- Why There Is No Fixed Test Calendar
- The Two Parts You Must Schedule
- Delivery Options: Onsite and Remote Theory
- Fee and Retake Timing Mechanics
- What to Plan for on Test Day
- Scheduling Your Prep by Domain
- Dates After You Pass: The Four-Year Cycle
- Source Cautions Before You Book
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The written PIM exam has 50 questions in two hours, with a published 75% passing criterion.
- An ETA-approved hands-on course and practical verification are separate requirements from the $130 written exam.
- One free retake is available within one year of your first sitting.
- Certification lasts four years; Maintenance with Hands-On needs 24 CE hours and $100 total.
Why There Is No Fixed Test Calendar
Searching for "PIM exam dates 2026" tends to produce a mental image of a national testing window: a spring session, a fall session, a registration deadline circled on a calendar. For Passive Intermodulation Testing (PIM), administered through ETA International, that is not how the certification is structured in the sources we reviewed. We did not find a published list of fixed national sitting dates. Instead, your timeline is built around two things: when you can attend an ETA-approved hands-on training course, and when an ETA Certification Administrator can proctor your written theory test.
That distinction matters for planning. A fixed-window exam rewards calendar discipline. A schedule-it-when-ready certification rewards sequencing: you work backward from your hands-on attendance, your study readiness, and your employer's availability. If you are still deciding whether this credential suits your career, our guide on whether the PIM certification is worth it covers the value question before you commit calendar time.
The Two Parts You Must Schedule
The stand-alone PIM pathway has a written component and a hands-on component, and they run on different clocks. Candidates who treat the certification as "just an exam" often discover late that the practical piece needs its own lead time.
Part 1: The written theory examination
The theory test consists of 50 questions to be completed in two hours. ETA publishes a 75% passing criterion. We do not convert that into a specific number of correct answers here, because the published requirement is the percentage and nothing in the sources we reviewed turns it into a count. For more on how scoring is described, see our breakdown of the PIM passing score.
Part 2: Hands-on training and practical verification
The hands-on requirement means attending an ETA-approved school or course and completing practical verification. The charges and duration of that course are separate from the written examination fee. Importantly, the two-hour figure above applies to the written test only; it is not a claim about how long the practical assessment or training course lasts. Course length varies by provider, so ask the school directly.
| Component | What It Involves | Scheduling Driver |
|---|---|---|
| Written theory exam | 50 questions, two hours, 75% published passing criterion, $130 exam fee | Availability of an ETA Certification Administrator or the remote-proctoring option |
| Hands-on training | Attendance at an ETA-approved school; practical verification | The approved school's course calendar and your employer's release time |
| Prerequisite certification | Not required on the stand-alone pathway (no CETa or other basic electronics certification needed) | None |
For the full eligibility picture, including how the stand-alone pathway differs from other ETA routes, read PIM requirements and how to qualify.
Delivery Options: Onsite and Remote Theory
ETA's testing FAQ describes onsite theory testing administered by ETA Certification Administrators, delivered either through Trapeza online testing or as paper-and-pencil. ETA's general FAQ also describes remotely proctored theory testing through Exam Room.AI. Two cautions apply to that remote option:
- It is a general ETA policy. We did not retrieve a separate PIM-specific remote-testing handbook, so confirm with ETA that remote delivery is available for your PIM sitting.
- Remote theory testing does not replace the required hands-on attendance at an ETA-approved school. You still need to complete that practical portion in person.
Fee and Retake Timing Mechanics
The written exam fee is USD $130. Course tuition and practical verification charges are separate and set by the approved school, so budget for them independently. Our PIM certification cost breakdown lays out how these pieces fit together.
The one-year retake window
One free retake is available within one year of the first sitting. This is the closest thing to a hard "deadline" in the PIM process, and it shapes your strategy:
- The retake clock starts from your first sitting, not from when you receive results.
- A retake is free, but only if used inside the one-year window.
- If a first attempt does not go well, use the gap to target weak domains rather than rushing back immediately.
A separate pathway you should not confuse with this one
Current Anritsu PIM holders have a separate $130 rollover pathway. That is a distinct route and is not the selected examination discussed here. If you hold an Anritsu PIM credential, ask ETA which route applies to you instead of assuming the stand-alone dates and rules govern your situation.
What to Plan for on Test Day
ETA's general testing FAQ sets out the logistics that affect how you schedule and prepare for your sitting day:
- Photo ID is required. Check that the name on your ID matches your registration well before test day.
- Phones are prohibited. Plan to leave yours out of the testing area.
- Scratch paper is permitted and must be surrendered at the end.
- Calculators: non-programmable or scientific calculators are permitted. Programmable calculators may require a reset or battery removal.
One detail worth flagging: ETA's FAQ allows the Common Formulas Sheet for certain specifically named other credentials. That permission does not establish that the sheet is allowed on the PIM exam. Do not assume you can bring or receive it; verify with your administrator in advance. Because you may not have a formula sheet, plan to memorize the relationships tested in the PIM domains, a task our PIM cheat sheet is built to support.
Key Takeaway
Treat test-day rules as part of your schedule. A mismatched ID, a programmable calculator you forgot to reset, or an assumed formula sheet can derail a sitting you spent weeks preparing for.
Scheduling Your Prep by Domain
The competencies document published by ETA lists seven numbered headings, and these map directly to the content you must master. The competency list is unweighted, so ETA does not publish how many questions each area contributes. That means you should not over-invest in one area on a guess. Instead, sequence your preparation so the conceptual foundations come first and the applied, field-facing material comes last. For a full walkthrough of each area, see the PIM exam domains guide.
Domains 1 and 2: Passive Intermodulation - PIM and PIM - Technology Overview
Start here because every later topic assumes you understand what PIM is and how the underlying technology works.
- Definition of passive intermodulation and why it matters in RF systems
- Core technology concepts that frame the rest of the competencies
- The vocabulary in the Terms and Acronyms appendix, which supports the scope even though it is not an eighth numbered domain
Domain 3: PIM Sources
Once the fundamentals are clear, study where passive intermodulation originates in a real installation.
- Component and connection-related causes of PIM
- How installation quality and workmanship relate to PIM performance
Domain 4: PIM Testing
This is the hands-on heart of the credential and pairs naturally with your approved-school training.
- Test methods and how measurements are performed
- Reinforce this domain around your practical attendance so classroom and theory material support each other
Domain 5: RF Safety Overview
The detailed competency document uses the heading RF SAFETY OVERVIEW, which controls over the shorter "PIM Safety Overview" wording on the undated fact sheet.
- Safe practices around RF energy during test and installation work
Domains 6 and 7: PIM Results Interpretation and Documenting PIM Tests
Save these for last, since they depend on knowing sources and test procedures.
- Reading and judging test results
- Recording tests properly so results can be reviewed and verified
A compact sequencing plan
This is the only generic-style planning section in the article, and it is tied to the PIM domains above. Adjust week counts around your approved-school dates:
Foundations
- Domains 1 and 2, plus the Terms and Acronyms appendix
Sources and testing
- Domains 3 and 4, ideally overlapping with hands-on school attendance
Safety, interpretation, documentation
- Domains 5, 6, and 7, then timed 50-question practice in a two-hour window
If you want a deeper plan, the PIM study guide expands on this approach, and you can pressure-test your pacing with timed questions on the practice test site.
Dates After You Pass: The Four-Year Cycle
The credential carries a four-year validity term with maintenance. The calendar that matters after certification is your renewal cycle. ETA's Maintenance with Hands-On category requires:
- Six relevant continuing-education hours per year, totaling 24 hours over the four years
- Employer verification
- A maintenance form
- $25 per year, which totals $100 over the cycle
On-the-job training counts subject to employer verification and ETA evaluation. Do not substitute the general non-hands-on 40-hour requirements or LAS-specific exceptions; those belong to different maintenance categories. Because the requirement is annual, a sensible habit is to log CE hours as you earn them rather than scrambling in year four. People who hold this credential commonly work in RF and wireless infrastructure roles; our pages on PIM jobs and the PIM salary guide cover where certification tends to matter.
Source Cautions Before You Book
Because there are no fixed public sitting dates to anchor on, candidates sometimes rely on third-party sites. A few cautions from our source review:
- Revision claims. A seller's claimed 2025 update to the exam is not an issuer-verified revision. The linked ETA competencies document carries a 2013 copyright, and the public IEC 62037-1:2025 catalogue description does not establish a new ETA exam blueprint.
- Standard numbering. ETA's page and fact sheet cite IEC 60237, whereas IEC's passive-intermodulation series is IEC 62037. This inconsistency exists in the source material, so do not treat the ETA reference as independently verified.
- Document metadata. The competency PDF carries an unrelated legacy title in its metadata, but all three visible pages identify PIM, and the visible content governs.
- Pass rates. No official PIM cohort pass rate was verified. The 75% figure is a passing requirement, not a pass rate, and commercial providers' success claims are not ETA cohort data. See our discussion in PIM pass rate: what the data shows.
Frequently Asked Questions
We did not find published fixed national sitting dates. Scheduling depends on ETA-approved school calendars and administrator availability, so contact ETA International for current options.
ETA's general FAQ describes remotely proctored theory testing through Exam Room.AI, but that is a general policy, not a PIM-specific handbook. Confirm availability with ETA, and remember it does not replace required hands-on attendance.
One free retake is available within one year of your first sitting. Plan your remediation inside that window so the retake does not lapse.
The written exam fee is USD $130. The ETA-approved hands-on course and practical verification carry separate charges, so budget for them independently.
No. The stand-alone pathway does not require CETa or another basic electronics certification, though you must complete the approved hands-on training and practical verification.
It has a four-year term with maintenance. Under Maintenance with Hands-On, expect six CE hours per year (24 total), employer verification, a maintenance form, and $25 per year ($100 over the cycle).
To turn this schedule into readiness, work through timed questions on the PIM practice test and check each result against the seven competency areas above.