The Praxis Audiology (5343) is ETS's national examination in audiology: a 2-hour, computer-delivered test of 120 selected-response questions.
ASHA requires a passing score of 162 on it for the CCC-A certification, each state sets its own passing score for the exam in licensure, and the ASLP-IC interstate compact names it as the approved national exam.
Here is who requires it, what is on it, and how registration, scores and retakes work.
What is the Praxis Audiology (5343)?
The Praxis Audiology (5343) is the current version of the Praxis Examination in Audiology — the national audiology examination from ETS, the Educational Testing Service.
It is a 2-hour, computer-delivered test of 120 selected-response questions.
ETS describes the 120 questions as focused on the major practice areas of prevention, identification, assessment and intervention.
Those four areas run from screening programs through evaluation and treatment, and the five content categories below break that ground down in detail.
Searches use several names for this test: the audiology Praxis, the ETS audiology exam, the Praxis 5343.
They all point to this one ETS test.
The exam itself is not a license and not a degree.
A state license is what the law requires to practice audiology; the exam is one requirement that state licensure rules and ASHA's certification standards use.
Three gates use the exam, each with its own rule-setter: state licensing boards for licensure, ASHA for the CCC-A certification, and the ASLP-IC Commission for the interstate compact.
The 5343 code matters because older versions still come up.
The retired 5342 and 0342 versions carried a passing score of 170, and ASHA continues to accept a 170 on those versions where a state licensing agency requires them — one reason the numbers you see quoted online do not always match.
Where the exam sits in a hearing care career, the audiologist career guide covers the whole route: the Doctor of Audiology degree, the state license, the national credentials and the settings audiologists work in afterwards.
Who requires it: states, ASHA CCC-A and the interstate compact
Start with the states.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics says all states require audiologists to be licensed, with requirements that vary by state and typically include an AuD from an accredited program.
Where the Praxis fits inside licensure is each state's own call.
ASHA says each state sets its own Praxis passing score for licensure, and that most states adopt the ASHA score while some set it higher or lower.
Which exam version and score your state's audiology board or licensing agency takes, and whether the exam is among that state's requirements at all, is written by that board — confirm with the board where you plan to practice before you register.
ASHA's CCC-A certification requires a passing score too.
Under Standard IV of ASHA's 2020 certification standards, the passing exam score must be earned no earlier than 5 years before the application is submitted and no later than 2 years after ASHA receives it.
The score report is also part of a complete application: ASHA lists passing Praxis scores sent directly from ETS alongside an official doctoral transcript and payment of dues and fees.
The ASLP-IC interstate compact names the exam as well.
The commission's national exam rule, effective July 29, 2026, approves the ETS Praxis Examination in Audiology — or its successor or equivalent — as the compact's national exam, with passing scores set by each member state's board.
Neither ASHA's CCC nor ABA certification is required to use the compact, although member states keep their own licensure requirements.
The compact's reach is still rolling out.
As of October 12, 2026, 37 jurisdictions had enacted the compact, but only four states were issuing compact privileges: Louisiana, West Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee.
Enactment alone does not let anyone practice in another state — each privilege is applied for individually through the CompactConnect system.
One body that does not list the exam: the American Board of Audiology.
The eligibility checklist for its ABA Certified (ABAC) credential names a current audiology license, a doctoral degree in audiology and documented hours of mentored professional practice — no Praxis exam requirement appears on the checklist.
Confirm with the body that applies to you
What's on the exam: content categories
ETS's Study Companion divides the 120 questions into five content categories.
Assessment is the largest single share of the test.
| Content category | Approx. weight | Approx. questions |
|---|---|---|
| Foundations of Audiology | 20% | 24 |
| Prevention and Screening | 10% | 12 |
| Assessment | 35% | 42 |
| Intervention | 25% | 30 |
| Professional and Ethical Responsibilities | 10% | 12 |
The weights and question counts are ETS's own approximations, published in its Study Companion for the 5343.
Together the five categories run from foundations through prevention and screening, assessment, intervention, and the profession's ethical responsibilities.
The weights also show where the test concentrates.
Assessment carries more questions than Prevention and Screening and Professional and Ethical Responsibilities combined.
ETS publishes its outline for the test in the Study Companion, a free download with the content outline and sample questions.
Format, length and fee
The format is fixed: 120 selected-response questions with a 2-hour time limit, delivered on computer.
Selected-response means each question presents answer options to choose from, rather than essay or constructed-response items.
You can take the test at an ETS test center or at home.
The registration fee is US$146 — the price on ETS's product page for the Audiology (5343) test as of October 12, 2026.
Exam fees change, so check the ETS store for the current price when you register.
At-home testing runs with live remote proctoring through ProctorU, and the window is wide: ASHA's registration guidance lists availability from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific Time, seven days a week.
Scoring counts right answers only.
Unanswered questions earn nothing, which is why ASHA's preparation advice is that it is better to guess than to leave a question blank.
How and when to register (3rd vs 4th year)
ASHA's timing advice is specific about the milestone and does not name a program year: register and take the Praxis no earlier than the completion of your graduate coursework and graduate clinical practicum, or during your first year of clinical practice after graduation.
That is why the third-year-versus-fourth-year question has no single national answer in ASHA's guidance.
The recommendation keys to when your coursework and practicum finish, not to a particular year of a particular program, so the right sitting depends on where your program places those milestones.
Your program's advising materials are the place to confirm that date.
Whether your program sets an exam milestone, and when, is the program's own policy; your state board, meanwhile, sets its own application deadlines.
Confirm both before you book a test date.
Registration itself runs through ETS.
For ASHA certification, ASHA's instructions tell candidates to have exam results sent directly from ETS, selecting recipient code R5031 — the score report has to come straight from ETS rather than from the candidate.
How long ETS's score reporting takes to reach ASHA or a state board is something our sources did not pin down, so build buffer time between your test date and your application deadline rather than booking at the last minute.
If you are still choosing a program rather than planning an exam date, the Doctor of Audiology degree guide covers what the AuD includes and how it differs from a PhD or MD.
Timing is a three-way confirm
Score reporting and retakes
ASHA's required score on the current test is 162 on the 100–200 scale, as of October 2026; the 170 often quoted belongs to the older 5342 and 0342 versions described above, and each state sets its own passing score for licensure.
Scores also carry a shelf life.
For initial ASHA certification, a Praxis score must be no more than 5 years old at the time you apply.
Retakes are allowed, but the certification application runs on a clock.
If the exam is not passed within the 2-year certification application period, ASHA closes the file, and the candidate must reapply under the standards then in effect.
Career information, not licensing, legal, medical, clinical, billing or coding advice. Exam requirements, scores and fees change — confirm the current rules with ETS, ASHA, your state's audiology board and the ASLP-IC Commission, as applicable.