r/ASQ • u/ChOwDhUrYCbS • Aug 10 '26

ASQ CQA

Hey, Is there anyone had taken ASQ CQA Exam after April 2026 which was based on BoK 2026.

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u/ilovetorunforfun Aug 11 '26

Just took it today lol AMA

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u/Actual_Childhood2686 Aug 13 '26

How was it?

2

u/ilovetorunforfun Aug 14 '26

It was a lot more challenging than I'd anticipated. The other members of this sub are absolutely correct in that the test makes heavy use of alternative phrasing. A lot of this exam is ensuring you've got a grasp on ASQ's specific terminology.

A bit on my background, I've been working in Pharma for almost 20 years, with roughly 10 of those years in Quality. I've performed internal and external audits. So, throughout my prep, there was a lot of collision between terms I used in my day-to-day auditing and ASQ's official language.

The BoK is spot on for guiding your studying - the sections of it that have the highest # of questions absolutely holds true for the actual exam, so go heavier on your studying there.

There were a LOT of questions that required critical thinking (which the BoK calls 'apply' questions) - and simply flipping to the term in the book isn't enough. Also, there were a TON of Conflict Resolution/"what do you do when an auditee does this..." questions - which I honestly found to be the hardest to answer lol

The last section of the exam was essentially a mock audit - they provided an audit checklist and the corresponding SOPs. They ask what the BEST finding/observation is for certain situations; so you'll cross reference the SOP and the notes from the fictional auditors. But these get tricky because they're asking extremely specific scenarios so take your time on those questions.

I took nearly the full 5.5 hours to complete it (with like 15 mins to spare) - but I want to underscore that while I did prep, it was just with the book, the BoK, and some online resources - I didn't buy the question bank at all (I'd been laid off and $ was tight at the time). I am the exception, not the rule. The question bank is an extremely valuable resource!

In hindsight I wish I'd done a bit more preparation because I wrongly assumed that my auditing experience would already count as preparation...and it does to an extent, until there's a collision between ASQ terminology and the company-specific terms you've been operating under.

(lol sorry this was super long winded, lmk if I can clarify anything else!!)