6/27/2001 -- The Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) has introduced new restrictions on retaking its exams, including implementing a waiting period for repetitive failures.

Effective immediately, anyone who fails a CompTIA certification exam two times in a row must wait 30 days before making another attempt. Also, anyone who has taken an exam and passed must wait 12 months before taking that exam again.

Director of Certification Fran Linhart said that CompTIA is implementing the policy as part of ongoing measures to protect the reputation and security of the organization's exams. "This brings our policy in line with other certification providers [like] Microsoft and Cisco," Linhart said. "[Without these restrictions] a candidate who is not at the skill level of an exam could, despite the number of questions, take it over and over again until they passed. The numbers are very, very small, but it does happen...We're going to stop that."

Linhart also said that it is an issue of security. "We know that sometimes, if a company wants to learn about our content, they'll send someone in to take [an exam] 10 to 15 times," she explained. "The retake policy is a way for us to continually protect our intellectual property."

In the same announcement, CompTIA emphasized its 12-month suspension policy for those who have violated its candidate guidelines. According to the CompTIA Web site, anyone who violates CompTIA's Candidate Conduct Policy will not be allowed to register for another CompTIA exam for at least 12 months.

To view the retake policy in its entirety, click here. -B.N.