The CompTIA Network+ online exam is delivered through Pearson VUE OnVUE, with a live remote proctor checking your identification and testing environment before your 90-minute session starts. You can also sit the exam in person at a Pearson VUE test centre instead. Both paths use the same question pool, timing, and passing score.
Exam-day nerves get worse when you do not know what the process actually looks like. This page covers what to expect for CompTIA Network+, whether you choose an in-person test centre or the online proctored option, based only on what CompTIA and Pearson VUE publish.
Two ways to sit the exam
CompTIA Network+ is delivered through Pearson VUE, and you choose one of two paths when you book:
- In-person test centre — you travel to a Pearson VUE testing location and sit the exam on their equipment.
- Online proctored (OnVUE) — you sit the exam from your own computer, monitored remotely by a live proctor.
Both options give you the same content: a maximum of 90 questions, 90 minutes, and a passing scaled score of 720 on a 100-900 range.
Identification
You need valid identification to check in, whether you are at a test centre or testing online. Confirm the identification requirements listed by CompTIA and Pearson VUE before your appointment, since being turned away for an ID issue on the day wastes both time and money.
Online proctored (OnVUE) rules
If you choose the online option, a live proctor verifies your identity and your testing environment remotely before you begin. CompTIA and Pearson VUE publish specific guidelines for what your workspace and equipment need to look like for an online session — review the official online-proctored exam guidelines before your appointment date, not on the morning of the exam, so you have time to fix anything that does not meet the requirements.
At a test centre
If you choose to test in person, arrive with your identification ready and expect standard test-centre procedures: check-in, identity verification, and being seated at a monitored workstation for the duration of the exam.
During the exam
Once the session starts, you have 90 minutes to work through up to 90 questions, a mix of multiple-choice and performance-based items. Performance-based questions generally take longer than multiple-choice ones, so budget your time accordingly rather than assuming an even pace across every question.
After the exam
Your result is scored on the 100-900 scale against a passing score of 720. If you do not pass, the retake policy applies: no wait before a second attempt, but a 14-calendar-day wait before a third or later attempt, and each attempt requires its own exam fee. See cost and booking for how retakes are priced and scheduled.
Before you book your session
Make sure you understand the exam format so nothing about the question types surprises you, and confirm you are comfortable with the exam objectives across all five domains. If your preparation is not finished, check the study plan rather than booking a date you are not ready for.
Common day-of mistakes to avoid
A few things trip up candidates who are otherwise well prepared. Showing up to an online session with an untested webcam or microphone can eat into your appointment window before the exam even starts, so test your equipment the day before, not the morning of. Booking your session back to back with work or travel leaves no buffer if check-in takes longer than expected, whether that is identification questions at a test centre or an environment check for an online session. And spending the final hour before your appointment cramming new material rarely helps; a short review of what you already know settles nerves better than trying to learn something new under pressure.
Practicing the real pace
The single biggest difference between studying and exam day is the clock. A practice test at the real time limit, taken more than once, is the closest you can get to feeling the actual pressure of the 90-minute session before you are sitting in front of a proctor.
Exam facts on this page come from CompTIA’s own pages (official exam page). Prices, versions and policies change — confirm there before you book.