If you're studying for the PCC or MCC exam right now and someone just forwarded you a link about exam changes, I want to save you the panic. I read the announcement the same day it went up. Here's what's in it, in plain English, and what it means for your prep depending on when you're sitting the test.
TL;DR
- ICF is renaming the exam the PCC-MCC Exam and changing its format, launching November 10, 2026.
- The current exam is available through March 31, 2027. After that, everyone sits the new one.
- New format: 80 questions in 150 minutes, an optional 10-minute break at the midpoint.
- 44 situational judgment questions (the scenario format you already know) plus 36 knowledge-based multiple-choice questions (new to PCC/MCC, already used on the ACC exam).
- The four-domain competency structure stays the same. ICF says existing prep materials still serve candidates well.
What's changing, and when
ICF announced the change in a blog post published July 17, 2026, aimed at educators and training providers. The new PCC-MCC Exam launches November 10, 2026. That date starts a transition period, not an instant cutover.
If you're currently registered or planning to sit the exam soon, you have options. The current ICF Credentialing Exam stays available through March 31, 2027. So there's about four and a half months where both exams exist side by side, and candidates get to choose which one they sit.
After March 31, 2027, the current exam goes away entirely. Every PCC and MCC candidate sits the new PCC-MCC Exam from that point forward.
Two question types, one of them new to you
The new exam has 80 questions total, up from 78, in 150 minutes, down from 180. That's a real drop in time per question, so pacing matters more than it used to.
The questions split into two types. 44 are situational judgment questions, the same coaching-scenario format the current exam already uses. If you've been practicing best-and-worst scenario questions, that skill still applies directly.
The other 36 are knowledge-based multiple-choice questions. This part is new to PCC and MCC, though it's not new to ICF exams generally. The ACC exam has used a knowledge-based format since it went mandatory in March 2025, testing things like ethics, definitions, and competency recall rather than scenario judgment.
I wrote about that change in ICF Credentialing Is Changing back in April, when the PCC/MCC pilot was still in progress and the final format hadn't been announced. Now it has.
The exam is structured in four sections with a break in the middle: 18 multiple-choice questions, then 22 situational judgment questions, then the optional break, then 18 more multiple-choice, then 22 more situational judgment. The two question types alternate by section rather than sitting in one big block each.
What this means depending on your exam date
If you're sitting before November 10, 2026, nothing changes for you. You're taking the current 78-question, 180-minute exam, the one described in PCC vs MCC Exam: Are They the Same Test?. Same situational judgment format, same 180 minutes, same scoring scale.
If your exam date falls between November 10, 2026, and March 31, 2027, you'll likely get to choose which version you sit, based on how Pearson VUE structures registration during the transition. I'd confirm the exact mechanics directly with ICF or your Pearson VUE registration once that opens, since the announcement didn't spell out the registration-level details.
If you're not sitting until after March 31, 2027, you're taking the new PCC-MCC Exam by default. There's no old-format option left at that point.
What didn't change
If you've already been building your prep around the ICF Core Competencies and the four-domain structure (Foundation, Co-Creating the Relationship, Communicating Effectively, Cultivating Learning and Growth), that structure carries over. ICF kept it in the new exam.
The new exam is also aligned with the 2025 updates to the Core Competencies and the Code of Ethics. That's a meaningful update to something I flagged back in April: at the time, the credentialing exam was still tied to the 2019 competency framework even though ICF had already published the 2025 updates. That gap is closing with this new exam.
ICF has also said, directly in the announcement, that existing prep materials still serve candidates well. That's their language, not mine, and it's a reasonable thing to trust here: the situational judgment core of the exam hasn't been gutted, it's been supplemented. If you've been reading the competencies, working through scenario practice, and sitting with a mentor coach, none of that work is wasted.
One more thing worth knowing: ICF is planning to release a free tutorial shortly before the November launch, which should walk through the new format directly. Watch for that closer to the date.
What we're doing about it
We're expanding the PCC/MCC question bank to add knowledge-based multiple-choice questions, written in the same style already used on our ACC bank, calibrated to the depth PCC and MCC candidates need rather than the ACC baseline. That's in progress now and will be available before the new exam opens in November.
The situational judgment questions you're already practicing don't need to change. They're the same skill on the new exam that they've always been on the current one. What we're adding is coverage for the section that's genuinely new to this credential level.
If you haven't started scenario practice yet, you can try 10 free questions right now, no card required: start here.
