Passing the PCC & MCC Exams

What does it really take to pass the ICF credential exams?

Recently, our very own Paula Jones-Hunt successfully passed her PCC exam, and late last year Brigitte Calvert achieved her MCC credential. Fresh from the combined experience of preparation, pressure, and ultimately the relief and satisfaction of passing, they are taking time out to share their reflections.

This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from coaches who have just been through the process—with insights that are current, practical, and grounded in real experience.

Whether you are actively preparing for your ACC, PCC, or MCC, or simply thinking about your next step in your coaching journey, this session will help you better understand what’s required and how to approach it.

Join Paula and Brigitte as they unpack their experience and answer your questions.

You’ll walk away with:

✔️ Insights into what it takes to successfully pass the ICF credential exams ✔️ Practical tips for preparing for the PCC and MCC assessments ✔️ What to expect on the day—and how to manage the pressure ✔️ Key reflections on why the effort to credential is so important

This podcast was recorded on the 27th of March 2026. 

Transcripts can be found here: 

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Transcript

0:00

[Music] Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening from wherever you're dialing in from today or listening into on your favourite streaming services. My name is Paula Jones Hunt and I'm joined today by the lovely Bridget Kelvitt, hello Paula. And we are going to take you through today the lessons that we've learnt in undertaking the PCC and the MCC exams. I did my exam only a couple of weeks ago and Bridget did hers in September of last year. So we're going to attempt to impart some knowledge that will help others who are heading into this journey. So as we begin I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the lands upon which we meet today and the continuing connection to the land, waters and communities of Australia and the lands from all around the world upon which you might be joining us. We pay our respects to them and their elders past, present and emerging and elders from indigenous communities around the world. So a quick highlight about what's on our agenda today. So we're going to look at understanding what ICF is really assessing. We're going to look at the practical strategies to succeed in the credential exam. What to expect on the day and I did the exam at home, I did it remotely and so I can I'll be talking about the remote part and Bridget went into a centre to sit the exam so you've got both perspectives today which is exciting. As always it is about creating a shared learning experience and if you have any questions please pop them in the chat and we will absolutely answer them and there's one there that I'll get to in just a minute. It's about thought provoking conversations and for those of you who are looking for your CCEs we will have them available for you at the end and we've had people dialing in from all over the world, we've got the US, we've got South Africa, we've got Kuala Lumpar which is amazing to have you all with us. So the question that's come up from Gale is is it true that there will be a new PCC MCC exam to be used from April onwards? I heard the new exam in April is easier as there is a combo of multiple choice and scenarios. I have not heard that there's a new exam coming through Bridget have you heard about that? No I haven't, I'm just trying to find the answer actually as we speak but I'll see how I go. Leave that one with me to have a look for. We'll have a look and see if we can find the answer. I so I'm not sure but we can help you pass the exam between now and April as we go along. I'm sure that they'll have scenarios in there anyway so it's worth having a look as we go through. But if you have any other questions let us know. Good I was just going to say it does look like there might be piloting a new exam but I can't work out when that's going to be so anyway we'll see we can find anything anything more than that. If anyone else has any further information let us know. All right so okay the pilot is on now with release from April. Well we'll need to we'll watch this space as we go along. All right so the idea of credentialing exam it's a tool designed to measure a coach's knowledge of an ability to apply the ICF definition of coaching, the updated ICF core competencies and the ICF code of ethics. And I popped on here and I have noticed that there is one spelling mistake but if you want to go on have a look at what the the ACC candidates for the credential exam and the PCC and MCC. You can head to the ICF website which is coachingfeteration.org and you'll find a lot of information on there for you. The key for me about this and Bridget please feel free to jump in whenever you need to is that it is really about knowing the ICF core competencies, the definition of coaching and the code of ethics is really what they're checking. In order to get to the exam stage you need to have undertaken your coach education, your mentor coaching and the and the coaching demonstration that gets assessed. That's all your practical skill and the doing part and this is about making sure that you understand it and can apply it when situations arise. Yep a great a great puller. So thinking about the different levels what's actually required ACC versus PCC and MCC. So under that ACC demonstrates foundational coaching skills. The focus is really on following the structure and asking questions asking questions and basic partnership. You're still learning the craft so it's all about that application and I don't know about you Bridget but when I did the ACC TED the exam which I did about a year ago so it's not that long ago either. What I found was in the actual questions is that it was very there were a number of them that it was really quite obvious what the what the answers were like the best case and the worst case. So when you think about that it's that foundational coaching skills it really did assess in that space and there was not all of them there was the more difficult ones in there but often I went that's that one is I'd get that that's that the answer there's no doubt about it. There's no questions. Absolutely no agreed at ACC level you're really looking at that foundational coaching skillset that basic partnering with your with your client and and following a structure where you're asking those open and curious questions and really embedding the basics around what coaching is. Yeah and then in the PCC it's about demonstrating consistent intentional coaching so it's that next step up from I'm just following the structure to I'm now and that focus being deeper listening and voting inside client live sessions less directing and more co-creating. So it's saying we we know what the structure is and we know how to use it but now we're going to really list up well not start because we were listening to our client before but it's making sure that it's led by the client and that that whole piece around awareness and what are they what what's it meaning for them and what are they taking from it it's that's that next step in that PCC space. That's right you can really hear the difference between the ACC level coach V the PCC level coach just in terms of I guess you have that you have that foundation you have that structure that's when we we do our certificate for program for example we're really looking at building that toolkit by practicing those coaching models and tools and techniques so that we know them we understand them and we know how to approach those coaching conversations when we get to that PCC level we're really familiar with those and we're able to modify and mix and match and and bring our toolkit to the surface more in a more fluid way because where yes we're still listening as you are as an ACC of course but essentially you're pulling from your toolkit and applying that to what's happening in the moment and it is more fluid and you're more co-creating with that with the with the coachee with the client then you might be at that ACC level and then as we head into the MCZ it's demonstrating effortless masterful presence the focus is coaching the who not just the what and the subtle powerful minimal intervention so I'm happy for you to talk about this one bridge so you're just simply building here upon your your PCC skill set and you're really learning to stay out of that space very well and it's really about facilitating the coachee or the clients thinking and it's almost stepping back and just been really open and curious as you would be at ACC and PCC level but essentially it's less is more almost it's it's it's almost less is more so we're staying out of that space where we're probably asking less than what we might at that ACC and PCC level but we're asking those powerful succinct single questions that really delve into the who of the human being more so than the action plan and the what so it's the being rather than the necessarily the doing yeah so we'll head into about the exam so that's more about the high level what the what those differences are moving through those different levels so if we think about the exam so with the PCC and the MCC it's that there's 180 minutes for the exam there is 78 situational judgment items and we'll talk about the questions and the style and and what's in there you get 39 minutes so there's 39 questions for the first 83 minutes there's an 10 minute break and then 39 questions and you get another 83 minutes and I hope that all worked out to be correct from that perspective so and I my understanding is that that is the same whether you sit the exam in person or you do the exam online that's right yes and the types of questions so they're similar to the ACC style of questioning where it is a scenario and then there are four options or or or or approaches that could be taken and you need to choose for each of those questions the best approach and the worst approach and I found that in the PCC exam that they were that they were closer so it wasn't as obvious in that that test around which was the best and which was the worst you it was really thinking it through and the key for me when I when I went through it was to really go back to and think to myself which is the core competency or the ethics or the coaching philosophy that they're testing here so what is it or what is it that's been breached or is about to be breached or is not in the right space that's where I looked at it I said what are they trying to assess at this point what do I know about that particular core competency what would good look like if I was if I was being in that space and what would it be if I was not being in that space yes I'm not sure I can add further to what you've said there Paul that's exactly correct and I felt exactly the same way some of the scenarios felt a little ambiguous or very very close and it was a matter of sitting there looking at it reading it rereading it wanting to digest those scenarios and really considering as you say going into those ICF core competencies code of ethics and you know who am I as the coach who who do I need to be and and how do I show up and and taking those things into account to be able to respond correctly or what they were looking for in that moment so yes it certainly wasn't an easy process by any stretch it wasn't obvious in terms of the the the scenarios and how to respond you really did need to think about them yes the good news is though is you actually have time to do that so when so one of the key messages here is there is actually time in the in the exam so it's not that I didn't feel like oh my goodness I'm never going to get to the end of these questions so it did give you that time to really think about it so for anyone going in to the to the exam there is time and and have a think about it and one of the other things you can do is flag questions when you're doing it online which for those questions where I was still umming and airing about an option I flagged it so I could come back to it and reread it and I managed to do that for both sections so there's there's a good amount of time in that you don't need to rush going through yeah that's right and and Paula did you have a little time up on the corner of your screen yes to keep track of time yeah yeah absolutely and yes and then you could see how much time you had left and um you could actually think how many of you were mathematically inclined you could work out how much time you've got per question and work it from there that's my brain doesn't work that way um but there is a time so you do know how it's going abutely yeah so from a question of how do I prepare and where can I find sample questions there's lots of places and I actually found it very useful so in that preparation space going back and rereading the core competencies and the the code of ethics and just making sure that you've got a clear idea in your mind there's lots of videos online from the ICF explaining the core competencies which I found useful to to watch again because it just really embedded for me the purpose behind them what they were trying to achieve from that perspective and if you google PCC and CC practice question I've put in the free practice questions you can purchase packages with questions I went with the free the free ones and I might I think I did one of them twice a week apart just to see what happened and I found them really useful in that in working through how I was going to approach the questions yeah pull up did exactly the same thing as you yeah yeah so and then you practice them and then I was like oh so that's what that so when you get the answer as well I find getting the answer if I didn't get it right what was the answer and and then going I understand why that one was worth sometimes two or three of them would I didn't like any of them and so then you're picking the one that it's not about whether you like it it's about which one is going which one would I be identified as the worst you're listening to the Open Door Coaching Coaching Cafe podcast and for more information on programs run by Open Door Coaching head to our website at opendoorcoaching.com.au now back to the podcast yes so we've had a question what are your tips in selecting a coach for credential videos submissions while coaches are able to demonstrate skills at the PCC and MCC not all coaches are able to engage at that level which may be helpful for exam submission what do you think Bridget I think it's I think it's helpful to coach someone who you've coached a few times before so it's not somebody that that's early on that perhaps you've you're unfamiliar with or they're unfamiliar with you or you've only coached them perhaps once or twice I would definitely work with someone for some time a little bit to be able to have them experience coaching in a way that calls for that deeper reflection and I think Gayle is agreeing with you on this one that your client needs to be familiar with coaching and I found you need an MCC level client to get a submission MCC recording for the mission exactly yeah for sure yep so so practice definitely with someone for some time so they really try on and they're familiar with and they know the expectations around that that coaching experience excellent so how do we book for the exam and how much time do you have to put aside it's that 180 minutes the booking all happens through the ICF website so where you where you submit for the ICF you it all happens in that space so if you're not sure go to the that your login page and it will all appear there including the link to booking for the exam now you can book in and go to a location and there's lots of locations around the world or you can do it online so I did mine online I did the ACC online as well and I thought I'd learnt a lot from the ACC and then I and then on and I see slight changes in the in the 12 months the one thing you need to know is when you do it on at home it is exam situations and there'll be a whole bunch of people doing exams and you're not related to them the testing of your equipment beforehand you can test it offline which I did but then when I went into the system because you have to log back into ICF to actually get the test to go through it then retested it again and then there were some other bits and pieces so when it says you've got 30 minutes that just the 30 minutes before you get ready I would suggest use every minute of those 30 minutes or even get on a little bit earlier because I found the technology part a little bit it was I think that was more stressful than the getting on because you've got to take photos of your desk and upload them and and a proctor will come on and have a look at your desk I had a second monitor because I was using my laptop but putting it on my screen but you can't do that you can only have one screen so the my I actually had to show them I was unplugging the other monitor so they couldn't see it and as you know I'm not technologically advanced and so I found that really quite stressful and at one point my internet dropped out just for fun but it all came back and it was okay and at one point they are a proctor said I was slouching too low because they have to be able to see your shoulders so I must have been slouching in my chair so they just things to think about when you're deciding with how you're going whether you go in or you do it from home but yet how did you go going into the centre? Yes look I that was a much better option for me because I had realised that technologically I'm extremely challenged at the best of times so I didn't want to put myself in a situation where I couldn't work at all that at home even though I can see there's some obviously some benefit to doing it from home in terms of time commitment and what have you so I travelled into the city centre to one of the city centres to do to do my exam and they do ask you to be there half an hour prior to so I made sure I gave myself plenty of time to find the location and sort of take that sort of stress away from myself because I hadn't been there before and work it out and yeah so you do they give you a lockup where you can put all your personal belongings in you have to obviously take ID with your name as your name is shown through the ICF so if you're an ICF member or what have you that your name in the way it's spelled is exactly the same as what it is on your identification so and they just make sure that they check your hands and what have you just to make sure you've got nothing you know not taking anything more in with you that then you should be and they take you into a room so it's a little bit like you know going for your licence when you go in there and you have the little booths and you sit in one of those booths and you'll find that there are other people and they're doing other things or other other types of exams not necessarily the same one as you but it's a nice quiet space that I felt really comfortable with they were very helpful and had exactly the same time frame and you know for that ten minute break would leave you know go use the bathroom come back you go through the same process that you did was showing your hands and all that sort of thing before you go in for the second the second round but yeah I for me I found that a lot more straight forward then having anything go wrong beyond that. So Sue asked about some share good resources for question practice because when she did the ACC a couple of years ago they were easier than the real exam I actually found the free ones for the PCC really good and some of them I realised so some of them I found that I could find the worst better and some I found I could find the best better and then that was just working it through so this one's a simple google for me but there are a couple of videos I quite liked where there were people walking you through the a type of question and choosing the answer and I found those videos really helpful because it really cemented what they're looking for in doing so but yeah I simply did a google search on that one and also someone else said yes test it before you got like the testing is all well and good beforehand but then it retests the whole thing and it was different for me when I went through it so if the testing perhaps going to stress you out then perhaps consider doing the in person one I thought I was going to be okay it looked in the end it was it was fine but I do think if it's going to stress you it's about thinking about that one someone also suggested going to the venue price so that you know where it is and you're familiar and I think that's a good choice too I thought it reduced stress going off site and it may well I continued on my merry little way but perhaps next time I would go in on and start because then you don't have to worry about any of those things I also want to just add here well while we're reading these questions around you know Sarah was suggesting that the ACC practice questions were easier than those in the actual exam and it can create a little bit of you know that stress how long is a piece of string or what questions are they going to ask because who knows what questions are they going to ask I think it's really important to be really really familiar with the ICF core competencies and the code of ethics because that's tried and tested and true and the more you understand them the more confident you will be going into respond to those questions that's probably my my biggest thing to offer would be to really spend time on that and yes you've got the free questions and googling and doing the YouTube videos and watching things and what have you but really drilling down into those I think is really key yeah I agree Bridget I think if when I think back on a applying what I know about the ethics and made it and the code of the code of the core competencies and the ethics and really thinking about the coaching philosophy and the coaching I found that that really helped the multiple choice was good for me getting back into practice of doing multiple choice and thinking about what approach am I going to take how am I going to do it what how do I how am I feeling about it that's right and if you are familiar with the core competencies and the ethics even though there might be some ambiguity when you're reading some of these scenarios it's that understanding the code of ethics and the and the core competencies that will give you that edge around actually I think it's that one because which is really helpful and if you finish early or at a moment we've got a couple of extra tips on the next line so if you finish early you can go back and have a look you can also finish so if you are one of those really confident people who go I've done it unhappy you don't have to sit there for the whole time you can actually finish it at the time that you are at so it just depends on how you would work best in in that exam so in regards to that managing the pressure the questions can feel ambiguous and often I was like I don't think are any of these are the approach but it's not about what approach are you taking it's in this scenario and if these are the approaches what is the best and what is the worst and two answers can seem kind of right and it really is and I know who said it a couple times it's going back to if I think about those core competencies which one is more right which one really has the the coachy at the heart of what you're doing and which one does not consider the coachy at all and you do it you need to for each of the questions you need to identify the best approach and the least I see a lined approach and I thought about it from the perspective of what is the option that most empowers the client and then what is the option that least honors client ownership or autonomy or coaching boundaries exactly and so those are that's the when I looked at it and I wasn't sure I would go which honors the client which one most honors the client and then which one takes away anything from the client it removes them from it they don't it's they're not in control that that sort of approach that's how I looked at those questions yeah good thinking and in managing the pressure slow down it's not a speed test and there is time available in there so don't feel you have to rush it really read the question you can highlight on the screen as well I didn't do the highlighting but you can so if that helps you choose the strategy that's going to work best for you flag questions you want to come back to and I saw a video where someone suggested that flag the first question because then you're in practice of flagging questions as opposed to forgetting that you can flag them so again if that works for you um flag the first question so that you you've got something to come back to you you you often could have time to come back and look at all of them it just depends on how you're going I so I myself if I am really comfortable with it I don't want to come back and look at it because I don't want to second guess myself but I flagged the ones that I was the least comfortable with um if you stack ask yourself which option keeps the client in ownership so always go back to that you know and what empowers the client and what keeps them in in control of what's going on um and pause and breathe before answering it seriously works if you're not sure take a nice big deep breath blow it out and then the answer will come through with you um and and and just make sure you're breathing so I did actually catch myself a couple of times holding my breath as trying to decide um and it really is worth letting that breath out anything else bridge it oh I think you've said that really well and I think the pause and the breathing is actually a really good strategy uh to to get to clear your mind you know that that whole mind body piece is actually really important so just a final perspective um you don't pass by being impressive um you pass by being present curious and client lead uh and I think this is really important because it really sends it back to when you're answering the questions the folk it the you have to answer the question based on what is actually best for the client and when you think about that it is about being present and when we it's about being present in the question it's about being curious about what are they looking for what do they need what will be best for this person what would you know be the best and making sure they're being led by that lovely yep well I can't believe it Bridget but we are at time yes if anyone has any other questions please pop them through um I'm just trying to press my button here we go if you're interested in the the PCC level um we have our deployment in leadership coaching that is a PCC level program assert for is our ACC level thank you everyone for joining us today we really love having you and for your input my favorite part is when people have um putting questions or comments uh Jerry also added in which was a really it's really good is because it's a long exam recommend spending that length of time practicing oh yeah just that sitting pace are absolutely agree hmm because it and particularly when it's a long time to sit and look at the screen so just having that practice time is good all right well thank you everyone for joining us thanks for listening to this episode of the coaching cafe podcast you can watch the full video of this podcast on our website i'll put a link in the show notes we'll see you at the next coaching cafe(upbeat music)