- The 2025 Content Outline: What the Blueprint Actually Says
- How the Exam Is Delivered
- Domains 1-3: Theory, Materia Medica and Repertory
- Domains 4-5: Health Science and Ethics
- Domains 6-9: From Case Taking to Case Management
- Why You Should Not Assume Equal Weights
- Sequencing the Domains in Your Preparation
- Fees, Eligibility and Windows That Shape Your Plan
- Retakes, Renewal and Where the Credential Fits
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The CCH exam objectives are organized into nine domains, from Foundations and Theory through Follow-up and Case Management.
- The Council for Homeopathic Certification publishes no percentage weights for the nine domains, so avoid assuming equal emphasis.
- Expect 250-260 single-best-answer questions in four hours, closed-book, with a scaled passing score of 255 on a 100-300 range.
- Case studies and repertory graphs or charts are question formats, not extra domains.
The 2025 Content Outline: What the Blueprint Actually Says
The Certified Classical Homeopath (CCH) credential is awarded by the Council for Homeopathic Certification (CHC). Its scope is defined in a document titled CHC Domains and Statements (Content Outline) 2025, updated October 16, 2025. That outline is the single most authoritative statement of what you can be tested on, and every serious study plan should start there rather than with a third-party summary.
The outline divides the exam into nine formal objectives. They are listed below using the outline's own wording, including the singular "Health Science" (the certification handbook's overview sometimes says "Health Sciences," but the formal outline uses the singular).
| # | Domain | Nature of the Knowledge |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Foundations and Theory of Classical Homeopathy | Conceptual principles and history as examined theory |
| 2 | Materia Medica | Remedy knowledge and recall |
| 3 | Repertory | Rubric navigation and interpretation |
| 4 | Health Science | Anatomy, physiology, pathology and referral awareness |
| 5 | Ethics and Professional Practice | Scope of practice, confidentiality, conduct |
| 6 | Homeopathic Case Taking | Interview technique and information gathering |
| 7 | Homeopathic Case Analysis | Evaluating and prioritizing case information |
| 8 | Posology | Potency, dose and repetition decisions |
| 9 | Follow-up and Case Management | Assessing response and next-step decisions |
If you want a plain-language orientation to the credential before going domain by domain, see What Is CCH Certification? and What Does CCH Stand For?. For a one-page recall aid once you have mastered the content, the CCH cheat sheet is a useful companion.
How the Exam Is Delivered
Knowing the domains is only half the picture; the delivery format determines how you need to practice. Here is what the CHC handbook (updated July 29, 2026) establishes:
- Question count: 250-260 single-best-answer multiple-choice questions. Plan around the published range rather than a fixed number.
- Time: four hours total.
- Provider: Kryterion, through Webassessor, at an authorized test center or via live remote proctoring.
- Materials: closed-book. No personal reference materials and no calculators.
- Location: candidates must be physically in the United States or Canada, including when testing remotely.
- Remote sessions: a continuous four-hour session without breaks. At a test center, permitted restroom breaks do not stop the exam clock.
At roughly one minute per item, pacing is a real factor. A four-hour closed-book session is a stamina exercise as much as a knowledge check, which is part of why candidates describe the exam's difficulty in terms of breadth and endurance.
Domains 1-3: Theory, Materia Medica and Repertory
Domain 1: Foundations and Theory of Classical Homeopathy
Foundations and Theory of Classical Homeopathy
This domain covers the conceptual framework that every other domain builds on. Questions here test whether you can state and apply the principles the classical tradition rests on.
- Core principles and the vocabulary used to describe them
- The historical development of the classical approach
- How theory translates into the way a practitioner reasons about a case
- The distinction between presenting examined theory and making efficacy claims
Because theory underlies the later domains, weakness here quietly costs points elsewhere. A candidate who cannot articulate why a symptom is weighted a certain way will struggle with Case Analysis even if their remedy memorization is strong.
Domain 2: Materia Medica
Materia Medica
Materia Medica is the remedy-knowledge domain and is typically the largest recall burden for candidates. Single-best-answer items often present a symptom picture and ask you to identify the remedy that best fits.
- Distinguishing remedies with overlapping presentations
- Characteristic modalities, mental and physical generals, and key features
- Recognizing the "best" fit when several options are partially correct
CHC's preparation resources page links a 2021 remedy list. Use it as a scoping aid for which remedies deserve attention, but remember that it is dated 2021 and supplements, rather than replaces, the 2025 outline. For a structured approach to memorization, the CCH study guide walks through how to organize remedy review.
Domain 3: Repertory
Repertory
Repertory tests your ability to move between a case and the rubrics used to find candidate remedies. Because the exam is closed-book, this is about understanding structure and logic, not looking things up.
- How rubrics are organized and what different rubric types represent
- Interpreting repertory graphs and charts when they appear in questions
- Understanding how rubric choices narrow or distort a remedy list
Since graphs and charts are a presentation format, practice reading them as a skill. Ask what the chart is telling you about remedy coverage and what a poor rubric choice would do to the result.
Domains 4-5: Health Science and Ethics
Domain 4: Health Science
Health Science
This domain anchors the medical-literacy side of the exam. It connects directly to the eligibility requirement for college-level anatomy/physiology and human pathology, and it is where the outline's referral safeguards matter most.
- Anatomy, physiology and pathology relevant to interpreting a client's presentation
- Recognizing signs that require referral to a licensed medical provider
- Understanding where a homeopathic practitioner's scope ends
CHC's preparation resources include a pathology study guide dated 2021. As with the remedy list, treat it as a supplementary aid and verify coverage against the 2025 outline.
Domain 5: Ethics and Professional Practice
Ethics and Professional Practice
Ethics questions reward careful reading. They commonly test the boundary between what a practitioner may and may not do, and how confidentiality and professional conduct apply in realistic situations.
- Scope of practice and honest representation of the credential
- Confidentiality and record-keeping responsibilities
- Professional conduct and when to refer
This domain pairs naturally with Health Science: many ethics items turn on recognizing when a situation exceeds a homeopath's scope. The same professional-ethics and confidentiality commitments also appear as attestations in the application, so they are not just exam content. They are conditions of certification. The CCH requirements guide covers those attestations in detail.
Key Takeaway
Treat Domains 4 and 5 as a pair. Whenever a question describes a client with a concerning presentation, ask first whether the safest, most scope-appropriate answer is referral, then consider the homeopathic reasoning.
Domains 6-9: From Case Taking to Case Management
The last four domains follow the lifecycle of a case. Studying them in order, as one continuous workflow, makes the relationships between them much clearer.
Domain 6: Homeopathic Case Taking
Homeopathic Case Taking
Case taking is about gathering the information a practitioner needs and doing so in a way that respects the client and preserves accuracy.
- Structuring the interview and eliciting complete symptom descriptions
- Distinguishing observed information from reported information
- Avoiding leading questions that contaminate the case
Domain 7: Homeopathic Case Analysis
Homeopathic Case Analysis
Analysis is where the gathered information is evaluated and organized. Questions often present a case and ask which features carry the most weight or how to proceed.
- Identifying and prioritizing the most significant features of a case
- Connecting analysis to repertory and materia medica reasoning
- Recognizing what a case does and does not support
Domain 8: Posology
Posology
Posology covers decisions about potency, dose and repetition. These questions are usually conceptual rather than computational, which is consistent with the exam prohibiting calculators.
- Principles guiding potency selection
- When and how repetition is considered
- Reasoning about dose in relation to the individual case
Domain 9: Follow-up and Case Management
Follow-up and Case Management
The final domain addresses what happens after a remedy is selected: assessing response and deciding what comes next.
- Evaluating changes after intervention
- Deciding between waiting, repeating and re-analyzing
- Managing a case over time, including when to refer
Domains 6 through 9 are heavily interdependent. A strong follow-up answer depends on understanding the original analysis and posology choice, so reviewing them as a connected chain is more efficient than treating them as isolated topics.
Why You Should Not Assume Equal Weights
It is tempting to assume nine domains means each accounts for roughly one-ninth of the exam. The CHC does not support that assumption. The nine headings are formal exam objectives, and the published materials do not provide percentage allocations. Counting statements under each domain and converting those counts to percentages would also be unsound, since statement counts are not the same as question counts.
This also affects how you interpret scoring. The pass mark is a scaled score of 255 on a 100-300 range, not a raw 85% threshold. A scaled score cannot be converted into a simple "number of questions correct," so avoid planning around a target raw percentage. See the CCH passing score breakdown for more detail on how to think about it.
Sequencing the Domains in Your Preparation
Generic study technique matters less here than the order in which you tackle the content. One workable sequencing logic follows the dependency between domains:
Foundations first
- Domain 1 (Foundations and Theory) and Domain 5 (Ethics and Professional Practice)
- Reason: theory and scope boundaries frame everything else
The recall-heavy domains
- Domain 2 (Materia Medica) and Domain 3 (Repertory)
- Reason: these need the longest runway and repeated review
Medical literacy
- Domain 4 (Health Science)
- Reason: reinforces referral judgment before you practice cases
The case chain
- Domains 6, 7, 8 and 9 studied together as one workflow
- Reason: each builds on the last, and case-style questions draw on all of them
Leave the final stretch for mixed, timed practice that imitates the four-hour closed-book format. Our CCH practice test is designed for exactly that kind of mixed-domain, single-best-answer rehearsal. Pay attention to which domains your wrong answers cluster in, then return to the relevant phase.
Fees, Eligibility and Windows That Shape Your Plan
Your preparation timeline is constrained by administrative realities, so it is worth understanding them early.
Fees (USD)
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Examination | $500 |
| Retake | $325 |
| Pathway 1 application | $35 |
| Pathway 2 application plus pre-qualification review | $110 ($35 + $75) |
| Calculated initial total, Pathway 1 | $535 |
| Calculated initial total, Pathway 2 | $610 |
For the full picture, including what falls outside these figures, see the CCH certification cost breakdown.
Eligibility pathways
Pathways are defined by how your education is accredited or approved, not simply by citizenship. Pathway 1 covers ACHENA-accredited (or candidate) programs and CHO-approved programs. Pathway 2 requires a pre-qualification evaluation of other qualifying education, including international programs. Standard preparation includes 500 theory/foundations hours and 500 clinical hours, at least 10 independently managed supervised cases with two follow-ups each, college-level anatomy/physiology and human pathology, English proficiency, educational documentation, and professional-ethics, fitness and confidentiality attestations. The CHC also publishes approved clinical-equivalency routes for established practitioners, so the standard 500-hour clinical route is not the only possibility. Details are in the requirements guide.
Testing windows
Dated 2026 notices extend the spring examination window to April 1 through September 30 and the fall window to October 1 through November 30, excluding weekends and federal holidays. These supersede older wording that referred only to April and October. Confirm current dates with the issuer and see CCH exam dates and scheduling before locking in a target.
Retakes, Renewal and Where the Credential Fits
If you do not pass
Retakes cannot occur in the same examination cycle. Under the July 2026 handbook, a second failure requires skipping an examination cycle and waiting one year, plus documentation of a school refresher or certification-exam bootcamp of at least 40 hours. Subsequent attempts are similarly spaced. An older FAQ places the one-year wait after three failures; that conflicts with the newer handbook, so follow the handbook and your issued retake authorization.
The issuer reports a 76% examination pass rate for 2024. That is a dated cohort statistic, not a passing score, and it should not be read as a prediction of your own outcome. The CCH pass rate article explains how to interpret it responsibly.
Renewal
Certification is renewed annually by December 31, beginning in the calendar year after initial certification. Renewal requires 15 CEUs, including at least 10 Category I homeopathy units and at most five optional Category II professional-development units, along with required attestations and a $170 fee. Factor that ongoing commitment into your thinking about whether the credential is worth it.
Comparison reference
The North American Society of Homeopaths distinguishes its RSHom(NA) registration from CHC's CCH certification, so be careful not to conflate them when researching professional standing. As for income, there is no guaranteed earnings figure attached to this credential. Practice income varies widely with setting, client base and business approach, and the salary guide discusses this qualitatively.
Key Takeaway
Use the 2025 content outline as your master checklist. Map every study session to one of the nine domains, treat the 2021 resources as supplements, and rehearse in the four-hour, closed-book, single-best-answer format before you sit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nine: Foundations and Theory of Classical Homeopathy, Materia Medica, Repertory, Health Science, Ethics and Professional Practice, Homeopathic Case Taking, Homeopathic Case Analysis, Posology, and Follow-up and Case Management. Case studies and repertory graphs or charts are question formats, not additional domains.
The CHC does not publish percentage allocations for the nine headings, so you should not assume equal weights or convert topic counts into percentages. Aim for balanced competence and shore up the areas where your practice results are weakest.
A scaled score of 255 on a 100-300 range. This is not an 85% raw percentage, and a scaled score cannot be directly converted into a number of correct answers.
250-260 single-best-answer multiple-choice questions in four hours, closed-book, with no personal reference materials or calculators. It is delivered by Kryterion through Webassessor, at authorized centers or via live remote proctoring, and you must be physically in the United States or Canada.
Yes, as supplements. The CHC links a 2021 remedy list, pathology study guide and sample items alongside the 2025 outline. Treat them as supplementary aids and rely on the 2025 content outline as the official blueprint.
No. The CCH is a certification in classical homeopathy, and homeopathic concepts on the exam are presented as examined theory. The outline preserves medical-referral and scope-of-practice safeguards, and the credential is not a medical license.