.

Unofficial question banks

Community-uploaded practice material has uneven authority and cannot replace the issuer blueprint. The competency document also includes legacy security protocols and older standards editions, so good study content explains those items in context rather than treating them as current best practice. For a compact refresher, the ITS cheat sheet collects must-know facts, and the ITS passing score guide details the 75% threshold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Because you set the date, the real deadline is the one you give yourself. Choose a delivery method, confirm your fees and lead times with ETA, work backward from your target, and use a timed run on the ITS practice tests to confirm you are ready before you book.