Failed the CRCST? Read this before you pay to retake it

SterileExam is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by HSPA. Every figure below was read on HSPA's own pages on the date shown, not estimated or carried over from a prior version of this page.

What it actually costs to try again

There is no reduced fee for a second attempt. HSPA charges $140to retake the CRCST, which is exactly what the first attempt cost. And if you change your mind after applying and before sitting, you still do not get all of it back: HSPA's own page states the refund is issued your payment will be refunded in full, minus a $25 non-refundable application fee. That $25 is gone whether you fail the exam or never take it.

In 2025, HSPA reports 5,286 people did not pass, out of 15,369 who sat it, a 34.4% fail rate. Every one of them faces this same bill to try again. The CSPDT, the parallel certification from the CBSPD, shows the same pattern: 48.1% passed in 2025. Failing a first attempt is common enough that it should not be treated as a personal verdict, and it is expensive enough that a second failure is worth avoiding. Detail on the two exams side by side is on the comparison page.

What the score report actually tells you

A failing result comes with a breakdown by content domain, so it looks like a study plan. HSPA's own retake page says otherwise: Section score diagnostic information on a failing result report should be interpreted with caution. The knowledge domain area scores are not used to determine Pass/Fail decision outcomes; they are only provided to offer a general indication regarding your performance in each knowledge domain.

Read that twice: the organization that grades the exam is telling you not to over-read the one piece of feedback you get from failing it. It is a general indication, in their words, not the pass or fail decision itself.

Why a practice score is not a forecast

This is the part of the page that is not a citation, because it is not a fact HSPA or anyone else publishes: it is what we think, and we say so in our own voice. A number on a practice test tells you how you did on that specific set of questions, under conditions that are not the three hour clock at Prometric. It is common to see candidates who scored well in practice describe being surprised by the real result, and the reason is not that practice scores lie: it is that a score is a diagnostic of what you know today, not a guarantee about a different exam on a different day. Nothing about the format changes that, ours included.

What can change the outcome is knowing which domains cost you the most points and studying those first, which is the entire argument for the paid report over another round of untargeted questions. The retake alone costs $140, and you pay it whether you pass or not. This costs $59, once, before you book it.