An open-book ASQ exam sounds easy. You can bring your books. You can bring your notes. Then the clock starts, and you are flipping pages at a small desk with a stack of paper you have never organized.
I took the ASQ Black Belt exam with one reference book, a binder of printed notes and two calculators. Here is what I would pack today, what ASQ allows, and what to leave at home.
Rules change. I read ASQ’s own pages in October 2026. Check them again before your exam day.
What ASQ allows in an open-book ASQ exam
ASQ’s policy is short. All ASQ exams are open book. Every reference, including your notes, must be bound and stay bound for the whole exam.
Bound means stitched or glued, like a normal book. It also means fasteners that go through every page: ring binders, spiral binders, plastic snap binders, brads or screw posts. Hand-stapled or paper-clipped pages are not allowed.
You bring your own references. Nobody lends you a book on the day. At a test center, the Test Center Administrator checks every reference before you walk into the room.
Read the policy yourself in ASQ’s Taking the Exam FAQ. The calculator rules are on the same page.
1. The handbook for your belt
Start with the ASQ handbook for your exam. ASQ calls the Black Belt handbook a companion guide to the exam’s Body of Knowledge, and its Black Belt page says you can use the handbook during the open-book exam.
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- Green Belt: The ASQ Certified Six Sigma Green Belt Handbook
- Black Belt: The ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook
I studied with an earlier edition of the Black Belt handbook. On exam day I brought the Quality Council of Indiana Primer instead, because I knew where everything was in it. Pick one main book. Know it cold.
ASQ also publishes a reference list for the Black Belt exam. You do not need all of it. Every extra book is one more place to search while the clock runs.
Practice questions are not allowed. ASQ’s Taking the Exam FAQ bans collections of questions and answers and refresher-course quizzes. A book that has them is not allowed unless you remove the questions. When I sat the exam, I pulled the question pages out of my Primer. Do the same with any book you bring. Check your binder for printed practice questions too.
2. A calculator ASQ allows, plus a spare
Every computer-based ASQ exam has a basic scientific calculator on screen. At a test center you can also bring your own. ASQ allows any silent, hand-held, battery-operated calculator with no programmable memory. It names the TI-89 as not allowed. You may bring a backup. If you ask, the Test Center Administrator can give you a basic hand-held calculator.
I used an HP 10bII. It is a financial calculator with mean, standard deviation and NPV keys. HP sells the current model as the 10bII+. It has no programming mode, no graphing and no text storage, so it meets ASQ’s rule. Check any other model against the rule before you buy it.
I brought two calculators, just in case. One dead battery should not cost you a certification.
A plain scientific calculator works too. My guide to which calculator to use, and whether you need Minitab, lists the keys that matter. Practice with your exam calculator for weeks. Your fingers should know where ln and x² are before you sit down.
3. A binder for your notes
Loose notes are banned. A ring binder fixes that, and ASQ lists ring binders as bound. A 3-inch binder such as the Avery Heavy-Duty View Binder holds a lot of printed pages.
I put all of my notes into one binder. I got there early, took it to the proctor and invited them to remove anything at will. I had already checked it against the rules. But if a rule had changed on me, I wanted to adjust with as little disruption as possible.
Space is tight. ASQ says Prometric desks are about 48 inches long and 24 inches wide. Your book, binder, calculator and scratch paper all have to fit.
4. Tabs, set up by DMAIC phase
Tabs save you minutes. ASQ allows Post-it notes as book tabs only, and they must be on your books before you enter the test center.
I like one color per DMAIC phase. Define gets one color, Measure the next, and so on through Control. A pack of Post-it Tabs in six solid colors covers the five phases with one color left for your tables and formula pages. Write the topic on each tab.
Taking the exam at home? ASQ’s remote proctoring FAQ also allows Post-it notes as book tabs only.
5. A printed formula reference
Hunting for a formula burns time. Print a formula sheet, punch it, and put it at the front of your binder.
My free ASQ Six Sigma Formula Reference Sheet is on the ASQ Green Belt study guide and ASQ Black Belt study guide pages. I made it for this exam.
Add the tables you will need: z, t, chi-square and F. Learn which way each one reads before exam day. My z table guide shows the two common layouts.
I also printed pages from this site and wrote notes in the margins. One-pagers help for the things you look up most:
- The quality gurus and what each one is known for
- Tools by DMAIC phase, and when to use each
- Formulas with a worked example next to each
- Hypothesis tests: which test for which data
What not to bring
- Loose notes, or pages that are hand-stapled or paper-clipped.
- Blank writing pads, pads with blank pages, or any unbound pad. At a test center, Prometric gives you scratch paper and pencils.
- Slide charts and wheel charts. Those are the cardboard or plastic calculators with parts that slide or turn.
- A programmable or graphing calculator, such as the TI-89.
- Your phone. ASQ says your personal belongings go in a Prometric locker.
- Every book you own. I did not take extra books. Time and desk space ran out first.
Taking the ASQ exam at home: what changes
Since July 1, 2022, remote ASQ exams do not allow scratch paper, pens or pencils. You work in the scratchpad inside the exam software. Practice your math without paper at least once.
Your references still have to be bound. ASQ asks you to show your references and calculator to the Readiness Agent at check-in. Its remote proctoring FAQ allows built-in calculators. It does not say plainly whether a hand-held calculator is fine at home, so ask ASQ before exam day.
Other certifying bodies
Not every Six Sigma exam is open book. Check the rules for yours.
- IASSC: Closed book. IASSC gives you its own Reference Document as a download when the exam starts. It holds the formulas and tables, so do not bring your own copy. Non-programmable four-function or scientific calculators are allowed. Graphing and programmable models such as the TI-84 are not. See IASSC’s permitted resources.
- Villanova: Villanova’s student services team told me by email in October 2026 that its Green Belt and Black Belt exams are open book. Course materials, notes and other helpful resources are allowed. The exams are online and timed. Here is how I passed the Villanova Black Belt exam.
- ILSSI: ILSSI told me by email in October 2026 that all of its exams are open book. In a classroom you may use printed materials, your notes or a PDF of the course materials. Online exams add an AI identity check.
My open-book ASQ exam packing list
- Photo ID with the same name as your exam application
- One main reference book, tabbed by DMAIC phase, practice questions removed
- One binder of notes, with the formula sheet and tables in front
- The calculator you practiced with, a spare and fresh batteries
Plan to arrive 30 minutes early. ASQ is strict about this. If you arrive late, you do not test, and you lose your exam fee.
Before the real day, sit one full practice exam with this kit and nothing else. If you reach for something that is not there, add it. If something never leaves the bag, cut it. That is how I practiced for my Six Sigma exams. For the night before, read how to walk into your exam calm and ready.
More on my own exam: How I Passed the ASQ Six Sigma Black Belt Exam.