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Finally passing the BACE after two failed attempts — what actually worked

by Tom W. 20 views3 replies
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Tom W.OP
May 27, 2026

I don't even know where to start. I failed the BACE twice in 2024 — once in March and once in September — and honestly considered just giving up on the certification altogether. The second time I missed the cutoff by four points, which was somehow worse than failing badly. After that I took three months off and came back with a completely different approach.

The biggest change was ditching the official manual as my primary resource and building my study schedule around a BACE practice test routine instead. Doing timed, exam-style questions every day forced me to actually identify my weak spots rather than just re-reading chapters and thinking I understood them. I spent about 6-8 hours a week for 10 weeks, with heavy focus on behavioral assessment concepts and the ethics sections since those killed me on attempt two.

I also found a BACE study guide that broke down the competency domains in plain language, which helped enormously. Passed in February with a 78. If anyone is in the same boat I was, happy to share more specifics on what resources I used and my week-by-week plan — just ask below.

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James R.
May 27, 2026
Congrats on passing! I'm currently scheduled for my first attempt in July and the ethics section is exactly what I'm most worried about. Do you remember which competency domains had the most questions? I've been using a BACE practice test bank but honestly can't tell if I'm drilling the right areas. My practice scores are hovering around 68-71 and I need at least a 75 to feel confident walking in.
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Marcus T.
May 28, 2026
Two failed attempts and still coming back for a third — that takes real grit, seriously. I passed on my first try but I had a colleague who went through almost the exact same experience you described. She said the turning point was treating every practice question as a teaching moment rather than just tracking her score. Also your point about the official manual is spot on, it reads like a legal document and doesn't reflect how the actual exam questions are worded at all.
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Amanda H.
May 28, 2026
The BACE exam tips I wish someone had told me earlier: time management is sneaky on this one. I knew the content fine but almost ran out of time on the last section. Do at least five full-length timed practice tests before the real thing. That pacing muscle is separate from content knowledge and most people underestimate it.

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