People search for AIGP exam dates expecting a calendar of sittings, and there is none. The IAPP's exams run year-round: you buy the exam, then book an appointment with Pearson VUE at a test center or online, on any day with an open slot, within one year of the purchase. That makes the date yours to choose, and the rules around it the thing to know. This guide walks through them in order, from the purchase to the result, with the deadlines that cost people their fee: the one-year window, the 24-hour booking minimum, the rescheduling cutoffs, the no-show rule and the seven-day wait before a retake. It ends with how to choose the date itself.
The short answer
- Dates: none fixed. "Exams are offered year-round through Pearson VUE testing centers around the world", and online through OnVUE.
- The window: "All IAPP exams must be scheduled and taken within one year of purchase." An expired exam is closed and the fee forfeited.
- Booking: at least 24 hours ahead, through your MyIAPP profile, which hands you to Pearson VUE.
- Changing it: up to 48 hours before a test center appointment; up to 15 minutes past the start time for an online one.
- Results: on screen at the end, "unless otherwise communicated", with a section breakdown by email.
- A retake: a new purchase at a discounted price, and no appointment sooner than seven days after the failed attempt.
When are the AIGP exam dates in 2026?
Whenever you book them. The FAQs: "Computer-based exams can be purchased at any time through the IAPP Store . Exams are offered year-round through Pearson VUE testing centers around the world. Exams are also available online through OnVUE, Pearson VUE's remote online proctoring platform." The study guide counts "more than 6,000 testing locations worldwide".
What limits the date is availability, not a calendar. The handbook says "Exams must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance, and appointments are subject to availability. The IAPP recommends scheduling as far in advance as possible." It is also firm about the window: "Exam expiration dates will not be extended for failure to account for preparation time, scheduling time or last-minute appointment availability." So the practical rule is to buy the exam when you are ready to commit to a date within the year, not before.
How to register for the AIGP exam
Registration is two steps with two organizations: you buy from the IAPP and book with Pearson VUE.
- Buy the exam. It costs US$649 for IAPP members and US$799 for non-members on the store page. "Once an exam has been purchased, it will appear in the candidate’s MyIAPP profile." The handbook adds a reminder at this point: "either IAPP membership or a certification maintenance fee will be required for your certification to become active when you pass your exam."
- Check your name. "Before scheduling, ensure the name in your MyIAPP profile is identical to the name on your ID; this will be required to verify your identity on exam day."
- Start the booking. In the "Certifications" section of MyIAPP, select "Schedule Exam". You are asked whether you need special accommodations; answering no takes you to Pearson VUE.
- Book with Pearson VUE. Choose the exam from the list of "Preapproved Exams" and follow the steps to a date, a time and a place or an online slot.
- Wait for both confirmations. You are done only when you see a page with a green banner that says "Your appointment is confirmed!" and receive the confirmation email: "Until you are shown this banner and receive this confirmation email, you have not reached the end of the scheduling process."
One privacy detail is worth knowing: "To reduce the amount of data Pearson VUE collects, the address and phone number on your Pearson VUE account will be the IAPP U.S. headquarters’ address and phone number."
Test center or online with OnVUE?
Both deliver the same exam; they differ in the rules around it.
At a test center, "Candidates are strongly encouraged to arrive at the testing center 15 minutes prior to their appointment. If you arrive late, you may not be allowed to take your exam and will be considered a no-show, forfeiting all fees." You bring "two qualifying forms of ID", leave devices and reading material outside, and can step out for the restroom, but "the timer will not stop, and you will not be given additional time."
Online with OnVUE, "All OnVUE exams should be taken on a personal computer, not a work-issued device. Candidates may not use a VPN during their exam." The "Begin" button appears 30 minutes before your appointment; a system check tests your microphone, webcam and connection; you photograph yourself, a government-issued ID and four views of your surroundings. The rules are strict: no headphones, no speaking or mouthing words, no one else in the room, one beverage, and your face in view throughout. The proctor watches the webcam, not your screen, and AI assists the proctor; the handbook says you can contact Pearson VUE to opt out of AI identity verification or the AI functionality.
If a quiet room and a personal computer are easy, OnVUE saves the journey. If either is not, a test center removes the risk of a dismissal for a household interruption.
Rescheduling, canceling and no-shows
The cutoffs depend on where you test. "If your exam is scheduled at an in-person testing center, you may reschedule or cancel your appointment up to 48 hours prior to the appointment time. If your exam is scheduled as an OnVUE remote-testing appointment, you may reschedule or cancel up to 15 minutes past the scheduled exam time."
You change an appointment through the same route you booked it: "View Exam Details" in MyIAPP, then Pearson VUE. As with booking, the email is the proof: "When the exam has been successfully canceled or rescheduled, you will receive an email confirmation from Pearson VUE. Unless you have received this email, you have not completed the cancellation or rescheduling process."
Missing the appointment is expensive. "Should a candidate miss their exam appointment, their exam results will be “no-show,” and the purchased exam attempt considered consumed." A no-show cannot be rescheduled; you buy the exam again. Exceptions are for "medical emergency or the like", requested from Pearson VUE.
On the day: two halves
The exam is 100 questions in 2.75 hours. "Halfway through the exam, the candidate will be offered a 15-minute break. This break divides the exam into two distinct halves, each containing half the total exam questions and half the total time limit." Whether you take the break or not, you submit the first half, and "The candidate cannot return to the first half after submission." The AIGP exam: format, multi-select and the 300 covers what the questions look like.
Results and the certificate
"Upon completion of the exam, results are immediate (unless otherwise communicated). The screen will display the result of Pass or Fail along with your score on our scoring scale." An email follows with a section breakdown by domain, and the result takes "up to two business days" to show in the IAPP's system.
If you pass and already hold membership or a prepaid maintenance fee, you are certified at once and receive "a digital certificate via email from Accredible within two weeks." If you hold neither, the certificate waits: "A digital certificate will not be awarded until this requirement has been met and the certification is active."
If you fail: the retake
"Candidates who do not successfully pass their exam may purchase a new exam after their exam results reflect in their MyIAPP profile. Retake candidates will not be able to schedule an appointment for a date sooner than seven days after their prior attempt." The FAQs promise a lower price for it: "Previously failed exams also receive a discounted retake price on subsequent attempts of the same certification." The store shows the figure when you buy; the documents we pin do not state it.
The section breakdown is the tool for the second attempt. The FAQs: "Candidates who fail can use this information to determine which domains they need to focus on when studying for a retake exam." They add a caution: "an overall score cannot be determined by averaging these percentages", because the domains are not the same size.
AIGP exam vouchers and discounts
The pinned documents describe three price advantages:
- Membership. The exam is US$649 for members and US$799 for non-members. Membership costs US$295 a year and stands in for the certification maintenance fee, which non-members pay at US$250 per two-year term; What the AIGP exam costs in 2026 works out which is cheaper for you.
- A second certification. "If you currently hold an IAPP certification, any additional first-time certification exams will receive a discounted price."
- A retake, as above.
The documents we pin describe no exam voucher program and no separate student exam price.
Special accommodations
"Special accommodations include but are not limited to: • Screen reader. • Sign language interpreter. • Admission of a service animal to the testing location." The FAQs list more, including extra time, frequent breaks and a separate room. You request them at the "Schedule Exam" step, the certification team replies within two business days, and "The IAPP strongly encourages test takers to request special accommodations as soon as possible as this process may take up to 30 days to complete." Build those 30 days into your date.
A checklist for the week before
Each line below comes from the rules above, gathered in the order you meet them.
- Your confirmation email from Pearson VUE is in your inbox and saved; without it, the booking did not complete.
- The name in MyIAPP matches your ID exactly, and for a test center you have two qualifying forms of ID.
- For OnVUE: a personal computer, not a work laptop, with no VPN; run the system check early, and clear the room and the desk, since you will photograph both.
- For a test center: you know the route and will arrive 15 minutes early, because a late arrival can count as a no-show.
- Your last date to change the appointment is noted: 48 hours before a test center slot, or up to 15 minutes past an online one.
- Your plan for the two halves: decide in advance whether you will take the 15-minute break, and remember the first half closes when you submit it.
Choosing your exam date
The IAPP's study guide gives the floor: "In general, the IAPP recommends you plan for a minimum of 30 hours of study time in advance of your exam date". Working back from that, three rules help.
- Book first, then plan backward. A booked date turns 30 hours into a weekly number. At five hours a week that is six weeks; at three, ten.
- Leave room for the window's edge. If you buy the exam on a whim and find no slot near the end of the year, the fee is gone. Book the date the day you buy.
- Put the mock in the last week. Rehearse the two halves at full length before the real thing, early enough to fix a weak domain.
A study plan helps most once you have the date. In our course you enter your exam date and the hours you can give each week, and the plan lays out the weeks to the exam, competency by competency, with the IAPP's 30-hour minimum shown beside the hours the course takes.
Where to start
Before you buy the exam, try the material: the AIGP's first competency, AI and the need for governance, is free in full with a free account, five lessons, 100 questions and 118 flashcards, with a short diagnostic and a study plan that works from your exam date. How to study for the AIGP: a 30-hour plan sets out the hours, and How hard is the AIGP exam? the level.
By QualExam editorial. Written against the certifying body’s published documents, pinned by hash so a revised edition shows up as a change.