Cost

Lab exams cost US$1400 per attempt, not including travel and lodging expenses. Costs may vary due to exchange rates and local taxes (VAT, GST). You are responsible for any fees your financial institution charges to complete the payment transaction.

Update to the CCIE Lab Question Format and Scoring

Effective January 4, 2010, CCIE Security lab exams will begin with a brief Core Knowledge section consisting of four questions requiring a short typed response, generally no more than four or five words. Candidates have up to 30 minutes to complete the four questions and may move on to the rest of the exam if they finish early. No access to the Cisco documentation is provided during this part of the exam and candidates may not return to the Core Knowledge questions once they have moved on. Core Knowledge questions cover material from the list of exam topics and well-prepared candidates should be able to answer the questions without difficulty. All candidates must pass the Core Knowledge section in order to achieve CCIE certification.

Lab Environment

The Cisco documentation CD is available in the lab room, but the exam assumes knowledge of the more common protocols and technologies. As of March 2006, the documentation can only be navigated using the index; the search function has been disabled. No outside reference materials are permitted in the lab room. You must report any suspected equipment issues to the proctor during the exam; adjustments cannot be made once the exam is over.

Lab Exam Grading

Each question on the lab has specific criterion. The labs are graded by proctors who ensure all the criterion are met and points are awarded accordingly. The proctors use automatic tools to gather information from the routers to perform some preliminary evaluations, but the final determination of a correct or incorrect configuration is done by a trained proctor.

Results

You can review your lab exam results online (login required), usually within 48 hours. Results are Pass/Fail and failing score reports indicate major topic areas where additional study and preparation may be useful.

Reevaluation of Lab Results

You may request a reevaluation of results for Routing and Switching, Security and Service Provider labs for up to 14 days following your exam date. Use the link next to your lab record called "Request for Reread". Due to the equipment used, rereads are not available for the Voice and Storage Networking exams. Each reread costs US$250 plus any applicable local taxes. Payment is made online via credit card and your card will be charged upon receipt of the request. You may not cancel the reread request once the process has been initiated and refunds are only given when the results change from Fail to Pass.

A reread consists of a second proctor loading your configurations onto a rack to recreate the test and rescore the entire exam. This process may take up to three weeks after receipt of payment. Only one reread per lab attempt is permitted. The result of the reread is an updated score report with success rates for each major section. Be aware that scores may decrease. Exams receive a Pass mark only when the total exam score exceeds 80%. Before requesting a reread, consider that, historically, only 0.3% of exams have been changed from Fail to Pass.