- The Short Answer: What a CSWP Actually Is
- Academic Version vs. Commercial CSWP
- Inside the Exam: Three Segments, 200 Minutes
- What Each Segment Tests
- Passing Rules and Retakes
- Access, Eligibility and Cost
- Exam-Day Mechanics
- What the Credential Signals to Employers
- A Segment-Ordered Prep Sequence
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CSWP Academic is SOLIDWORKS' Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional in Mechanical Design, Academic Version, taken through a school.
- The exam is hands-on CAD work across three segments totaling 200 minutes, and you must pass all three.
- CSWA-Academic held for at least 30 days is required before attempting the academic CSWP.
- Eligible students whose school has an active Academic Certification Provider subscription pay US$0.
The Short Answer: What a CSWP Actually Is
On this site, a CSWP is the Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional - Academic, issued by SOLIDWORKS, part of Dassault Systemes. The issuer's own page for the credential calls it Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional in Mechanical Design, Academic Version. It is a performance-based credential: instead of answering questions about CAD from memory, you open SOLIDWORKS and build things.
That distinction matters because "CSWP" is a short acronym that other fields use for unrelated credentials. If you landed here from a search for a different certification, nothing on this page applies to it. Everything below concerns the SOLIDWORKS mechanical design credential for students, delivered through educational institutions.
If you want a quick vocabulary primer before going deeper, our companion pages on what CSWP stands for and the meaning of CSWP cover the naming, while this article focuses on what the credential is, what it demands, and who it serves.
Academic Version vs. Commercial CSWP
SOLIDWORKS offers a commercial Professional track and an academic one. This article deals with the academic version only. The two are related in subject matter, but they differ in how you access them, what you pay and who administers them.
| Aspect | CSWP Academic |
|---|---|
| Issuer | SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systemes) |
| Official name | Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional in Mechanical Design, Academic Version |
| Where it is taken | Through a qualified educational institution, in a proctored environment |
| Fee | US$0 for eligible students at an Academic Certification Provider school with an active subscription |
| Prerequisite | CSWA-Academic held for at least 30 days (per the dedicated academic instructions) |
| Testing platform | SOLIDWORKS through Tangix/VirtualTester |
For the full eligibility picture, see our breakdown of CSWP requirements and how to qualify.
Inside the Exam: Three Segments, 200 Minutes
The academic CSWP is built from three segments. Total working time is 200 minutes, split as follows:
| Segment | Time | Required Score |
|---|---|---|
| Segment 1 | 70 minutes | 75 of 105 points |
| Segment 2 | 50 minutes | 77 of 104 points |
| Segment 3 | 80 minutes | 77 of 109 points |
All three segments must be passed to earn the credential. Your instructor chooses whether the exam is taken as separate segments or as one combined exam. The format is hands-on CAD modeling, with answers entered as multiple-choice and numeric responses. In other words, you build the model in SOLIDWORKS, then report measured values such as mass or a dimension back into the testing client.
Technical items and scored instructions
The issuer's 2025 academic lessons for the three segments document 11, 12 and 14 displayed items respectively. Each segment includes one five-point instruction item, so those displayed items break down into technical questions plus scored instructions. That count describes the documented separate-segment workflow; it should not be read as a guaranteed item count for the combined exam or for every future delivery. The practical lesson is to treat reading instructions as part of the scoring, not as a formality.
What Each Segment Tests
The three segments are the issuer's actual exam divisions. They are not weighted by published percentages, so there is no official "this domain is worth X%" figure to plan around. For a deeper walk-through, see our guide to all three CSWP content areas.
Segment 1: Parts, Equations and Design Intent
This segment is about building parts accurately from drawings and keeping them flexible when numbers change.
- Creating parts from drawings
- Linked dimensions and equations
- Parameter and geometry changes
- Mass properties
- Maintaining design intent through edits
Segment 2: Configurations and Feature Changes
Here the emphasis shifts to variants of one model and to editing an existing model without breaking it.
- Configurations and design tables
- Mass properties across configurations
- Changing or rearranging features
Segment 3: Assemblies
The longest segment, at 80 minutes, covers building and verifying assemblies.
- Inserting and replacing parts
- Basic and advanced mates
- Rigid and flexible subassemblies
- Collision and interference detection
- Coordinate systems
- Mass properties of the assembly
Mass properties appear in all three segments, which makes sense of why experienced candidates call them the quiet thread of the exam. A part that looks right but reports the wrong mass usually has a wrong dimension, a wrong material density or a feature that was built off the wrong reference. Learning to diagnose a mass mismatch, rather than simply rebuilding from scratch, is one of the most valuable habits you can develop.
Passing Rules and Retakes
The segment-specific thresholds in the table above are the exact point requirements. The academic overview also mentions a 70% passing grade, but that is a summary; it does not replace the segment-specific point thresholds, and a blanket 75% is not supported. Our page on the CSWP passing score goes deeper on how to read these numbers.
Published population pass rates were not verified for this credential, so be skeptical of any site quoting a precise pass percentage. We cover the evidence gap on our CSWP pass rate page, and the broader question of difficulty in how hard the CSWP exam is.
Access, Eligibility and Cost
The CSWP Academic is not a walk-up retail exam. It runs through schools. The fee is US$0 only for eligible students whose institution is an Academic Certification Provider with an active subscription and that meets regional license requirements. That is school-sponsored eligibility, not an unconditional free exam.
- Mandatory: CSWA-Academic certification held for at least 30 days.
- Mandatory: Access through a qualified educational institution, proctored.
- Mandatory: SOLIDWORKS 2015 or later, working on your machine, plus Internet access.
- Recommended, not required: 1-2 years of experience, roughly 100 classroom hours and a review of tutorials.
Keep the line between required and recommended clear: the classroom hours and tutorial review are suggested preparation, not a checked requirement. See our CSWP cost breakdown for how fees can differ when a school is not a sponsoring provider, and our exam dates page for scheduling considerations.
Exam-Day Mechanics
Current delivery instructions use the VirtualTester Web Client, taking precedence over older guides that describe legacy TesterPRO installation and crash language. If you are working from an older study PDF, check the current browser-client instructions before test day.
- The timer cannot be paused. Time spent troubleshooting counts against you, so verify your software and connection beforehand.
- Proctored environment. Your instructor or school administers the session.
- Numeric answers. Many items ask for a measured value from your model, so unit settings and decimal precision matter.
Key Takeaway
Confirm your software version, Internet connection and browser-client setup before the session starts. Because the clock never stops, a setup problem discovered mid-exam costs scoring time you cannot recover.
What the Credential Signals to Employers
A CSWP demonstrates that you can build and edit parametric parts, manage configurations and assemble multi-part designs under time pressure. It signals practical SOLIDWORKS fluency beyond the entry level, which is the kind of skill that matters in design engineering, drafting and CAD technician roles. Per the issuer's 2020 Q&A, certifications held by students do not expire, so the credential stays on your record as you move into the workforce.
What we cannot responsibly claim is a specific pay premium for the academic credential. Salary evidence is better organized by job role than by certification, and no verified figure ties an academic CSWP to higher pay. For that discussion, read our CSWP salary guide, the related CSWP jobs overview, and our analysis of whether the certification is worth it.
A Segment-Ordered Prep Sequence
If you are building a plan, let the exam's own structure set the order. Segment 1 skills (equations, design intent, mass properties) are reused in Segments 2 and 3, so start there.
Segment 1 foundations
- Rebuild parts from drawings and check mass properties against known values
- Practice linked dimensions and equations, then change a parameter and watch what breaks
Segment 2 variants
- Create design tables and configurations, verifying mass in each
- Rearrange and edit features without losing references
Segment 3 assemblies
- Practice mates, flexible subassemblies and part replacement
- Run interference detection and check assembly mass properties
Timed full runs
- Attempt each segment inside its time limit: 70, 50 and 80 minutes
- Review misses by cause: misread instruction, wrong reference or unit error
For a fuller plan, use our CSWP study guide and the one-page cheat sheet, and drill with the questions on our main practice test site. If you want structured coursework alongside practice, see our overview of CSWP training options.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is the Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional credential from SOLIDWORKS (Dassault Systemes). The academic version, Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional in Mechanical Design, Academic Version, is a hands-on exam taken through a school that tests parts, configurations and assemblies.
Yes. The dedicated academic instructions require CSWA-Academic certification held for at least 30 days. Check with your school's administrator, since other SOLIDWORKS pages word the prerequisite differently.
It is US$0 for eligible students whose school is an Academic Certification Provider with an active subscription and meets regional license requirements. It is school-sponsored, not free for everyone.
Total working time is 200 minutes across three segments of 70, 50 and 80 minutes. All three segments must be passed, each against its own point threshold.
According to the issuer's 2020 Certification Program Q&A, customer and student certifications do not expire.
Retakes require at least 14 days and another exam credit, arranged through your school or purchase route. Passed separate segments are retained, but failing the combined exam means retaking the whole combined exam.