Pearson VUE has shut down its testing facilities in the USA and Canada due to growing concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic.
Pearson VUE, which operates testing centers for vendors like Cisco and Linux announced the closures last Wednesday. Pearson VUE testing centres are being closed in Canada and the U.S. on a case by case basis. Test takers are advised to reschedule for their appointments beginning April 16.
These are some important details from Pearson VUE that exam takers should know:
If your exam is at one of these closed locations, you will be notified by email. Your exam sponsor will determine if you are eligible for a refund or an extension.
If you had planned to schedule an exam, registration will not be possible until April 16th or when testing centers reopen.
Pearson VUE will assist those who have had their exams cancelled. They will help them reschedule once the testing centers reopen. As mentioned, some vendors may extend their exam vouchers’ life.
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Start trainingVendors who use Pearson VUE to administer their certification exams include:
Cisco
(ISC)2
Juniper
Linux
You can search for additional vendors on Pearson VUE’s website here.
Many learners will be disappointed by the closure of Pearson VUE, especially those who were trying for retirement certifications. It’s encouraging to know that Pearson VUE is taking steps to combat the spread of COVID-19, and to ensure that test-takers are safe.
However, not all test-takers are lucky. You can take your certification exams at home by using the services of a variety of vendors that don’t use Pearson VUE.
Microsoft
AWS – (AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner)
VMware
Google
To determine if vendors use Pearson VUE to administer certification exams, we recommend that you check vendor certification pages. You can also reach out to vendors via social media or customer support for details about certification exams.
Please note that many vendors who offer their own exam testing require that you create an account before you can register for exams.
Online proctoring is another option. Online proctoring is available from some vendors for certain exams. These services can be costly so make sure to check the system requirements for online proctoring.
Vendors are stepping up efforts to help learners affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. CompTIA has extended all expiring certification vouchers between March 17th and April 30th 2020 to June 30, 2020. CompTIA hopes to offer test-takers the opportunity to take its certification exams remotely over the next few weeks.
Cisco has extended the expiration dates of active certifications by six month as of March 16. Let’s say that a Cisco certification expires March 30, 2020. It will now expire on September 30, 2020.
Cisco also announced that the expiration dates of active, unused and unexpired exam vouchers have been extended by six months as of March 16. Additionally, any exam vouchers purchased within the next three month will expire 18months from their date of purchase.
Microsoft announced changes on March 26 to help learners affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. To give learners more time to get their certs, Microsoft has extended the retirement date for their MCSA, MCSD and MCSE certifications. It was originally set to June 30, 2020.
Microsoft also extended by six months the expiration dates of role-based certifications that were due to expire between now, Dec. 31, 2020 and Dec. 31, 2020. Let’s take, for example, a Microsoft role-based certification that was due to expire on Sept. 30, 2020. It will now expire on March 30, 2021.
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