Black Spectacles offers online learning tools through individual subscriptions and Group Licenses to help candidates prepare for and pass the ARE (Architect Registration Examination).

Practice Exams and Quizzes

Videos

Real-World Practice

Flashcards

Subscriptions

Our Practice Exams and Quizzes help you achieve success by practicing your recall. Studies show that quizzing yourself on content helps you learn the content more deeply. Our Practice Exam interface matches what you’ll see on test day, you can practice your pacing, case study strategies, and whiteboard/calculator usage.

All of our Practice Exams and quizzes use the same type of questions that are on the actual test.

For both Quizzes and Practice Exams, review the answer explanations to get a better sense of why right answers are right and wrong answers are wrong, which further explain each topic.

Explanations of all the major exam topics, by our expert lecturers, who are experienced and accomplished architects.

Videos are organized by objective.

Download or print the Workbook to take notes as you watch the videos.

Black Spectacles Real-World Practice transforms our most effective Virtual Workshop content into a self-paced study experience. Each exercise mirrors the complexity of real-world architectural situations, helping you apply your knowledge in context — just like you will on the ARE and in practice.

Every division includes four key topics, each with two unique question sets — that’s eight case study exercises per division and 48 total across all six ARE divisions. Each exercise includes 10 in-depth questions designed to test higher-level reasoning, decision-making, and interpretation skills under realistic conditions.

Test your understanding of key terms and concepts from the Videos. Add your own custom flashcards as you watch Video Lectures and review your Practice Exam answers.
Practice them frequently in small batches, marking flashcards as “mastered” as you become fluent with the information on each card.

Flashcards help you practice recall as you're learning and when used in conjunction with our Videos.

Flashcards are built into the Guided Study process to help you stay on track:

Flexible study mode:

Access to our learning tools is provided through a paid subscription or through an organization/firm.
We offer 3 subscription tiers for individuals: Expert, Pro and Premium, with 2 billing options: monthly or yearly.

Once purchased, you can update your subscription tier anytime through your account settings and you'll only be charged for the changes based on the time remaining in the current billing cycle.
Changes are effective as soon as payment is processed.

Ready to get started and studying? Buy now

Questions? Visit our comprehensive FAQ