Exam Information

PHE Certificate Exam

Test overview

The PHE Certificate examination is "closed book," online, and administered by a proctor. Starting in July 2026, all exams will be proctored remotely through ProctorU. It consists of 150 multiple-choice and true-false questions and should be taken in one sitting of 3-hours or less. Exams can be scheduled by the applicant  through their ESA account (updated instructions coming soon!). The exam is rigorous by design. The Certification Board feels that applicants, regardless of how long they have been in the industry, should prepare for the exam with a minimum of 40 hours of self-study prior to attempting the exam. Please see the PHE resources page for more information on how to study for the PHE exam. 

General guidelines

The PHE Certificate examination is designed to recognize practicing pest management and vector control professionals who have a solid grasp of the practical aspects of applied entomology. The major categories of competency covered by the exam include these four areas:

• Inspection and Identification (45% of the exam)
• Monitoring (12% of the exam)
• Selection and Implementation of Control Methods (28% of the exam)
• Evaluation (15% of the exam)

Content Outline

The content outline is the four Domains broken into a series of Skills and Tasks. It is more detailed information on the types of materials covered in the examination.

After the Exam

The exam is scored immediately by the testing software and an unofficial score is sent to the applicant. A final score follows within a week. Passing score is 75%. Those who pass will be emailed instructions on claiming their Digital Certificate.

All applicants must pass the exam within 1 year of their application acceptance date or the application will expire.

If an applicant does not earn a passing score the first time they take the exam, they can retake it no sooner 30 days and no more than 365 days later. To schedule a retake, the applicant may do so by logging into their ESA account. The first two exam attempts are covered by the application fee, but a fee of $75 ($50 for ESA members) is required for any subsequent attempts.