NCIDQ exam budget worksheet: first attempts, retakes and application routes

What is included in the first-attempt NCIDQ budget?

The CIDQ Candidate Handbook 1225 lists section fees of $305 for IDFX, $470 for IDIX and $365 for IDPX. Route 1 has a $235 application fee; Route 2 divides application fees into $100 and $150. The following totals assume one attempt at each section.

Budget line	Route 1	Route 2
Application fees	$235	$250
IDFX	$305	$305
IDIX	$470	$470
IDPX	$365	$365
First-attempt total	$1,375	$1,390

Amounts are US dollars and were checked on 13 September 2026. Route choice depends on eligibility, not simply on selecting the lower total. Confirm the current fee and application conditions before paying.

How can a retake reserve be shown without predicting failure?

A retake reserve is a budgeting scenario that keeps an additional section fee visible without assigning a probability of failure to an individual candidate. The reserve below assumes one additional IDIX attempt at the listed $470 fee. The example does not include reapplication, cancellation or other charges that a candidate's circumstances may trigger.

Scenario	Route 1 budget	Route 2 budget
First attempts only	$1,375	$1,390
One additional IDIX attempt	$1,845	$1,860

Keep the reserve separate from fees already paid. A study plan can then be compared with available cash without presenting the reserve as a compulsory cost or a forecast of the candidate's performance.

Which personal costs need their own rows?

A candidate's full budget should include study materials, any paid preparation course, travel, accommodation and time away from paid work where those costs actually apply. The worksheet leaves those values to the candidate because a single published figure cannot represent every testing arrangement or location.

Personal budget item	Record before adding an amount
Study materials	Required edition and actual purchase price
Preparation course	Scope, dates and cancellation terms
Travel	Test location and booked travel cost
Accommodation	Nights and confirmed room total
Time away from work	Candidate's own earnings assumptions

Avoid counting both a paid course package and materials already included in that package. Record refunds separately from new payments so that a postponed appointment does not appear to cost nothing.

What should be checked before applying?

Before paying an application fee, identify the correct education category, verify acceptable work experience and check the application window against the intended testing period. The NCIDQ eligibility guide distinguishes the experience requirements for accredited and non-accredited architecture degrees.

1. Match the qualification to the handbook eligibility chart.
2. Collect transcripts and the required experience confirmations.
3. Confirm the intended application route and timing.
4. Add the current section charges and personal costs separately.
5. Retain the application receipt and scheduling confirmations.

The CIDA programme guide helps with education research. Programme accreditation and an individual candidate's exam approval are separate questions; a budget worksheet does not determine eligibility.

Download the worksheet

The CSV worksheet contains the comparison rows from this page and can be opened in a spreadsheet. Save a dated copy with the source documents, replace illustrative inputs with the project figures, and keep the assumptions visible when sharing a calculation.