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Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling

TL;DR
  • The issuer's certification page lists an online exam as required, so scheduling is not tied to a fixed testing-center calendar.
  • The supervisor card category is listed at $275 on the issuer page; this is not an independently verified exam-only fee.
  • Eligibility gates your date: 350 field days, 150 working dives, and 30 working days as assistant mixed-gas supervisor.
  • Study from ADCI Consensus Standards edition 6.5, especially section 3.6 (supervisor duties) and section 4.4 (surface-supplied mixed-gas).

Why There Is No Fixed Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Exam Calendar

Candidates searching for "exam dates 2026" often expect what other professions publish: a grid of quarterly windows, registration deadlines and late-fee cutoffs. For the Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor credential issued through the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI), that model does not fit. The issuer's current certification page lists an online exam as a requirement for the supervisor card category. An online examination is a different scheduling animal from a seat-limited testing-center window, and this article is built around that distinction.

Because the available published information does not establish a fixed set of 2026 testing windows, we are not going to invent them. Anyone offering you a neat list of dates, blackout periods or deadlines for this credential without citing an ADCI source should be treated with caution. What we can do is show you what actually controls your timeline: your documented experience, your employer's sign-off, the edition of the standards you must study, and the practical logistics of the card application itself.

Verify before you plan: The most reliable way to confirm how and when an exam attempt can be opened for you is to contact ADCI directly through the issuer's certification page at adc-int.org. Policies change between standards editions, and a date quoted on a forum or by a coworker may reflect an older process.

If you are still deciding whether this credential is the right next step, our overview at What Is Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Certification? explains what the credential represents, and Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify goes deeper on the qualification path.

What You Are Actually Scheduling: The Online Exam and the Supervisor Card

It helps to separate three things that candidates routinely blur together:

  1. The examination itself - the ADCI HeO2/mixed-gas supervisor examination, which the issuer page lists as an online exam.
  2. The supervisor card - the mode-specific supervisor card that documents your authority to supervise mixed-gas operations.
  3. Your employer assignment - the vetting and written assignment that the standards require before you function as a mixed-gas supervisor.

The practical effect is that "exam date" is only one node in a chain. You can pass the exam and still not be operating as a supervisor until the card and the written assignment are in place. When you build your calendar, treat the exam as the middle of the process rather than the finish line.

MilestoneWhat It Depends OnTiming Consideration
Meeting experience thresholdsLogged field days, working dives, assistant-supervisor daysFixed by your work history; cannot be accelerated by studying
Air-diving supervisor qualificationPrior qualification required by the standardsMust already be in hand
Taking the online examADCI process confirmed through the issuerConfirm current procedure with ADCI; no published window is established
Supervisor card issuanceCard category fee listed on issuer page ($275)Budget processing time before a job start date
Employer vetting and written assignmentYour employer's internal processOften the slowest step; start the conversation early

Eligibility Checkpoints That Gate Your Test Date

Your real "earliest possible exam date" is set by your logbook, not by a calendar. The standards and issuer information establish the following prerequisites for the mixed-gas supervisor credential:

  • At least 350 field days as an air or mixed-gas diver.
  • At least 150 working dives.
  • At least 30 working days as assistant mixed-gas supervisor.
  • Qualification as an air-diving supervisor already on record.
  • Employer vetting and written assignment to the supervisory role.
  • A mode-specific supervisor card for mixed-gas operations.
  • Medical fitness before hyperbaric exposure and valid CPR/first aid credentials.

The assistant-supervisor requirement is where timelines most often slip. Thirty working days as an assistant mixed-gas supervisor must be earned on actual mixed-gas jobs, which means you depend on project availability and your employer's willingness to rotate you into that seat. If you are close to the 350-day and 150-dive marks but have not yet started logging assistant-supervisor days, that is the item to chase first.

Documentation habit: Keep your logbook entries aligned with how the standards describe the experience: field days, working dives, and assistant-supervisor days are counted separately. Reconstructing them months later under deadline pressure is the avoidable mistake. Our requirements guide lays out how to organize this evidence.

Also note that CPR and first aid credentials expire. If yours lapses between the time you plan the exam and the time you submit for the card, you create a gap that has nothing to do with your knowledge. Check expiration dates now and renew ahead of your target window rather than after.

Pinning Your Study Timeline to Standards Edition 6.5

One of the most useful scheduling facts available is the document you will be studying. The issuer homepage currently links ADCI International Consensus Standards edition 6.5, with the PDF revision filename dated July 27, 2025. Prepare from that edition rather than an older printed copy someone handed down at a previous employer. If your company's internal manuals reference an earlier revision, reconcile the differences deliberately rather than assuming they are identical.

A key honesty point about preparation: the five study groupings we use are editorial selections drawn from the published standards. They are not a published weighted exam blueprint, and they are not proof that the exam covers every provision of those sections. We will not tell you that one domain carries a particular percentage, because no official weight table is established. For the full breakdown of how we group the material, see Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.

The sections most relevant to your calendar planning:

  • Section 3.6: mixed-gas supervisor duties, qualifications and card requirements.
  • Section 4.4: surface-supplied mixed-gas operational personnel and equipment requirements.
  • Sections 5, 6 and 7: operations, equipment and emergency preparation.

Plan your study start date by working out how long it takes you to read these sections carefully at your normal pace. Section 3.6 alone covers a long list of supervisor responsibilities, so allow real time for it.

Working Backward From Your Target Date: Domain-by-Domain

Once you have confirmed with ADCI how your exam attempt will be arranged and have a target window, you can build a study schedule backward from it. This is the one place we will talk about pacing, and we will tie it to the five domains specifically. The order matters: start with the domain that defines your professional role, then the domains that depend on it.

Weeks 1-2

Domain 1: HeO2/Mixed-Gas Diving Supervisor responsibilities, qualifications and certification

  • Read section 3.6 closely; list each supervisory responsibility in your own words.
  • Cover regulatory and employer-manual compliance, immediate supervisory control, and suitable surface location.
  • Review the card, qualification and assignment requirements so the prerequisites are second nature.
Weeks 3-4

Domain 2: Surface-Supplied Mixed-Gas Diving (HeO2)

  • Work through section 4.4 on operational personnel and equipment requirements.
  • Keep the mixed-gas context front and center; do not treat saturation-specific provisions as universal requirements.
Weeks 5-6

Domain 3: Underwater Operations: Procedures, Checklists and Guidelines

  • Study pre- and post-dive checks, job safety analysis and dive planning including gas supplies.
  • Review depth/time/gas profiles, continuous tending, termination criteria and post-dive observation for symptoms.
Weeks 7-8

Domains 4 and 5: Life-Support Equipment and Emergency Procedures

  • Cover dress and emergency gas, helmets/masks, umbilicals, compressors and air purity, manifolds/regulators, launch/recovery, gauges/timekeeping and pressure vessels for human occupancy.
  • Rehearse scenarios: breathing-media or communications loss, trapped or injured diver, umbilical damage, fire, equipment failure and adverse conditions.
  • Finish by practicing incident reporting and log verification.

Why this order? Domain 1 gives you the vocabulary of the supervisor's duties, and everything downstream references it. Emergency procedures come last because they only make sense once you understand the normal operation and equipment they interrupt. If your target window is shorter than eight weeks, compress each block rather than skipping the emergency material, since a supervisor's judgment under failure conditions is central to the role.

Key Takeaway

Anchor each week to a published section of the standards, not to a generic checklist. Section 3.6 first, section 4.4 second, then sections 5, 6 and 7. For a fuller preparation plan, see our Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.

Use practice questions to test your readiness, not to set your date

Rather than picking a date and hoping, use timed practice questions to decide when you are genuinely ready. Our Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor practice tests are built around the same five domains so you can see which area is dragging. If you consistently stumble on Domain 4 equipment details or Domain 5 emergency sequencing, push your attempt back rather than pushing through. The cost of an early, unprepared attempt is higher than the cost of a few extra weeks.

Fee Mechanics to Settle Before You Book

The issuer's certification page lists $275 for the supervisor card category. A careful reading matters here: that figure is tied to the card category on the issuer page, and we are not presenting it as an independently verified exam-only fee. Whether any additional charges apply to your specific situation is something to confirm with ADCI when you begin the process.

Build your budget around three buckets so nothing surprises you late:

  • Issuer fees: the card category amount listed by ADCI, plus anything ADCI confirms in writing.
  • Prerequisite upkeep: CPR/first aid renewals and medical fitness evaluations required before hyperbaric exposure.
  • Preparation materials: your copy of the Consensus Standards (available through the issuer homepage) and any practice resources.

For a broader look at what the credential costs across these buckets, read Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. If you are weighing whether the spend is justified, Is the Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 frames the decision.

Timing the Exam Around Employer Vetting and Offshore Rotations

The standards require that you be vetted by your employer and given a written assignment before acting as a mixed-gas supervisor. In practice, that means the calendar that matters most is often your employer's, not the issuer's. Companies that hire mixed-gas supervisors, such as commercial diving contractors, offshore construction and inspection firms, and operators who run surface-supplied HeO2 spreads, have their own project schedules and staffing needs.

A few practical timing points:

  • Raise it early. Tell your supervisor or operations manager when you expect to meet the 350-day, 150-dive and 30-day assistant thresholds, so they can plan assistant-supervisor rotations.
  • Avoid exam dates stacked against a mobilization. Studying while offshore on a demanding rotation is hard. If you can, plan your serious study block for a stretch onshore.
  • Line up the written assignment with the card. A newly issued card does not help your schedule if your employer's assignment paperwork lags behind.

To understand the market you are preparing to enter, Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Jobs covers who hires, and Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis discusses earnings in qualitative terms.

Planning for a Miss: Retake and Card Timing

Responsible scheduling includes a contingency. Because a passing score, question count, time limit and pass rate are not established in the available published information, we cannot tell you how a failed attempt would be scored or how quickly you could try again. Ask ADCI directly about retake policy before you commit to a high-stakes date, particularly if a promotion or job start depends on the result.

What you can do is protect yourself structurally. Do not tie a hard financial or contractual commitment to the exact day of your first attempt. Build a buffer between your planned exam and any employer start date, and keep your prerequisite documents (medical fitness, CPR/first aid) valid across that buffer. For context on how candidates generally experience the difficulty, see How Hard Is the Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026, and for what we can and cannot say about scoring, Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass and Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.

Do not substitute another body's exam: This credential is tied to the ADCI HeO2/mixed-gas supervisor examination. Dates, procedures and fees from other diving authorities such as ADC-UK or IMCA do not apply here, and mixing them into your planning will send you in the wrong direction.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are there fixed Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor exam dates in 2026?

No fixed calendar of testing windows is established in the available published information. The issuer's certification page lists an online exam as required, so confirm the current scheduling process directly with ADCI rather than relying on third-party date lists.

How much does the supervisor card cost?

The issuer's certification page currently lists $275 for the supervisor card category. This should not be read as an independently verified exam-only fee, so confirm any additional charges with ADCI before you budget.

What experience do I need before I can sit the exam?

The standards call for at least 350 field days as an air or mixed-gas diver, 150 working dives, and 30 working days as assistant mixed-gas supervisor. You also need prior air-diving supervisor qualification, employer vetting and written assignment, medical fitness before hyperbaric exposure, and valid CPR/first aid.

Which edition of the standards should I study from?

The issuer homepage currently links ADCI International Consensus Standards edition 6.5, with a PDF revision filename dated July 27, 2025. Prepare from that edition, focusing on section 3.6, section 4.4 and sections 5, 6 and 7.

How long is the exam and what is the passing score?

The question count, time limit, passing score and an official exam-weight table are not established in the available published information. Ask ADCI for current details, and treat any specific numbers from unofficial sources as unverified.

For a quick pre-exam refresher once your date is set, keep Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts handy, and consider the credential overview at Mixed Gas Diving Supervisor Certification as a starting reference for the full path.

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