Fitness & Personal Training
Personal trainer and fitness professional certification exams — NCCA-accredited credentials from NASM and ACE.
Which exam are you taking?
Exams are grouped with their close relatives — the other tiers of the same licence, the same exam in other states. Open a group to see each exam with its free practice questions, study guide and cheat sheet.
- Personal trainer certifications2 exams122 free questionsCertified Personal Trainer exams from the major NCCA-accredited certifying bodies.NASM CPTACE CPTExplore Personal trainer certifications →
NASM or ACE — which personal trainer exam should you take?
No state licenses personal trainers. What employers and insurers ask for instead is a certification accredited by the NCCA, the National Commission for Certifying Agencies, and both exams here carry that accreditation: NASM's Certified Personal Trainer and ACE's Personal Trainer certification. Accreditation is the credential's value — a gym that requires an NCCA-accredited certification will accept either — so the choice between them is about the training model each teaches and the study package you buy, not about which one counts.
Both bodies set prerequisites that are about safety rather than education. A current CPR and AED certification is required before you sit the exam and must be maintained while certified; a government-issued photo ID with signature is checked at the exam. NASM sets no minimum age of its own, though liability insurers commonly require candidates to be adults. Neither requires a degree or prior experience, and both sell an exam-only option for candidates who already have formal training and do not want the study materials.
Delivery is by test centre or live remote proctoring, and the remote rules are strict: NASM allows no breaks during a live remote proctored exam, and leaving the camera forfeits the attempt. Both certifications are renewed on a recurring cycle with continuing-education credits and a current CPR/AED card.
Choose by how you want to train
Links go to the exam guide, where the question count, time limit, fee and scaled passing score come from the certifying body.
NASM's Optimum Performance Training model organises programming by phase and is the framework many large fitness employers standardise on. NCCA-accredited; CPR/AED required first.
ACE's Integrated Fitness Training model puts rapport and behaviour change alongside programming. NCCA-accredited; the candidate handbook sets the eligibility and exam-day rules.
Both offer an exam-only registration without study materials or learning support, intended for candidates with prior formal training or experience.
A valid, unexpired government photo ID with signature and proof of current CPR/AED certification. For remote proctoring, a quiet room, a working camera, and — for NASM — no breaks at all.
From registration to certification
- 01Get CPR and AED certified from a hands-on provider; the certification must be current on exam day and throughout your certified period.
- 02Register with NASM or ACE, choosing a study package or the exam-only option, and book a test centre or live remote proctored appointment.
- 03Sit the exam under the handbook's rules — ID, camera, no breaks for remote delivery — and receive a scaled pass-or-fail result.
- 04Recertify on the body's cycle with continuing-education credits and a renewed CPR/AED card.
Fee, format and passing standard
All 2 exams on this page. Each figure is that exam's verified fact, cited to the regulator's page on the exam guide it links to. A blank cell means the regulator publishes no fixed figure.
| Exam | Fee | Questions | Time | Passing | Written by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NASM CPT | $599 | 100 | 2h | 70 (scaled score) | National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) |
| ACE CPT | $499 | 125 | 3h | 500 (scaled score on a 200-800 scale) | American Council on Exercise (ACE) |
Who writes these exams
- NASM and ACE
- Each owns its exam, eligibility rules, delivery contract and recertification cycle. Both certifications are accredited by the NCCA, which is what employers and insurers look for.
- No licensing board
- Personal training is not a licensed occupation in any state; accreditation, not statute, gives the credential its standing.
Official pages this section is drawn from
- National Academy of Sports Medicine · NASM Certified Personal Trainer Exam Details
- National Academy of Sports Medicine · NASM CPT Certification Renewal
- National Academy of Sports Medicine · NASM Candidate Handbook — Certified Personal Trainer
- American Council on Exercise · Personal Trainer Certification
- American Council on Exercise · Schedule Your ACE Certification Exam
- American Council on Exercise · ACE Certification and Recertification Handbook
What you'll find on every Fitness & Personal Training exam
Each exam has up to four pages, one per job to be done: practice the questions, understand the exam, study the outline, or revise the morning of. Flashcards and glossary terms sit inside the study guide rather than on pages of their own.
- Practice tests2
- Free question banks with a worked explanation on every answer.
- Exam guides2
- Cost, format, eligibility and difficulty, straight from the official outline.
- Study guides2
- Full outline coverage, plus the exam's flashcards and glossary terms.
- Cheat sheets2
- One-page summaries built for the last review, with a PDF download.
Official sources
Every exam number on this page traces to a document published by the body that sets or administers the exam. These are the primary publishers cited across Fitness & Personal Training.
- National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)support.nasm.orgcited by 1 exam
- American Council on Exercise (ACE)acefitness.orgcited by 1 exam
Last verified against these documents: