Requirements for licensure and beginning the exam process vary in each jurisdiction. View CLARB’s eligibility map to learn more about your jurisdiction’s requirements and if you are eligible to take the L.A.R.E.

Registering is as easy as 1-2-3.  Visit the "Registration" page for details.

Examinees may schedule their test appointment online via the CLARB website.  Make your appointment as soon as possible to have the best chance of being able to test at the center of your choice.

To schedule your appointment for the exam, please login to the CLARB website and locate the “Schedule/Reschedule my exam appointment” under the My Event Registration section of the profile page  

*Once scheduled, you will receive an email confirmation from PSI. If you do not receive this email, your appointment may not be scheduled. Please check your appointment by following these same steps and logging into the CLARB website.

CLARB has a cancellation policy that requires candidates to cancel their exam prior to the posted cancellation deadline. For details on the CLARB cancellation policy, please visit the Exam Dates & Deadlines page. If a cancellation is requested, a refund for your examination will be issued to the original form of payment less a 5% cancellation fee. Candidates who do not cancel with both PSI and CLARB may be ineligible for refund. 

To Add another section, log in to “My Profile,” then scroll down to “My Event Registrations.” Click on the open exam registration line item you would like to add to (ex: April 2022 LARE). Then click on the “Review and Edit Sessions” button. There you will be able to add another section to your registration. 

Please note you will not receive an additional confirmation email. Please continue to your CLARB profile and follow the "Schedule/Reschedule My Exam" link under My Event Registrations.

Results will be available approximately 6 weeks following the last day of each administration.  CLARB will notify candidates via email, the CLARB website, Facebook and Twitter when results are ready to be viewed on the CLARB website. 

The L.A.R.E. is scored completely by computer in order to increase fairness and defensibility.  Accordingly, results are final. Keeping in line with best practices in the professional testing industry, a review is not provided.

Candidates who need to obtain pre‐approval should start and complete the Record so they can transmit their Record to their licensure board.  (Exam candidates may transmit their Record for free in support of exam application.)   

All candidates must fill out their education history before registering for the exam.

Please refer to the Blueprint in the L.A.R.E. Orientation Guide for more information. 

You must present one form of valid and current identification when arriving at the test center or logging in to your online appointment. The name on your identification must match the name in which you registered for the exam.

No items including reference material, calculators, pencils, pens, paper drafting supplies.

No personal items (including purses, fanny packs, food items) will be allowed in the testing room.

You may not bring cellular phones, pages, devices with a computer memory chip or any device with an alphanumeric keyboard (e.g., a language translation tool) to the test site. If testing online, you must place your cell phone out of reach once you have been checked in and started your examination.

Please refer to CLARB’s Orientation Guide for more information.

The L.A.R.E. is administered three times a year over a two-week period in April, August and December. Please visit the "Dates, Deadlines and Fees" webpage for more information.

The Landscape Architect Registration Examination (L.A.R.E.) is a four-part fully computerized examination designed to determine whether applicants for landscape architectural licensure possess sufficient knowledge, skills and abilities to provide services without endangering the health, safety and welfare of the public. It is prepared and scored by CLARB in accordance with all current standards for fairness and quality of licensure exams. In order to become a licensed landscape architect, you must pass all sections of the L.A.R.E. as well as meet other requirements for their jurisdiction.

The L.A.R.E. is made up of the following sections:

Section 1:  Project and Construction Management
Section 2:  Inventory and Analysis
Section 3:  Design
Section 4:  Grading, Drainage and Construction Documentation

Note:  All fees are in U.S. dollars, subject to change and non-refundable unless otherwise noted.
Please visit the "Dates, Deadlines, and Fees" page to view current L.A.R.E. rates.

The content of the L.A.R.E. is based on the results of a scientific “job analysis” survey conducted every five to seven years.  The most recent survey was administered in early 2016 in which more than 5548 practicing landscape architects from the United States and Canada participated.  The survey results were analyzed by a group of subject matter experts, comprised of licensed landscape architects representing diversity (areas of practice, geographic) of the profession.

Survey respondents were asked to rate all job tasks on three separate scales: how frequently the tasks were performed, how important the tasks were to successful performance of the job, and whether successful performance of each task was required at initial licensure.  Overall, the tasks, and subsequent knowledge, that are performed most often are considered the most important and are required at the initial point of licensure and thus form the basis of the L.A.R.E. 

Please refer to the Blueprint in the L.A.R.E. Orientation Guide for more information. 

All exams include a limited number of pretest items that will NOT be scored and will NOT have an impact on your results.  This is common practice within high-stakes testing and allows CLARB to evaluate the items for potential use in future exams.  Pretest items are randomly placed throughout the exam and are not identifiable as pretest items. 

Please refer to the Blueprint in the L.A.R.E. Orientation Guide for more information. 

CLARB conducted a study to determine the factors that impact candidate success on the L.A.R.E. The research findings suggest the following:

• Candidates perform better -- and have a higher success rate -- the closer they take Sections 1 and 2 to their education. 
• Candidates that graduate from an accredited LAAB/LAAC program and that utilize practice problems perform better on Section 3.
• On Section 4, candidates that gain diversified experience working in a landscape architecture practice perform better, and for every month spent studying candidates on average score seven percent higher. 

Read the full research summary.

CLARB partners with PSI to administer the L.A.R.E. You can take any section of the L.A.R.E. in any PSI test center that offers the L.A.R.E. regardless of where you wish to become initially licensed. Please remember, however, that if you are seeking initial licensure in a jurisdiction that requires pre-approval, you still must obtain pre-approval from your licensure board BEFORE you may register for the L.A.R.E. 

After you register for the L.A.R.E., you will be redirected to the PSI appointment process. If you decide to wait to schedule your appointment, you will need to return to the CLARB website to schedule your appointment by following the link under My Event Registrations in your CLARB profile. CLARB will send you a confirmation email with instructions about how to select your test center and schedule your exam appointment as well. If you do not receive this email, please check your spam folder and if you still do not have it please contact CLARB.

Plan to arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment to allow time for check-in procedures. Candidates who arrive late will NOT be allowed to take the exam.

All results are reported as “pass” or “fail.” Each section of the exam is passed or failed independently of the other sections. All sections are scored by computer. 

The score for each of the exam sections is determined by the number of questions answered correctly. Each item on the exam is worth one point. Your overall score is based on the number of items you answer correctly. Items left blank are counted as incorrect. 

Once the exam has been scored we convert your raw score to a scaled score so that we have a consistent way to report exam results from one administration to the next. It is also a "best practice" of the testing industry. No matter what exam you take, or when you take it, the passing point will always be converted to 650. 

If a "Fail" result is received, a number representing a scaled score will also be received. The scaled score is intended to help candidates better understand how close they were to the passing point. For each section, candidates must obtain a scaled score of at least 650 to pass. A scaled score of 640, for example, would indicate that a candidate was close to passing.

  

View recent pass rates.

Please contact the licensure board in the jurisdiction in which you are pursuing initial licensure for more information about your jurisdiction's requirements.

CLARB is working to simplify the licensure process. Starting a Council Record during the exam process ensures that CLARB is collecting, verifying and storing the information that licensure boards need from you in order to apply to take the exam and be evaluated for licensure throughout your career. 

Yes, your Council Record must be current in order for you to register for the exam.

• Contact your licensure board to confirm what information the board needs in support of your exam application (for pre-approval).  
• Login to your Council Record and enter the information your board needs into the corresponding categories (education, employment, references, etc.). 
• Click “submit” on each category for which you entered information. Once you “submit” CLARB will begin the process of verifying your information. 
• Within a few weeks, login to your Council Record and look at the “Date Verified” column for each category you submitted.
• If a "Date Verified" is listed all information in this "category" is complete.

For transmittal in support of exam application (for pre-approval), only those categories of information that your licensure board requires at this stage in your career need to be verified.

If all of the above is true for your Council Record, you may then request a transmittal for pre-approval in your jurisdiction using the the "Transmit my Council Record" button at the top of your Council Record page.