The best place to study for the ServSafe.

The cost of ServSafe courses and exam fees vary by course and method of use. For the latest information, you can access the most current prices and procedural guidelines on the official ServSafe website.

For even more details, see the product listings on the ServSafe website. The page linked here is for the Manager certification, but you can access other courses and tests on the left panel of this page. There may be different fees for locally offered courses and exams. Retests will require additional fees though they will likely be less than the original expense.

Items needed, or allowed, at a ServSafe exam vary by the type and format of the exam, but a photo ID is generally required. For the paper version of any ServSafe exam, you also need a few sharpened #2 pencils. If you are taking an exam in English, but English is not your primary language, you may be allowed to bring a bilingual dictionary to the exam site. Contact your instructor or proctor for specific regulations. Generally, no other items are permitted in the exam room, including purses, bags, or any type of electronic equipment, including cell phones.

An employee in food service may be involved in the cooking process or participate in various other capacities, including preparing cold food and serving beverages. According to the National Occupational Research Agenda, there are presently over 9 million food service employees in the United States. Food service businesses range from full service restaurants to schools and health facilities, such as nursing homes. Each year, a large number of young people get their first job as a food service worker. Many food service employers require their food and alcohol service workers to have ServSafe certification.

The ServSafe courses and exams have no prerequisite, although course completion may be required for exams in some jurisdictions. Course completion is required for access to the online exam. An online or in-person training program may be required by a state or locality before a local exam. Check your local and state requirements for ServSafe exams before you sign up to take the test.

Passing a ServSafe exam may determine your ability to be hired in a food or alcohol service capacity. Additional certification in managing food and/or alcohol service may then enable you to acquire advanced positions within the company. Certification in several areas can certainly expand your employment possibilities in the foodservice field. Once you acquire any ServSafe certification, it will be good for five years.

Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2022 shows that the average hourly wage for a foodservice employee is $15.38/hour, but that this can reach over $20.00/hour for certain positions. Some food service positions also include a significant income from customer tips, which is only limited by the employee’s dedication to good service. The job outlook for growth in this industry through 2030 is expected to be “much faster than average” with the expected growth level at around 17%.

Both ServSafe coursework and exams are available in person and online, though availability and requirements may vary depending on where you live. Note that online exams for the ServSafe Food Handler and ServSafe Alcohol exams do not require a proctor. All other exams, whether print or online, do require a proctor and would need to be taken at a test center or online using ProctorU. You can search for a instructor/proctor in your area on the ServSafe website, and contact them via email or the phone number they’ve listed.

Technical requirements for online courses and testing may be found on this ServSafe Technical Requirements page.

If you don’t pass on your first attempt, you may retest once with no waiting period. After that, you must wait 60 days before retesting a second time. During one year, you may take the same ServSafe test up to four times.

• After you register for a local ServSafe course, you will probably receive study materials from your testing agency or an individual. Read these materials and take notes while doing so before you attend your training sessions. This will help you get the most out of the instruction.

• You may answer the questions on a ServSafe exam in any order and you may go back to previous questions to answer them or change your answer. Furthermore, you will be given a chance to check over your answers on the entire test before you either turn in your test booklet or submit your exam online.

• Answer every single question on the exams, as there is no penalty for guessing.

• If you are taking a paper version of a ServSafe exam, be sure to fill in the answer bubbles completely. Do not simply mark them with an “X” or a “/” mark. Also, be very careful to fill in the bubble that corresponds to your answer choice, especially if the bubbles are to the side of the lettered choices on the answer sheet.

• Even if your state or locality does not require course completion before taking this exam, it is highly recommended that you take time to study thoroughly for these tests. They have recently been revamped and cover much more material than older versions of the tests. Questions can be very specific and require you to know terms that may not be familiar to you, such as the names of specific bacteria and the exact temperatures needed to maintain food safety. Using study materials such as ServSafe practice tests can help give you an idea of the difficulty level of questions you’ll encounter and can help you feel much more prepared for test day.

The online course requires eight to 10 hours for the Manager test, four hours for the Alcohol Safety test, 90 minutes to two hours for the Food Handler test, and 90 minutes for the Allergen test. It is recommended that any course be completed in one-hour sessions and that the total length for the longer courses not exceed three weeks. It is important to leave at least two days between the completion of the course and the exam day to allow study time. Times allotted for the exams are:

• Manager: two hours (timed)

• Alcohol: two hours (untimed)

• Food Handler: about 90 minutes (untimed)