RTVI Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass

The Number 75 and What It Actually Means

Candidates searching for the RTVI passing score usually want one clean number. Here it is: the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) sets the passing score for the Vascular Interventional Radiography (VI) examination at 75 on a scaled-score range of 1 to 99. That single sentence hides a trap, and it catches a lot of people who assume the figure is a percentage.

It is not. A scaled score of 75 does not mean you must answer 75% of the questions correctly. It also does not mean you can miss exactly 25% and still pass. The scaled number is a reporting convention that lets ARRT express performance on a consistent scale even when different candidates see different sets of questions. If you want the broader context for how this plays out across candidates, our RTVI pass rate analysis walks through what the published data does and does not tell you.

How a Scaled Score Is Built From 160 Scored Questions

The exam contains 210 total questions, but only 160 are scored. The remaining 50 are unscored pilot questions that ARRT is evaluating for possible future use. You cannot tell which is which. Every question deserves your full attention because any one of them could be a scored item.

The practical consequence is that your raw performance on the 160 scored items gets converted to the 1-99 scale. The 75 benchmark represents the level of performance ARRT has determined indicates competence for postprimary practice in vascular interventional work. You do not need to reverse-engineer a magic percentage, and trying to is a poor use of study time. ARRT publishes its approach to score interpretation on its exam scoring page, and that page is the authority to check for any changes.

What you should take from this is a mindset rather than a calculation: aim for solid command across the board, with extra depth where the question counts are heaviest. The next sections show where that is.

What You Face on Exam Day

Understanding the format helps you protect points you already know. The exam is delivered at Pearson VUE test centers and runs on a computer.

Question styles

Most items are single-best-answer multiple-choice, but expect image-based questions and possibly alternative item formats. The ARRT handbook also describes multiple-response and ordered-response formats. For a vascular interventional exam, image-based items matter: you may be asked to interpret an angiographic or fluoroscopic image and identify the anatomy, the device, or the complication.

Pacing with the flag feature

Because you must answer every item before moving on, you cannot skip and return to a blank. The workaround is simple: give your best answer, flag it, and revisit if time allows. With 210 minutes for 210 questions, you have roughly a minute per item, which is workable but not generous when image questions require a closer look. Our guide to how hard the RTVI exam is covers where candidates tend to lose time.

Where the Scored Questions Live

The controlling document is the Vascular Interventional Radiography Examination Content Specifications, board approved July 2022 and effective July 1, 2023. It divides the 160 scored questions into three major content categories. These are the official examination content categories, not study-guide headings.

ARRT states these as counts, and it is sensible to keep them as counts rather than converting them into percentages the issuer has not published. The pattern is unmistakable either way: Procedures dwarfs the other two combined. For a full breakdown, see our complete guide to the three RTVI content areas.

Why Procedures Decides Most Outcomes

With 112 of 160 scored questions, Procedures is where your score is won or lost. The content specifications split it into three sub-areas:

Notice that Nonvascular Procedures alone, at 30 questions, outweighs Patient Care (22) and nearly matches Image Production (26). Candidates who come from a vascular-heavy clinical background sometimes underinvest here, and that is a costly habit. Drainage, access, and other nonvascular work are tested seriously.

Because Procedures is so large, topics like device selection, access technique, anatomy, indications, and complications should be rehearsed until they are automatic. Our RTVI study guide and one-page cheat sheet are designed to support exactly this kind of targeted review.

First-Time Results and Retake Limits

ARRT's Annual Exam Report - 2025 reports a first-time pass rate of 61.2% for 2025, based on 454 first-time candidates. That is the figure to cite, and it is a useful reality check: this is a postprimary exam taken by working technologists, and roughly four in ten first-time candidates still did not pass. Treat it as a reason to prepare thoroughly, not as a reason to panic. For the wider picture, read RTVI pass rate 2026: what the data shows.

Attempt limits and retake fees

You have three examination attempts within three years of the opening of your initial examination window. The initial application fee is $225, and each examination reapplication costs $200. A failed attempt is therefore both a delay and an expense. The full financial picture, including renewal, is in our certification cost breakdown.

Timing is its own consideration. Check RTVI exam dates, testing windows, and deadlines so your attempt clock works in your favor.

Clearing Eligibility Before You Chase a Score

You cannot sit for the exam until you meet ARRT's postprimary eligibility rules, so it is worth confirming these early. The full walkthrough is in RTVI requirements: eligibility, prerequisites, and how to qualify, but the essentials are:

• Current ARRT certification and registration in Radiography, plus compliance with ethics requirements. Nuclear Medicine Technology or Radiation Therapy alone is not a supporting credential for VI.
• 16 hours of structured education within the 24 months before you apply, with at least one credit in each major content category.
• Current BLS certification from an ARRT-recognized provider.
• At least 200 verified procedure repetitions within the 24-month eligibility window: a minimum of 50 each in vascular diagnostic, vascular interventional, and nonvascular categories, plus 50 additional from any category.

Clinical documentation rules that trip people up

Record 5 to 10 repetitions per selected procedure, and log no more than 10 procedures per day. You must be physically present in an active primary scrub or circulating role throughout the procedure; observation alone does not qualify. A qualified ARRT-certified and registered technologist, supervisor, or interpreting physician must verify the experience. Postprimary verifiers do not need to directly observe your work and may verify remotely, which makes documentation more flexible than many candidates expect.

After the Score: Renewal and Long-Term Maintenance

Passing is the start of an ongoing obligation. To keep the credential, you renew annually for $65, regardless of how many ARRT credentials you hold, stay in compliance with ethics requirements, and complete 24 approved CE credits per two-year biennium. That CE requirement is per biennium, not per credential, so holding both Radiography and VI does not double it.

Credentials earned on or after January 1, 2011 also fall under Continuing Qualifications Requirements every 10 years. That involves a professional profile, a structured self-assessment, and any prescribed CE. ARRT also permits you to accept the maximum CQR CE prescription instead of taking the self-assessment. If you are weighing whether the long-term commitment pays off, see whether the RTVI certification is worth it, and for the career side, our guides on earnings and RTVI jobs cover where the credential can lead.

A Domain-Weighted Preparation Sequence

One short scheduling framework is worth using, because the question counts tell you where time should go. Anchor the bulk of your weeks to Procedures, and use the smaller domains as shorter bridges.

Adjust the order to your own clinical strengths, but keep the proportion: most of your hours belong in Procedures. You can build that into a plan using our RTVI training resources, then measure readiness with timed items on the practice test site.

Frequently Asked Questions

For a plain-language overview of the credential behind these numbers, see RTVI certification, and when you are ready to test your readiness against realistic questions, head to the RTVI Exam Prep practice tests.