The RBT 40-hour training (2026 requirements)

What the curriculum covers

The 2026 curriculum has eight sections, each with a minimum number of hours. Together the minimums add up to 38 hours; the trainer adds the other 2 hours to any section. The sections can be taught in any order.

Half of the training, 20 hours, is behavior-change interventions: procedural integrity, conditioned reinforcers and token economies, discrete-trial and naturalistic teaching, task analysis and chaining, prompting and prompt fading, discrimination training, differential reinforcement, extinction, punishment, shaping, antecedent interventions, generalization, self-monitoring and crisis intervention. Most of the curriculum is also on the exam: the BACB marks those items as included in the RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.). Items such as the elementary verbal operants (mand, tact, echoic, intraverbal) and preparing for a session are in the training but not marked as exam content.

The rules every course must follow

• Duration: at least 40 hours, completed in no fewer than 5 and no more than 180 days, counting the start and end dates.
• Format: in person, online or both, with behavioral skills training: for example video instruction, modeling with examples and non-examples, role-play with feedback, quizzes and discussion. Assigned reading doesn't count toward the 40 hours.
• Trainers: the course is designed and overseen by a Responsible Trainer who is a BCaBA, BCBA or BCBA-D and has completed the 8-hour supervision training. Assistant Trainers must hold RBT certification or higher.
• Relationships: trainers may not be related to, subordinate to, or employed by the trainee. Paying a trainer for the training doesn't count as employing them.
• Where: providers must be within the BACB's jurisdiction.

The certificate

You upload the certificate with your application. It must be a single document with your name and BACB ID, the start and end dates, the time you spent in training (for example 40 hours 15 minutes), the Responsible Trainer's name, certification number and signature or company branding, any Assistant Trainers and their certification numbers, and this statement: "This training program is designed to meet the 2026 training eligibility requirement for RBT certification. The training is offered independent of the BACB."

A certificate with only the old statement ("based on the RBT Task List (2nd ed.)") doesn't meet the 2026 requirement. If you trained under the old requirements and didn't apply in time, you need to complete the full new training; there's no bridge course.

Choosing a course

The BACB doesn't provide the training, issue certificates or recommend providers. Many employers provide it free to new staff. When you compare courses:

• Check that the course says it meets the 2026 requirements and shows the 2026 statement.
• Ask how the competency assessment will be arranged afterward: the assessor must work at, or be contracted with, the organization where you and the client receive services.
• Look at the provider's results. Each year the BACB publishes first-time exam pass rates for publicly available training programs with at least 10 first-time candidates.

In the 2025 report, first-time pass rates ranged from 8.1% to 100%. Among providers with at least 100 first-time candidates, the highest was Behavior Development Solutions (93.5% of 923) and the lowest Power In-Service Training Center (17.7% of 186). The full table is on our RBT pass rates page. Pass rates depend on who enrolls as well as on the course, so treat them as one signal among several.