Preparing for the ICF Credentialing Exam: Tips + Resources

Are you (or someone you know) a coach preparing to take the International Coaching Federation (ICF) credentialing exam?

You’ve completed your requisite training and education hours and met the minimum number of coaching hours required to apply for your ICF credential.? NOW you just need to pass the credentialing exam.?

This article is written to help you in your exam preparation journey.

This month I took and passed the ICF credentialing exam ?? - a major milestone for me as I grow my coaching practice. You can imagine the relief I felt when the testing center proctor passed me my results - my eyes quickly scanning the paper back and forth -? when finally landing on that magical word... “PASSED”.

“Omg, I passed!” I exclaim in relief.?

The testing center admin replies, “I hear that shock from A LOT of folks who come in to take that test - it must be a hard one.”?

For me it was. The ICF credentialing exam is just as rigorous, nuanced, and tricky as I’ve heard some people say. My reaction to seeing “PASSED” was pure astonishment because during the 3 hours of the exam, I felt pretty certain that I did NOT pass. By the time I was walking out of the testing room I was already coming to terms with that and mentally preparing to take the test again.??

Full disclosure, I passed by only 10 points. Yep.?

And I share that only to underscore the importance of taking the exam prep seriously, which I did, and even still, found it slightly head spinning.?

All that said...

This exam is not an evaluation of your skills as a coach, but rather, your understanding and integration of ICF’s very thoughtfully designed coaching core competencies and ethical standards. It merits a dedicated studying strategy and YOU deserve whatever is needed to set you up for most success.?

So let’s get started…

Below are a few learnings and resources I want to pass forward in gratitude for the tips I received from others along the way. When I first started my exam preparations I had to dig around a bit to figure out my best study approach; one resource led me to another and as a result, my study approach was an iterative one. My hope is that what I share below will aid you and others to expend more of that precious study time on the study content itself.??

Context

Test Format: The ICF credentialing exam consists of 81 scenario-based questions. The exam is timed and broken out into two parts with a five minute break in between. You get three hours for the entire exam, with each section getting 85-87 minutes. This means you need to budget a little over 2 minutes per question.?[READ: the time moves fast]?

You must complete the first 41 questions within the first testing section and will not be able to go back to those questions once that section's time has completed. I personally found the timing to get very tight towards the end of each section. Time management for each question is very important which can be challenging when wanting to take time to reflect on the more nuanced questions.?

• Tip: answer each question even if you have to go with your best guess in order to move to the next question. You can flag questions you’re unsure about to go return to later should there be time.?

Scenario-based questions: Each question depicts a typical scenario a coach may encounter in their work with clients and client sponsors. For each scenario, you’re asked to select the BEST and WORST possible action that a coach can take (based on ICF’s coaching competencies and code of ethics). Each response set includes four possible actions, some of which are very similar, albeit slightly nuanced. The challenge is distinguishing between the first and second best/worst options. I found the differences across options to be very subtle and nuanced for many of the scenarios. For this reason I believe that studying and integrating the information over time (vs. crash course approach) can really set you up for success.

Testing Center v. Testing at Home: You have the choice to take the proctored exam at a Pearson VUE Testing Center or remotely from your computer (with a live test proctor who connects remotely to monitor your testing experience). If you live within a reasonable distance to a testing center I highly recommend taking the test at a testing center. While many coaches elect the remote testing route and have no issues (although I’ve heard of some who did), I found testing in a test center less stressful because I didn’t have to worry about internet or power failures or other distractions that could impact my testing experience (some of which could require you to stop and reschedule your exam for another date). I personally had a great experience testing at a Pearson VUE Testing Center.??

Tips

Give yourself at least eight weeks to prepare little by little over time. This can help you internalize the information and avoid the stress of cramming a lot of information in at the 11th hour. The test is VERY nuanced and thus, giving your brain and body time to internalize and integrate ICF’s competencies, values and ethical standards will help you confidently reflect on the scenarios you’re asked to respond to in the timed exam.?

Maximize ICF’s eight sample questions. The ICF provides eight sample questions/response sets to aid in your test preparation. There are lots of YouTube videos out there that review these and dissect the reasoning behind the best and worst answers (I provide Lyssa deHart’s video link in the resource list below). Before you watch these, here’s an approach I suggest:?

1. Answer the ICF sample questions on your own. This will give you a feel for the format and give you a chance to see how you do unaided. What feels easy? Where were you unsure? When looking at responses you got wrong, where are you confused? This can help you set a baseline to carry forth into your studying because you’ll find yourself going back to the questions as you further immerse in the competencies and code of ethics.?
2. Study the ICF core competencies, values and code of ethics. Review these and integrate them in whatever way you learn best. I printed the pdfs (links below) to review a few times, created a few flash cards, and then watched the ICF YouTube video series on the core competencies and code of ethics (links below); these videos helped bring the competencies and ethics standards to life (some videos more than others but I found them all helpful).?
3. Watch YouTube videos that review the ICF sample questions. The objective of these videos is to dissect each scenario and response option. They offer useful insights around why one option was the “best” or “worst” answer over another.??

Buddy-up with a fellow coach. It can help to buddy-up with a fellow coach (or coaches) preparing for the exam to review and dissect the sample questions together since each coach brings valuable perspectives to the table. In the absence of a buddy, I suggest watching a couple different ICF sample question review videos on YouTube to hear perspectives from different coaches.?

Use flashcards. Consider using flashcards to help you learn and internalize the ICF core competencies, values and code of ethics, not to mention any mnemonic devices you find helpful. Using flashcards helped me integrate them for easy recall during the test. Hot tip: Lyssa deHart provides a couple mnemonic devices (i.e., acronyms) to help remember key attributes of a ‘best’ and ‘worst’ answer.??

Maximize your rest and presence for the day of exam. Get a good night’s sleep the day before the exam and schedule the timing of your test to align with when you feel your sharpest during the day. I recommend taking the hour before the exam to do some centering exercises to aid you in maintaining presence and calm throughout the exam. That helped me go into the exam experience with a settled nervous system. During the actual test, I made an intentional effort to take deep breaths when I felt anxiety coming on. This helped me maintain as much presence as I could with each scenario and response set.?

Resource List

The resources below are by no means exhaustive, but will provide you with a solid foundation from which to determine what else may be most helpful for you. There's a lot of resources out there but these can help anchor you as a start.

Resources from other coaches

• How to Pass the ICF Credentialing Exam: This video is a live panel interview with coaches who have taken the ICF exam (hosted by Lisa Ideus, Hawthorne Union).?

• Lyssa deHart’s exam support offering page: Lyssa deHart has free and paid offerings that can further support your test prep. While I ultimately did not use any of her paid offerings, in hindsight I do think the additional practice tests in her paid offering could have been useful to gaining more experience and confidence with navigating the selection of best and worst answers. If I had not passed on my first attempt, I would have invested in this prior to my second exam attempt. There are other such resources out there from different coaches as well. Note: I have zero affiliation with Lyssa deHart, I just found her free resources very helpful so I imagine her paid products would be of high quality.

• Lyssa deHart’s ICF sample question review on YouTube : I found this to be a helpful review of ICF’s sample questions (after I had already practiced answering them on my own).?I printed out ICF's sample questions and took notes on each response option as I listened to her video. I went back to these notes a lot when doing my final pre-exam review.

Resources from the International Coaching Federation (ICF)?

Exam procedure overview: ICF's overview on testing logistics

ICF SAMPLE TEST QUESTIONS: I suggest printing out the sample questions and response options. I used a printout to take notes when listening to Lyssa deHart's sample question review video (linked above).

ICF YouTube channel:? I suggest watching all the videos in the ICF Core Competency and Code of Ethics playlists. They really helped me understand the nuances of each competency and ethical standard.??

TIP: I suggest printing out the PDF versions of the core competencies and code of ethics to reference and take notes on as you listen to the ICF coach leaders explain the nuances of each in the YouTube videos.?

?? ICF Code of Ethics / PDF download?

• ICF Code of Ethics YouTube playlist
• Insights + Considerations: these help bring each ethical standard to life and are a nice complement to the ICF Code of Ethics YouTube playlist.?

?? ICF Competency Model / PDF download??

• ICF Core Competency YouTube playlist?
• ICF PCC Markers / PDF download?: these are expressions of the core competencies; each marker is a behavior that represents demonstration of the core competency at the PCC level. Studying these can help you better identify a “best” coaching action to take in the exam scenarios.?

?? ICF Core Values / PDF download

In closing...

According to the ICF, as of 2023 the credentialing exam has a first attempt pass rate of 75%. Even the best, most seasoned coaches form part of the 25% of talented coaches who do not pass on their first attempt (which has no bearing on one's art and skill as a coach!).?It is a challenging, very nuanced exam that aims to prepare professional coaches to work in alignment and integrity with ICF’s ethical standards, values and core competencies. I highly value the rigor of ICF’s exam and overall credentialing process, and believe it helps us all do our best work in service of our clients' success and wellbeing. I learned a lot from my exam prep experience and believe it’s helped me become a better coach.?

Happy to answer any questions so don’t hesitate to post them in the comments or reach out directly.???

GOOD LUCK! ??