Key takeaways
- ASE entry level certification is the ASE Education Foundation's student credential: pass a test, with no work experience required.
- Ten entry-level tests cover automobiles, from Engine Repair to Suspension and Steering, and the Foundation says they are offered in English.
- Students register through their school's program, not in myASE.
- A single seat costs $47 at an ASE-accredited training program and $57 at one that is not.
- The credential runs two years with no renewal, and three entry-level tests passed credit a year against the experience the A Series asks for.
What is ASE entry level certification?
Students get an ASE credential of their own, and this is the one. No work experience. The ASE Education Foundation runs it, and its student page sets out what the tests are for: the tests "indicate students' knowledge-based readiness for the workforce and are the first step in building career credentials as an automotive service professional."
Nobody asks what you have turned a wrench on.
The program runs in three segments: Automobile, Collision Repair & Refinish, and Medium/Heavy Truck. Everything below is the automobile segment.
Then there's the depth of the questions. The Foundation's certification benefits page describes "Knowledge-based questions, rather than diagnostic-based", on tests "intended for students instead of experienced technicians". So: theory before the car that rolls in dead and has to be figured out by lunch.
Professional certification is a different animal, with experience rules and a five-year clock, and the guide to getting ASE certified lays it out.
Who can take the ASE entry level test?
Students in a training program. High school students, college students, and anyone ready for a career change: those are the groups the ASE Education Foundation names. Shop time stays off that list. Its benefits page is flat about it: "No hands-on work experience requirement for Entry-Level".
You test where you study. ASE's testing options page puts in-school testing on its list of formats, under the line "Take the Entry-Level Test in Person at Your School", and marks that option "Only for ASE Entry-Level Certification." The Foundation adds that entry-level tests are "proctored in person or remotely", and that "Each credit allows two attempts per test each school year".
Blow the first attempt and the second one is still there, as long as the school year hasn't ended.
Here is what is not published: whether somebody outside a program can buy a seat alone. Seats carry two prices, one for ASE-accredited programs and one for programs that are not, so accreditation is not the gate on testing. Yet nothing on those pages describes one person signing up. That is a question for the instructor. ASE's own customer care staff can answer it too.
Which entry-level tests exist for automobiles?
Ten of them. The ASE Education Foundation lists every title on its entry-level testing page:
- Automatic Transmission/Transaxle
- Automobile Service Technology
- Brakes
- Electrical/Electronic Systems
- Engine Performance
- Engine Repair
- Heating and Air Conditioning
- Maintenance and Light Repair
- Manual Drive Train and Axles
- Suspension and Steering
Only in English.
The same page states that "The ASE Entry-Level Tests for Automobile, Collision Repair & Refinish, and Medium/Heavy Truck are available in English", with no second language named. The professional tests work differently: ASE's Spanish testing page says "The Automobile/Light Truck Tests (A1 through A9) and the Auto Maintenance & Light Repair Test (G1) are available in Spanish", shown on a split screen beside the English.
No question count on that page, and no time limit either. The Foundation publishes the content instead, in three documents: the Auto Task List for the individual tests, a second task list for Maintenance and Light Repair and Automobile Service Technology, and an entry-level study guide. Those are the ones to work through before test day.
How does a student register for an ASE entry-level test?
Through the school, in ASE's entry-level test system. The Foundation's entry-level page links a Staff/Student Login, and sells seats to programs under the heading "Number of Seat Licenses". Who clicks the order button, the instructor or the student, is not published.
That is a question for the instructor.
The testing options page lists in-school testing and marks it "Only for ASE Entry-Level Certification." The entry-level testing page carries the ten automobile test titles and the Staff/Student Login students sign in through. Anything registered somewhere else is not the program those two ASE pages describe.
myASE is the other side of the house. ASE calls it the portal to "register for ASE tests", and that is the professional side: a technician buys A1 to A9 there and books a Prometric appointment. The certification guide has the rest of it.
How much does ASE entry-level certification cost?
$47 for a single seat at an ASE-accredited training program, $57 if the program is not accredited. Those are the figures on the ASE Education Foundation's entry-level testing page, which gives no effective date, read on November 2, 2026. Buy in bulk and the number per student falls.
| Seat licenses | ASE-accredited program | Program not accredited |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $47 | $57 |
| 30 | $1,350 | $1,650 |
| 50 | $2,150 | $2,650 |
| 100 | $4,200 | $5,200 |
| 200 | $8,200 | $10,200 |
At 200 seats, the accredited price works out to $41 a student. Who writes the check is not something ASE publishes. That is a question for the instructor.
The professional side is priced per order and per test. ASE's registration page lists "$34 Registration Fee Per Order" and "$62 General Tests Per Test" for the 2026 registration year, so one A Series test on a fresh order comes to $96.
How long does ASE entry-level certification last?
Two years, then it is gone.
The ASE Education Foundation states that entry-level certification "Expires after two years with no recertification option", so there is no renewal test and no app to keep it alive. It is a first credential with a short life, not a thing a technician carries for twenty years.
Professional credentials run longer. Five years, with a recertification test to follow, or the ASE Renewal App for A1 to A9.
So the two years matter. One question sits open inside them. ASE does not publish whether the work experience credit from entry-level tests still counts after the credential itself has expired, and the Foundation's pages say nothing either way. Call ASE's customer care line before you file a work experience form on the strength of it.
How is entry-level certification different from professional ASE certification?
ASE settles it on its own work experience page, in two sentences:
"ASE Entry-Level Certification Program tests are not the same as the ASE professional certification tests. ASE Entry-Level certification tests are administered in schools."
Everything else follows from that.
One credential says a student finished a program and knows the theory. The other says a technician has done the work, which is why years of shop time hang off it and why a Prometric center watches the first sitting.
| ASE Entry-Level Certification | Professional certification (A1 to A9) | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it is for | Students in a training program | Working technicians |
| Work experience | None required | Two years full-time |
| Valid for | Two years, no recertification | Five years, then recertify |
| Where you test | At your school, proctored in person or remotely | Prometric test center for a first certification |
| Language | English | Spanish shown beside English |
| Price | $47 a seat at an accredited program | $34 an order plus $62 a test |
One more difference, and nobody can close this one for you. ASE publishes no passing score for any A Series test. The practice tests here count about seven right answers in ten as a pass, which is this site's line and not ASE's.
How does a student move from entry-level to professional ASE certification?
By turning the tests into experience credit. ASE's work experience instructions let a candidate "Pass 3 or more different ASE Entry-Level Certification Program Tests" in place of 1 year of the 2 years that A1 to A9 require, and in place of 6 months of the 1 year that G1 requires. But read the restriction first: "These substitutes cannot be combined", so an accredited program plus three entry-level tests still leaves a year of shop time to log.
The same tests can also carry a student into the professional G1 certification. The Foundation lists three conditions: the "School/Program is currently an ASE Accredited Training Program", the student passes "(8) specific ASE Entry-Level Certification Tests", and the student submits "the eligible work experience (6-months of full-time work or 1-year of part-time work)". On that route, it adds, "Students will automatically receive 6-months towards the required 1 year of work experience requirement." Which eight tests count is not named on the page, so an instructor or ASE has to confirm the list.
After that comes a test center. The nine A Series tests run 40 to 50 scored questions in 60 to 90 minutes, and the practice tests on this site match the length and the clock for A1 to A9, not for the entry-level tests or G1. A5 Brakes is 45 questions in 75 minutes. The ASE Practice Test app holds the same A1 to A9 questions by test and by topic, each answer explained, with a study plan that counts down to your test date in English or Spanish.