Requirements for Certification
There are no formal prerequisites for CCIE certification; other professional certifications or training courses are not required. Instead, candidates must first pass a written qualification exam and then the corresponding hands-on lab exam. You are expected to have an in-depth understanding of the topics in the exam blueprints and strongly encouraged to have three to five years of job experience before attempting certification. You can review the exam preparation materials included on this page for more information.

Step One: CCIE Service Provider Written Exam
You must pass the two-hour, written qualification exam covering concepts and equipment commands related to packet-based networking infrastructure, before you are eligible to schedule the lab exam.
Written Exam
General Information

Beta Exams
Each written exam version is offered first in beta form at a discounted cost of US$50. Beta exams are scheduled as you would other written exams and are available at all worldwide testing locations. A passing grade on the beta qualifies a candidate to schedule the lab exam. Results, however, are typically not available until six to eight weeks after the close of the beta. A candidate may attempt the beta exam only once during the beta period.Cost
Written exams are administered by independent vendors at cost of US$300. Costs may vary due to exchange rates and local taxes (VAT, GST).
Expiration
Candidates must make an initial attempt of the CCIE lab exam within 18 months of passing the CCIE written exam. Valid passing scores on written exams expire after 18 months.
Locations
Written exams are taken at any worldwide VUE testing facility. See their websites for more details.
Results
Written exam results are Pass/Fail and are available immediately following the exam. The passing score is set by statistical analysis and is subject to periodic change.
Retakes
Candidates must wait five days between attempts at the written exam. Once a candidate has passed the exam, he or she may not take the same exam again (for recertification purposes) for at least 180 days.

Step Two: CCIE Security Lab Exam
The eight-hour lab exam tests your ability to get a secure network running in a timed test situation. You must pass the lab within three years of passing the written to achieve certification. Your first lab attempt must be made within 18 months.

Configuring a network to given specifications
The CCIE lab exam is an eight-hour, hands-on exam which requires you to configure a series of networks to given specifications and is similar to the Routing and Switching lab, but with more emphasis on BGP, OSPF, ISIS, multicast and quality of service. Knowledge of troubleshooting is an important skill and candidates are expected to diagnose and solve issues as part of the CCIE lab exam. Specific services types (such as DSL or IP telephony) are not required on the Lab. Point values and testing criteria are provided.

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.

Price not confirmed and is subject to change until full payment is made. Please reference the CCIE Policies for more information.

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.