The placement check

A twelve-question check across every area of the exam. No timer, and no grades between questions — you answer, you move on.

What it is for

Your readiness meter needs two things before it can say anything: enough graded answers, and answers spread across most of the exam's domains. Twenty-five answers in one domain unlocks nothing, because that would be a reading of one domain.

The placement check does not clear either on its own — it is deliberately short so you finish it. The result screen tells you exactly how many more graded answers your readiness estimate needs, and ordinary practice counts toward it. Skip it and you will get there anyway — it just takes a few ordinary sessions instead.

It is not a test you can fail

• Nothing is locked behind your score. There is no stream you get put in.
• It is meant to be hard. You have not studied yet. Getting most of it wrong is the expected result and it is genuinely useful information.
• Hints are switched off in the placement, deliberately — it is measuring you, not you-with-help.

What you get out of it

A first read on where you stand, and — more usefully — which domains are weakest, which is what your Game Plan and the "drill your weakest area" shortcut then work from. Starting with a real weakest area beats starting at chapter one.

Doing it later

You can skip it and carry on. Practice questions feed the same meter, so the information arrives either way; the placement check just gets it all at once, in about twenty minutes, before you have built any habits around your guesses. The dashboard keeps a "Find your starting point" card while the meter is still locked; decline the check a second time and the card goes away for good.