Prepare for the ARRT Radiography examination by studying against the 2022 content specifications: 200 scored questions split across Patient Care (33), Safety (50), Image Production (51), and Procedures (66). Confirm which specification version applies to your test date, order your study time by category weight, and verify duration, passing score, and eligibility directly with ARRT, because the content specifications document does not state them.
The exam and specification version this guide covers
This guide covers the ARRT Radiography examination, which leads to the Radiography credential among ARRT's Registered Technologist (R.T.) credentials. The content specifications implemented January 1, 2022 remain in effect through February 28, 2027; a new version takes effect March 1, 2027.
The exam's stated purpose is to assess the knowledge and cognitive skills behind what ARRT describes as the "intelligent performance of the tasks typically required of the staff technologist at entry into the profession." In other words, it tests entry-level radiographers, not advanced practice. The content is built from a nationwide practice analysis and organized into the categories covered below.
Version matters for your study plan. ARRT's own reference page lists Radiography content specifications "through February 28, 2027" and a separate set "effective March 1, 2027." This guide is based on the version in effect through February 28, 2027. If you will test on or after March 1, 2027, download the newer document and check what changed before finalizing your plan.
Official sources: ARRT Radiography Examination Content Specifications current through February 28, 2027 — Content categories table, content outline, and Attachments A–B; Examination Content Specifications - ARRT — Radiography version listing (through February 28, 2027; effective March 1, 2027)
Exam format and category weights
Each exam contains 200 scored questions plus 30 additional unscored pilot questions. Scored questions are distributed across four categories: Patient Care 33, Safety 50, Image Production 51, and Procedures 66.
The 30 pilot questions look like ordinary exam questions but do not count toward your score, so you cannot identify them and should not try. One practical note from the specifications themselves: SI units are the primary units of radiation measurement used on the exam, so be fluent in grays, sieverts, and coulombs per kilogram rather than only traditional units.
| Content category | Subcategories (scored questions) | Category total |
|---|---|---|
| Patient Care | Patient Interactions and Management (33) | 33 |
| Safety | Radiation Physics and Radiobiology (21); Radiation Protection (29) | 50 |
| Image Production | Image Acquisition and Evaluation (26); Equipment Operation and Quality Assurance (25) | 51 |
| Procedures | Head, Spine and Pelvis (18); Thorax and Abdomen (20); Extremities (28) | 66 |
| Total scored | 200 |
Official sources: ARRT Radiography Examination Content Specifications current through February 28, 2027 — Content categories table, content outline, and Attachments A–B
What each content category tests
Patient Care covers interactions, ethics, safety, emergencies, infection control, and pharmacology. Safety covers radiation physics, radiobiology, and protection. Image Production covers acquisition, evaluation, equipment, and quality assurance. Procedures covers positioning and anatomy for the listed anatomic regions.
Patient Care is one integrated subcategory spanning ethical and legal aspects such as consent, confidentiality, and documentation; communication with patients; ergonomics, patient transfer, and monitoring; medical emergencies; infection control; handling of hazardous material; and pharmacology, including contrast media types, appropriateness, and reactions.
Safety divides into Radiation Physics and Radiobiology — x-ray production, beam properties, photon interactions, SI measurement units, and biological effects — and Radiation Protection, which includes minimizing patient exposure through technique and beam restriction, and personnel protection under the ALARA concept, with time, distance, shielding, dosimetry, and fluoroscopy-specific considerations.
Image Production divides into Image Acquisition and Evaluation — factors affecting radiographic quality, technique charts, automatic exposure control, digital imaging characteristics, image identification, and evaluation criteria such as the exposure indicator and quantum mottle — and Equipment Operation and Quality Assurance, covering generators, x-ray tube and fluoroscopic components, processing and display, informatics, and quality control tests.
The Procedures section states its questions cover four things: positioning, anatomy, procedure adaptation for factors like trauma or limited mobility, and evaluation of displayed anatomical structures. The regions are Head, Spine and Pelvis; Thorax and Abdomen; and Extremities. Attachment A of the specifications lists the specific positions and projections that may be covered for each region.
Official sources: ARRT Radiography Examination Content Specifications current through February 28, 2027 — Content categories table, content outline, and Attachments A–B
Positioning terminology the exam relies on
The specifications' terminology guide distinguishes three terms: a radiographic view describes the body part as seen by the image receptor, a radiographic position describes the patient's physical position, and a radiographic projection describes the path of the central ray.
This distinction is defined in Attachment B of the content specifications, and it is worth internalizing because Procedures questions use it. Supine, prone, and decubitus describe positions; LAO, RPO, and similar terms describe torso or extremity positions; AP and PA describe projections — which surface the beam enters and exits.
The guide also defines decubitus specifically as lying down with a horizontal x-ray beam, and recumbent as lying down in any position. When you review each position in Attachment A, practice naming it with all three terms correctly rather than using 'view' loosely for everything.
Official sources: ARRT Radiography Examination Content Specifications current through February 28, 2027 — Content categories table, content outline, and Attachments A–B
Worked example: distance and scatter exposure
If scatter exposure is 0.4 mGy at 2 m and exposure varies inversely with the square of distance, doubling the distance to 4 m reduces the exposure to 0.1 mGy — one quarter of the original.
The content outline lists the inverse square law under radiation physics and distance among the basic methods of personnel protection, so distance calculations are a fair preparation target. This example is original practice, not a recalled exam question, and every number in it is a stated assumption.
Worked example
Assume that during a mobile radiographic exposure, the scatter exposure to a person standing 2 m from the patient is 0.4 mGy for that single exposure. Assume scatter exposure varies inversely with the square of the distance from the patient. A second, identical exposure is made and the person has stepped back to 4 m from the patient. What is the assumed scatter exposure at the new position?
Show answer
0.1 mGy.
Under the stated inverse-square assumption, exposure changes by the square of the ratio of the distances: (2 m / 4 m)² = (1/2)² = 1/4. Multiplying, 0.4 mGy × 1/4 = 0.1 mGy. Doubling the distance therefore cuts scatter exposure to one quarter, which is why increasing distance is one of the basic personnel protection methods listed in the content outline alongside time and shielding.
Official sources: ARRT Radiography Examination Content Specifications current through February 28, 2027 — Content categories table, content outline, and Attachments A–B
A weight-aware study order
As editorial advice, not an official requirement: sequence your study by scored-question weight. Start with Procedures (66 questions), then Image Production (51), Safety (50), and Patient Care (33), and circle back to your weakest category at the end.
Procedures carries the most scored questions and splits into three regional blocks, with Extremities alone worth 28 questions. Work region by region against Attachment A, and for each position connect the patient position, the projection, and how you would evaluate the resulting image. That mirrors the four things the Procedures section says questions cover.
Image Production and Safety reward reasoning about exposure and protection rather than isolated recall, so when you review any factor — exposure indicator, grid, beam restriction — practice linking it to at least one image-quality consequence and one dose consequence. Patient Care is the smallest category but is dense with terminology: consent types, infection-control chains, contrast media properties, and emergency responses are all explicitly listed content.
Keep the weights proportionate to your time, not absolute. If you trained recently, Patient Care terminology may need only review; if positioning is new to you, give Procedures more than its share early. After your first full pass, re-test yourself on your weakest category rather than re-reading everything equally.
- Procedures (66): study region by region against Attachment A; Extremities is the largest block at 28 questions
- Image Production (51): link each acquisition factor to image quality and dose consequences
- Safety (50): be fluent in SI units; radiation protection is the larger subcategory at 29 questions
- Patient Care (33): drill the listed terminology — consent, infection control, contrast media, emergencies
Official sources: ARRT Radiography Examination Content Specifications current through February 28, 2027 — Content categories table, content outline, and Attachments A–B
What this document does not tell you
The content specifications define test content only. They do not state exam duration, passing score, eligibility pathways, or fees, so verify those directly with ARRT before you book.
This guide's sources cover the exam's purpose, question distribution, and content outline. They do not state how long the exam runs, how it is scored, or who qualifies to sit for it. Treat any secondary figure on those points, including anything you remember from a forum, as unverified until you check ARRT's own materials.
Your practical next steps: confirm your test date against the version boundary, download the matching content specifications and Task Inventory from arrt.org, and read ARRT's Radiography handbook for eligibility, application, scheduling, duration, and scoring. ARRT's reference page is also where you will find the specifications effective March 1, 2027 if you test from that date.
- Confirm eligibility and application steps in ARRT's Radiography handbook at arrt.org
- Check exam duration and scoring with ARRT; they are not stated in the content specifications
- If testing on or after March 1, 2027, download the newer specifications and compare what changed
Official sources: Examination Content Specifications - ARRT — Radiography version listing (through February 28, 2027; effective March 1, 2027)
Official sources
Facts checked against ARRT's content specifications: