The NEW SHORT TSA CBT is only 25-45 minutes long and concentrates on 2D to 3D interpretation skills. The LEGACY TSA CBT consisted of questions about basic English skills and X-Ray Object Interpretation. The test is 2.5 hours long. The legacy test will continue to be used until all equipment is modernized.

When you apply, you are directed to a third-party testing service named Pearson VUE. You will receive an email scheduling your test. An image of this email is shown here on this page.

Read it Carefully – if it says, “This assessment is NOT an English language proficiency assessment,” that means that you will be taking the NEW SHORT TSA CBT test format.

A second clue is where you are told, “…expect to spend an average of 25-45 minutes in the test center.” If so, you will be taking the NEW SHORT TSA CBT test format.

The SHORT FORM TSA CBT only requires 25-45 minutes to complete and has three setions:

• "Connect the dots" as fast as you can, according to numerical, alphabetical, and then finally alphanumeric order. This part is easy.


• "Find the identical image:" You are given one image with six very similar images. You have to find the identical one as fast as you can. The more you do, the more points you will get. This is also easy.


• Spatial Reasoning is very challenging. Also known as 2D-3D Folding, you are given a 2D nets (a flat pattern) with areas marked with numbers and the corresponding 3D shape where the surfaces are marked with letters. You are asked to imagine folding the 2D net into the 3D shape so that you can figure out which numbers on the 2D net matches which letters on the 3D shape. The shapes are complex making this test very difficult for most.

• The TSA English Proficiency Test is the first part of the exam and will require approximately 2 hours to finish. The exam consists of multiple-choice questions on high school-level reading comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling.


• The TSA X-ray Object Recognition test scares most candidates as none of us have ever been trained to interpret objects in X-rays. This portion goes by quickly - usually less than 20 minutes - since you are only given a few seconds to view an X-ray image and then answer questions about what objects are in the picture.