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Registered Cardiac Sonographer (RCS)
The RCS examination is CCI's three-hour computer-based registry-level certification exam for professionals working in echocardiography, containing 170 questions (150 scored, 20 unscored) across five weighted domains, delivered at Pearson Professional Centers.
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Questions170 questions (150 scored and 20 unscored)
Testing timeThree-hour computer-based exam: 2 hours 50 minutes to answer the questions plus 10 minutes for a pre-exam tutorial and post-exam survey
ScoringPass requires a total scaled score of 650; cut score set by a standard-setting study and periodically reviewed
Exam feeUSD 365 for the RCS examination (includes a USD 100 non-refundable application review/processing fee)
Prep options
Study resources for RCS
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- CCI
- Category
- Cardiovascular Technology
- Current version
- Current specification; no public version label
- Where it applies
- United States — national
- Exam languages
- English
- Score scale
- 0–900
- Testing provider
- Pearson VUE (Pearson Professional Centers)
- Format
- Computer-based exam administered at Pearson Professional Centers
- Availability
- Year-round by appointment, within a 90-day eligibility window that opens when the Authorization to Test is issued after application approval (one 90-day extension possible)
- Results
- Unofficial score report with pass/fail status onsite at the Pearson VUE testing center; official results letter, certificate, and wallet card approximately 15 business days after the exam
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
170 questions (150 scored) across five weighted duty domains — Performing Non-Imaging Responsibilities (9%), Performing Echocardiographic Imaging (24%), Evaluating Valvular Echocardiographic Findings (25%), Evaluating Anatomy, Physiology, and Hemodynamics (29%), and Applying the Physics of Ultrasound (13%) — using traditional multiple-choice plus innovative multiple-response, hot spot, and drag-and-place item types.
Where rules vary
The RCS is a private, non-governmental U.S. certification (not a state license) with one uniform exam; CCI administers it at over 230 Pearson Professional Centers in the United States and U.S. territories and at over 3,000 Pearson VUE Authorized Test Centers internationally, but the credential identity is U.S.-based.
Eligibility
High school diploma or GED at time of application plus one documented pathway: RCS235 (health-science program graduate + 1 year full-time cardiac ultrasound experience + minimum 600 cardiac ultrasound studies), RCS4 (graduate of a programmatically accredited cardiac ultrasound program), RCS5 (graduate of a non-programmatically accredited echo program with at least 1 year specialty training and 800 clinical hours), or RCS6 (active ultrasound credential holder + 6 months full-time echo experience + minimum 100 cardiac ultrasound studies)
Retake policy
Candidates who fail must complete a new application and pay the fee again; an application may be resubmitted one day after testing, and a 45-day waiting period applies before the second attempt