Where do you take the CSCA? The home-based online exam and test centres

Candidates often ask which test centre they should book. According to the official exam page on csca.cn, the CSCA is mainly delivered as a home-based online exam: you sit it on your own computer at home, with a proctor watching remotely. Most candidates therefore take the exam from home.

The two exam formats on csca.cn

The "About CSCA" page on csca.cn describes two formats:

• Home-based online exam. This is the main format. You take the exam on your own computer.
• Onsite computer-based exam. The organiser plans to open test centres step by step in key countries and regions. Candidates at a centre take the exam on the centre's computers.

csca.cn gives the same rules for both formats: each subject is scored out of 100, and scores are released within 10 business days after the sitting ends.

How to check whether a test centre is available

The homepage of csca.cn has a test-centre lookup button. The button opens the login page, so the list of centres is visible only after you create a CSCA account and log in. We found no public list of test centres on csca.cn. If you would prefer a centre, log in and check the lookup before you register. If there is no centre in your country, you register for the home-based exam.

What you need for the home-based exam

The requirements below come from the April 2026 sitting. Follow the instructions on your own admission ticket if they differ.

• Two devices. One is the computer you take the exam on. The other is a phone or tablet that works as a second camera. A proctor watches through both cameras for the whole exam.
• Items on the desk. Your passport, a printed admission ticket and scratch paper.
• Early login. Log in 45 minutes before each subject starts. This time is used for the equipment check and identity verification.

Steps before exam day

The schedule below follows the April 2026 sitting. Times are Beijing time, and csca.cn publishes the dates for each sitting.

1. About nine days before the exam, the admission ticket and the exam software become available in your CSCA account. Install the latest version of the software and remove older versions.
2. From eight to five days before the exam, the equipment check is open every day from 14:00 to 21:00. Run it on the same computer you will use on exam day.
3. About four days before the exam, csca.cn runs an official practice test from 19:00 to 21:00. It does not count toward your score. It covers login, proctoring and sample questions.

Exam times and time zones

All exam times are set in Beijing time (UTC+8). Depending on the month, the first subject of a sitting starts at 08:00 or at 14:00 Beijing time, so for some time zones the home-based exam falls early in the morning or late at night. The exam guide converts the timetable of every sitting into your local time.

Practise in the same format

Both formats are computer-based: 48 single-choice questions per STEM subject in 60 minutes, with an on-screen timer and a question grid. Our mock exams use the same timer and question grid, so you can practise the format before the official practice test.