How to ace the ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment (CKA) - it's easier than you think

This article is written for coaches who need to take the ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment.

Here's what I did to prepare for the ICF Coach Knowledge Assessment

1. Read through the ICF core competencies rating levels twice and highlighted key terms - this was the most informative bit and something I should do on a more regular basis!
2. Read through the ICF core competency descriptors
3. Read through the ICF code of ethics

I thought I should be doing more to prepare but I couldn't think of much else (beside re-reading my original coaching notes from my first coaching qualification 9 years ago which seemed a bit excessive given what else I had read online about the test).

I did feel a bit nervous before I started. (Call anything a test and you trigger some kind of performance anxiety in me!) Some of those nerves were also driven by the thought I should have done more to prepare. Now having completed the test, I wish I'd got on it with it sooner and not procrastinated for a month!

The test itself

It's made up of 155 questions. You have 3 hours to complete it and you have to do it in one sitting. That in itself also added to my nerves. THREE HOURS?!! The last time I took a three hour 'test' was my university finals.

It turns out it took me less than an hour to complete. I flagged 15 questions for review but I was pretty confident on all my other answers. Given than I only needed 70% to pass and there was no individual feedback by question, I decided not to waste my time reviewing the 15 flagged questions at the end. It was unlikely to have made any difference to an overall pass/fail and I have better things to be doing with my Saturday afternoon!

You can go back and forth on questions (use the previous and next buttons, not the back button on your browser). I didn't need to do this.

The instructions say that you will only be able to work in the browser screen and won't be able to access anything else on your desktop so it's worth having a print-out of the ICF documents to hand. That said, I think I only referred to them once and still was unsure of my answer to that question. So as long as you've read them and got the essence of coaching in your bones, you should be fine.

On that point, in all honesty, if you've completed an accredited coach training (with all the supervision and feedback you will have received as part of that), you should have all the knowledge you need to complete this test - even without re-reading the ICF competencies - though it's always good to have a refresher.

I did the CKA as part of my PCC credentialing process so if you're doing the same, trust the 500 hours+ of coaching you've done and don't let self-doubt get the better of you.

Other helpful resources

I found these articles helpful to read before I started which is why I wanted to pay it forward and share my own experience here. Hopefully you can now add my article to the list, too!

Beth Buelow did the CKA as part of her PCC credential. I found this article a good read and would encourage you, as Beth does, to trust your experience as a coach and the training you've already undertaken. There are bound to be some questions you don't know for sure but remember you only need to get 109 right out of 155.

Michael Cheuk took the CKA as part of his ACC credential. He did way more preparation than me (and this kind of worried me) but it's a good article and if you're less confident as a coach you might appreciate his tips for prepping.

Carina Huggins did the CKA as part of her ACC credential. Like Michael, Carina's preparation seemed like overkill to me and wouldn't be my recommended approach but if you're more of a visual learner her mind maps look fab.

After successful completion

You get your results immediately. So if you passed, make sure you take the time to celebrate. I'm off to do exactly that!!!

Good luck!