Guide · vendor rules · checked October 22, 2026

Headmaster CNA exams: the rules, and the registry inside the vendor

The 2026 change California candidates must know

California's competency evaluation moved to Headmaster effective March 1, 2026 — older study materials and forum advice naming the previous vendor are stale. California's current split: written $40, skills $100, $140 combined. If you are reactivating a California certificate (expired 2 years or less), this is the exam you will book.

Per-part retakes, Headmaster style

Like the other vendors, Headmaster charges per failed part. Wisconsin publishes the most granular split in our dataset — written $37.49, skills $107.21 ($144.70 combined) — a useful reminder that “the exam fee” is really two fees, and the skills part is the one that bites.

The TMU states: your registry lives in the vendor's system

Wisconsin's Nurse Aide Registry is hosted in Headmaster's TMU system: you file your renewal there, and Headmaster emails your employer the verification link your renewal depends on (the full walkthrough is here). When the vendor runs the registry platform, “the registry didn't process it” and “the vendor's email went to spam” become the same failure — check both.

Headmaster states in our dataset (22)

• Arizona — $130
• Arkansas — $125
• California — $140
• Iowa — $165
• Kentucky — $115
• Maryland — Not published — confirm with the registry
• Massachusetts — $100
• Michigan — $175
• Minnesota — $270
• Mississippi — $135
• Missouri — $135
• Montana — $97
• Nevada — $165
• New Jersey — Not published — confirm with the registry
• New Mexico — $140
• North Dakota — Not published — confirm with the registry
• Ohio — $104
• Oklahoma — Not published — confirm with the registry
• Oregon — Not published — confirm with the registry
• South Dakota — $159
• Wisconsin — $144
• Wyoming — $127

Fees are first-attempt combined totals from the dataset, checked October 22, 2026. Vendor contracts are the fastest-moving part of this dataset (California's switch is the proof) — the quarterly sweep in our maintenance plan re-checks them, and every figure carries its check date.