- What You Are Actually Preparing For
- The Four Exam Domains and What Lives Inside Them
- Where JSON, Cookies, and Local Storage Fit
- Vouchers, Retakes, and Exam-Day Rules
- Studying for an Exam With No Reference Sheet
- A Four-Week Plan Built Around the Domains
- Official and Practice Resources Worth Using
- Results, Certificates, and What Comes Next
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The exam is 45 multiple-choice questions in 90 minutes, and you need 60% to pass.
- Four official topic groups define scope: JavaScript in HTML, jQuery, Storing and Collecting Data, and Building and Maintaining a Website.
- No reference sheet is provided; CodeHS suggests bringing paper, a pencil, and a calculator.
- Each voucher covers one attempt, so a retake means another purchased voucher.
What You Are Actually Preparing For
The Web Development Level 1 Certification is issued and delivered by CodeHS. It is a single online exam of 45 multiple-choice questions with a 90-minute time limit and a 60% passing score. That works out to roughly two minutes per question, which is generous for recall items but tighter for questions that ask you to trace a few lines of JavaScript or jQuery by hand.
If you are still orienting yourself, start with What Is CHS-WDEV1 Certification? for the big picture. This guide assumes you already know you want to sit the exam and need a plan to pass it the first time.
No gatekeeping requirements
There are no certification prerequisites. CodeHS recommends completing a Web Development or Web Design and Development course as preparation, but that is advice, not an eligibility rule. Prior HTML, CSS, or JavaScript experience helps you learn faster, yet nobody checks your transcript before you test. The full eligibility picture is in CHS-WDEV1 Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
The Four Exam Domains and What Lives Inside Them
CodeHS publishes four top-level topic headings in its exam overview. These are official topic groups, not a percentage-weighted blueprint, so you should not assume the four are equal in question count. Plan to be competent in all of them rather than gambling on one. The overview also explicitly retains jQuery, callbacks and synchronization, APIs, forms, user-data analysis, hosting, and CMS use, which is a useful reminder that this exam goes well beyond basic page markup. For a deeper breakdown, read CHS-WDEV1 Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.
Domain 1: JavaScript in HTML
This is the foundation. Expect questions that mix markup and script, asking what a page will do when a handler fires or a script runs.
- How JavaScript is attached to a page and how it reads or changes elements
- Event handling: what triggers a function and what the function changes
- Callbacks and synchronization: the order in which code actually executes when some of it runs later
- Reading short code snippets and predicting the result without running them
Domain 2: jQuery
jQuery is explicitly in scope, so do not skip it because modern frameworks have displaced it in industry. The exam tests what the library does, not whether it is fashionable.
- Selecting elements and understanding what a selector returns
- Changing content, styles, and attributes through jQuery methods
- Attaching event handlers the jQuery way
- Recognizing equivalent plain-JavaScript and jQuery approaches to the same task
Domain 3: Storing and Collecting Data
This group covers how a site gathers input and what happens to it afterward.
- Forms: inputs, submission, and reading what a user entered
- APIs: requesting data from a service and handling the response, which ties directly back to callbacks and synchronization
- User-data analysis: interpreting collected information
- Persisting information between visits or page loads
Domain 4: How to Build and Maintain a Website
The most practical, least code-heavy group. It rewards candidates who have actually shipped something.
- Hosting: what it means to publish a site so others can reach it
- Using a content management system (CMS) rather than hand-coding every page
- Ongoing maintenance of a live site
- Putting the earlier skills together into a complete, working website
Where JSON, Cookies, and Local Storage Fit
JSON, cookies, and local storage appear in the CodeHS Web Development course outline, and they are natural companions to the Storing and Collecting Data domain. However, they are verified preparation-curriculum topics, not separately listed exam objectives or additional domains. That distinction matters for how you spend your hours.
The same caution applies to the practice course catalog. A Level 1 Certification Practice course exists on CodeHS, and it is a legitimate way to rehearse, but a practice listing is not a statement of what is tested or how heavily.
Vouchers, Retakes, and Exam-Day Rules
CodeHS certifications are typically purchased through schools and districts using vouchers. Pricing is by direct quote from CodeHS, and no public numeric fee was verified, so any specific dollar figure you see elsewhere should be treated as unconfirmed. The details are in CHS-WDEV1 Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
| Topic | What the policy says |
|---|---|
| Attempts per voucher | One attempt per purchased voucher |
| Retakes | No numerical limit, but each additional attempt needs another voucher |
| Voucher expiry | Unused school or district vouchers expire at the end of the contract term and do not roll over between school years |
| Where you test | At home or at school, monitored by a teacher or authorized proctor via the CodeHS Certifications app and Proctor Dashboard |
| Sitting rules | Must be completed in one sitting, with an Honor Code, randomly selected questions, and Focus Mode |
| Accommodations | Extended-time and read-aloud are supported; other requests require platform review |
What Focus Mode does and does not do
Focus Mode blocks navigation to other CodeHS pages during the exam. It is not described as a system-wide browser lockdown, so do not assume the platform polices everything you do. The rules still prohibit external websites, collaboration, copying or sharing exam questions, and running code in another website or program. Treat the Honor Code as binding regardless of what the software can technically detect.
Studying for an Exam With No Reference Sheet
Some CodeHS exams provide a reference sheet. Web Development does not. That is an explicit exception for this exam, so you cannot count on looking up method names or syntax mid-test. CodeHS suggests having paper, a pencil, and a calculator on hand.
This changes how you should prepare. You need to recognize common jQuery method names, event names, and form-handling patterns from memory, because there is nothing to consult. A one-page review of the must-know items, like the one in the CHS-WDEV1 Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts, is a good scaffold, but write your own version too. The act of recalling and writing syntax is what builds the memory you will need in the exam.
Use the paper for code tracing
The scratch paper is most valuable for snippet questions. When a question shows a handler, a callback, or a few jQuery calls, write out the state of the page after each line. Callbacks and synchronization questions in particular reward this: sketch which statements run immediately and which wait, then pick the answer that matches your trace instead of your gut.
A Four-Week Plan Built Around the Domains
If you are working alongside a class, adjust the pace, but the sequencing logic holds: build up from the language, then the library, then data, then the whole-site view. Your instructor may compress this, and the course material you are already working through still counts toward the same topics.
JavaScript in HTML
- Rebuild small pages that respond to clicks and input
- Trace code snippets by hand until predicting output feels routine
- Pay special attention to callbacks and the order of execution
jQuery
- Redo your Week 1 pages using jQuery selectors and handlers
- Memorize the common methods, since no reference sheet is provided
- Compare each jQuery approach with its plain-JavaScript equivalent
Storing and Collecting Data
- Build a form and read its values on submission
- Practice an API request and handle the asynchronous response
- Review JSON, cookies, and local storage as supporting concepts
Building and Maintaining a Website, then full review
- Review hosting and CMS concepts in plain language
- Take timed practice runs of 45 questions in 90 minutes
- Revisit whichever domain your practice results show as weakest
The reason Domain 4 comes last is that it is the most conceptual and the easiest to absorb once the earlier material is solid. The reason Domain 1 comes first is that callbacks and synchronization underpin your understanding of APIs in Domain 3. If you reverse the order, the API material will feel arbitrary.
Key Takeaway
Do a timed full-length rehearsal at least once. Forty-five questions in 90 minutes is manageable, but only if you have practiced pacing yourself on code-tracing items without a reference sheet. Use our practice tests to simulate the format before you use a real voucher.
Official and Practice Resources Worth Using
Lean on CodeHS's own material first, since it is the closest match to what the exam draws from:
- The Web Development course overview and outline on CodeHS, which lay out the full curriculum, including the JSON, cookies, and local storage lessons.
- The Level 1 Certification Practice course in the CodeHS certification practice catalog, for rehearsing in the platform's own style.
- The official exam overview, which is the authoritative list of the four topic headings and the topics retained within them.
A note of caution: the certification guide and sample questions linked from the overview could not be re-retrieved when this guide was reviewed, so confirm with your teacher that you are working from current materials. Supplement official resources with independent drills from our practice test site, and read How Hard Is the CHS-WDEV1 Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 to calibrate your expectations about difficulty.
Results, Certificates, and What Comes Next
Results are released within 36 hours on school days. You receive an overall score plus a topic-level performance report, which is genuinely useful if you need to retake: it points at the domains that dragged your score down. Successful candidates receive a downloadable certificate, and earned certificates expire after 10 years.
No official scored versus unscored item split was verified, so do not try to game the exam by guessing which questions count. Answer all 45 with equal care.
Whether the credential is worth adding to your profile depends on your goals. For an honest look at the career side, see Is the CHS-WDEV1 Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026, and for the practical side of putting it to work, CHS-WDEV1 Jobs.
Frequently Asked Questions
The exam has 45 multiple-choice questions and a 90-minute time limit. You must finish it in one sitting, and you need a 60% score to pass.
No. Web Development is an explicit exception with no reference sheet. CodeHS suggests paper, a pencil, and a calculator instead, so memorize the syntax and methods you expect to see.
Yes, there is no numerical limit on retakes. However, each voucher permits only one attempt, so every additional try requires another purchased voucher from your school or district.
No. A Web Development or Web Design and Development course is recommended preparation, but it is not an eligibility requirement. There are no certification prerequisites.
Results are released within 36 hours on school days. You get an overall score and a topic-level performance report, and a downloadable certificate if you pass.