Just got my results back and I failed the Autodesk Certified Expert exam for Revit by 7 points. I scored 63% and passing is 70%. I've been using Revit professionally for 4 years so I thought I'd be fine going in without heavy prep. That was a mistake.
The project-based scenarios are where I lost most of my points. I'm fast in Revit day-to-day but the exam asks you to optimize workflows and troubleshoot configuration issues you'd never run into on a typical architecture project. I hadn't touched workset configuration or IFC export settings in probably 2 years, and both showed up heavily.
For round two I'm planning 6 weeks of structured prep, roughly 1.5 hours a day. I'm building a checklist of every feature listed in the Autodesk exam blueprint and running through each one hands-on. The blueprint is actually pretty specific — if something's on it, it's going to be tested, sometimes in ways that feel obscure.
Anyone who's passed the ACE on a retake — was 6 weeks enough? I'm wondering whether I should push to 8 weeks and feel more confident going in.
6 weeks is enough if you're disciplined about blueprint coverage. I passed on my second attempt after 5 weeks, but I was doing 2 hours a day and focused exclusively on weak areas from my first attempt. Don't waste time on things you already know cold.
The IFC and workset stuff tripped me up on my first try too. I spent a full week on just those two areas for my retake and the improvement was noticeable. Those features aren't glamorous but Autodesk clearly considers them expert-level material.
What version of Revit is the exam testing right now? I'm scheduled for mine in 10 weeks and want to make sure I'm practicing on the right build. Some of the UI changed between 2024 and 2025 enough to be genuinely confusing.
Honestly, I was in almost the exact same spot six months ago and I nearly just gave up and told myself the certification wasn't worth it. What actually turned things around for me was stopping the generic YouTube tutorials and actually drilling practice tests that matched the real exam format. The scenario-based questions are brutal if you haven't specifically trained for that style. I spent a lot of time on the API and automation side of things too, which I'd totally ignored the first round, and this ace ace design automation api scripting 2 practice test helped me get comfortable with question types I'd never even seen before.
Seven points is nothing. You clearly have the hands-on experience, you just need to bridge that gap between doing the work and answering exam questions about the work. Don't go in cold again, that's the main lesson. Give yourself three or four focused weeks, hit the weak areas hard, and you'll pass it.
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