New ICF Credentialing Exam Policy for Returning Candidates

December 2023 — The ICF Credentials and Standards Board has approved a policy to waive the ICF Credentialing Exam requirement for returning candidates. This new policy, designed to improve the candidate experience across credential levels, applies to credentialing candidates who apply for a credential upgrade within one year of passing the exam. Specifically, candidates who successfully pass the ICF Credentialing Exam for an initial credential and who apply for a higher-level credential within 12 months of earning the passing score, will not be required to re-sit the ICF Credentialing Exam. This policy change is effective immediately for ACC candidates upgrading to PCC and PCC upgrading to MCC.

Note: This board decision pre-dates the existence of the ACC exam that launched in November 2024 and now only applies to PCC applicants upgrading to the MCC.