RD exam format: questions, time, cost, and scheduling
The RD exam is a computer-based, variable-length Commission on Dietetic Registration exam administered year-round at Pearson VUE centers. The current handbook describes a minimum of 125 questions and a maximum of 145, with 25 pretest items mixed in, and a scaled passing score of 25 on a 1 to 50 scale.
Confirm every figure in the live RD Handbook for Candidates and on CDR’s RD exam overview before you budget or book. This page is for the Registration Examination for Dietitians, not for CSSD sports dietetics.
What the sitting actually looks like
The exam is multiple-choice and computer-adaptive. You choose the best of four options. The pretest items are mixed in. You cannot tell them apart.
CDR’s 2026 handbook describes three hours on the exam timer once question one begins, inside a longer appointment that also includes a tutorial and a short post-exam survey. Older candidate materials said 2.5 hours. Use the handbook dated for your sitting.
You must answer at least 125 questions for the exam to be scored. If the timer ends before that minimum, the handbook describes a failing, inconclusive result. Plan pace, not just knowledge.
Authorization to test lasts one year. Pearson emails scheduling instructions after CDR validates eligibility. We are not the scheduler.
What the fee is, and what we will not invent
Examination-fee figures in older handbooks and third-party pages do not always match. We will not pick a dollar amount from a stale PDF and present it as current.
What CDR states plainly on the live overview: an optional Test Bundle Voucher costs $350 and covers two attempts. The single-attempt fee is paid when you schedule with Pearson. Read the current handbook and the Test Bundle FAQ on cdrnet.org the week you book.
The fee does not include your ACEND pathway, your time, or prep materials, including ours.
What “format” should change in your prep
An adaptive, timed exam punishes two habits that work in class:
- Saving the hard items for later
- Being excellent in nutrition care and thin in foodservice or management
Mastery is accuracy + velocity. A correct answer delivered slowly still costs you once the algorithm and the clock are both live.
That is why a random 20-question quiz is a weak rehearsal. It can return a score without telling you which specification domain produced the misses, and it rarely measures hesitation.
MasteryEngine’s RD bank is not live. There is no RD Free Readiness Check and no RD full mock here. Aim practice at the 2022 through 2026 test specifications until there is a bank. CDR has also posted 2027 through 2031 materials on that same page.
Common questions
How many questions are on the RD exam?
The current handbook says 125 to 145 multiple-choice questions, including 25 pretest items. Confirm the live handbook if you are reading this after another revision.
How long is the RD exam?
Three hours on the exam timer, per the 2026 handbook, plus tutorial and survey time in the appointment. Confirm the live file.
When is the RD exam offered?
CDR currently says year-round at more than 250 Pearson centers. Appointment availability is determined at scheduling.
How much does the RD exam cost?
Confirm the current single-attempt fee in the handbook. CDR publishes a $350 Test Bundle Voucher for two attempts. We do not collect CDR’s fee.
What to do next
Read the handbook, then keep the specifications next to a named weakest domain.
The RD exam prep hub is the public overview. The study guide is the checklist. If you want a live Free Readiness Check, that offer is CSSD sports dietetics.
MasteryEngine is independent exam prep. We are not affiliated with CDR or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. RD and RDN are CDR marks. We do not provide CDR continuing-education credit and we do not guarantee eligibility or a pass. Confirm official facts on cdrnet.org.