In What Order Should I Take the ARE 5.0?

Probably every candidate for the ARE has wondered: What's the best order to take the ARE 5.0 exams? Like all aspects of studying for the ARE, this decision is actually a pretty personal one, and the best order for you might be different than the best order for someone else. So there's no clear answer, and it depends on your preference and how you learn best. 

There's no single "correct" order. Choose the path that aligns with your existing experience and learning style, then stick with it.

What Order Should you take the ARE 5.0 Exam?

EEven though this is ultimately a personal decision for you, there are a couple of frameworks you can use to help you guide your studying and exam order

1. Take similar ARE divisions together

By grouping similar divisions and studying for them together, you can cover a lot of ground more efficiently. Because there is some overlap in the foundational knowledge between the ARE divisions, if you study for multiple divisions at once, the information you learn for one division will still be fresh in your mind when you go to study for the other division, allowing you to use what you have already learned.

An example of this would be studying for PcM, PjM, and CE together, and then PA, PDD, and PPD together. [Here's how the divisions group by content overlap:]

Business & Management Group:

• Practice Management (PcM)
• Project Management (PjM)
• Construction & Evaluation (CE)

Design & Technical Group:

• Programming & Analysis (PA)
• Project Planning & Design (PPD)
• Project Development & Documentation (PDD)

It's worth noting that you can still space out the exams at a cadence that works for you—so you don't have to take three exams in a month, for example—but grouping these like divisions can help you maximize your study time.

The test questions will approach content from different perspectives based on the specific division, so it's still important to spend focused study time on each one for the best chance of passing. But a lot of the core knowledge of similar divisions will relate to each other.

2. Utilize Your Existing Experience

No need to reinvent the wheel: If you have strength or expertise in a particular area, you can lean into those strengths and tackle those divisions first.

This approach may work better for people who have been working in the field for longer and have had the chance to get more experience under their belt. If you work in a particular area that maps closely onto a division of the ARE, you can start there to get an easy pass—plus a confidence boost to keep you moving through the rest of the exams!

Match your experience to the right division:

• If you work in construction administration: Start with CE - you already deal with submittals, RFIs, change orders, and site observation
• If you work on early-stage design: Start with PA or PPD - you're familiar with programming, site analysis, and schematic design
• If you work at a small firm: Consider starting with PcM - you've likely been exposed to business operations, contracts, and firm management
• If you're fresh out of school: Start with PcM - you'll need to study this material regardless of experience, so tackle it first.

From there, you can make use of the like divisions together strategy and move on to the divisions that relate to the one you just took (and passed, we know you did).

3. Black Spectacles' Approach

Our staff spends a lot of time reading, thinking about, and creating study materials that are all entirely about NCARB's ARE guidelines. Based on working with thousands of ARE candidates and analyzing pass rate data across all divisions, here's our suggested order to take the ARE 5.0.

Take the Practice Management (PcM) Exam First

The reason you want to take this division first is that you need to actually study for it—there's no way to gain the experience of running a firm without having your license, so you have to pick up that information in a different way before you can get to it in real life.

PcM covers firm operations, business planning, project finance, and risk management - topics you won't learn by working on projects. Since you can't "practice your way" into this knowledge, it's better to study for it early while you're building experience in other areas.

When you take the deep dive into PcM, you’ll not only learn the material you need to pass this division, but you’ll also be gaining knowledge and skills that are valuable to you in the real world. Use the time it takes you to study and pass PcM to gain real-world experience in other areas too.

Additionally, starting with PcM provides an early confidence boost - Black Spectacles students pass this exam at an 86% rate, well above the 51% national average.]

Next, Move Onto the Project Management (PjM) Exam

After PcM, we suggest taking the like divisions approach and moving on to PjM next, as a lot of the information covered is similar and there’s a good amount of overlap between the two.

PjM covers contracts, project delivery methods, leadership, and quality control. Much of the foundational knowledge from PcM (understanding project roles, risk management, professional ethics) directly applies here. By taking these back-to-back, you'll retain more information and study more efficiently.

What Exams Should I Take After PcM and PjM?

From there, our suggested order is: PA, PPD, PDD, and lastly CE.

Why this order?

After completing the business/management divisions (PcM and PjM), we recommend:

1. Programming & Analysis (PA) - Start the design sequence with pre-design and programming. This division covers site analysis, environmental analysis, and space programming - the foundation for all design work.
2. Project Planning & Design (PPD) - Continue through schematic design, code analysis, and building systems integration. The programming knowledge from PA directly informs the design decisions in PPD.
3. Project Development & Documentation (PDD) - Finish with design development and construction documents. This division brings together everything you've learned - from business concepts (PcM/PjM) through design thinking (PA/PPD) to technical documentation.
4. Construction & Evaluation (CE) - Take this while project management concepts are fresh. CE builds on PjM content (contracts, quality control) but focuses on the construction phase. It also has the highest pass rate, 90% for Black Spectacles students.

These last four divisions roughly follow a project order, so it makes sense to group them together and move through what you would need to know from start to finish as you're working on real architecture projects.

How Long Should I Study for Each Division?

Planning your timeline is crucial for managing the ARE alongside your work and personal life. Here are realistic study time estimates for each division:

Black Spectacles students achieve an overall 84% pass rate compared to the 55% national average. Our members report passing their exams at rates 34% higher than the NCARB-published national average.

Total timeline: Most candidates complete all six divisions in 12-24 months, studying 10-15 hours per week. However, your timeline may be shorter or longer depending on your work experience, study efficiency, and personal schedule.

Spacing exams: We recommend spacing exams 4-8 weeks apart. This gives you adequate study time without losing momentum. Taking breaks longer than 3 months between exams can lead to knowledge decay and make it harder to restart your study routine.

Which exam is easiest? 

Based on both pass rates and student feedback, Construction & Evaluation (CE) tends to be the easiest for most candidates, particularly those with construction administration experience. The high pass rate (90% for Black Spectacles students, 66% nationally) reflects that many candidates work with RFIs, submittals, and change orders regularly.

Which exam is hardest?

Project Planning & Design (PPD) and Programming & Analysis (PA) consistently show the lowest pass rates and require the most comprehensive preparation. These divisions cover broad technical content that many candidates don't encounter regularly in their daily work.

Take the ARE in the Order That's Right for You

It’s worth noting that this order isn’t set in stone, and might not work for everyone in the exact same way. As mentioned above, if you have certain experiences or strengths that make you feel more confident on a different division than the order laid out here, use those strengths! 

At the end of the day, the only person who really needs to worry about the order you take the ARE in is you. Sure, spend a little time strategizing and thinking about how you want to get started, but don’t agonize over this decision. Studying for the ARE is stressful enough without worrying about the order on top of everything. The most important thing is to just get started, and to choose the study schedule that works best for you.

Ready to start studying? Black Spectacles offers comprehensive ARE prep materials for all six divisions, with practice exams, video lessons, and study guides designed to help you pass on your first attempt.