“Milestones aren’t just achievements; they’re reminders of how far you’ve come.”
— Anonymous
My Experience of the ICF Credentialing Exam (ICE)
Achieving my International Coaching Federation (ICF) credential as an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) has been a journey of dedication, learning, and both professional and personal growth. This post will likely be most interesting to those who are preparing for the International Coaching Federation Credentialing Exam (ICE). I am thrilled to share that I passed my exam on Thursday, February 27, 2025! During my own prep, I was inspired and felt supported by Amrita Choudhury who kindly shared her ICE experience, so I am paying it forward as well.
The process of preparing for and taking the ICE was a true test – not only of gaining more knowledge, but also of my mindset and challenging my ability to stay present under exam pressure. Here are some of my reflections on the experience, the strategies that helped me succeed, and insights for anyone preparing for the exam. I have aimed to capture a helpful overview of preparing for the ICE. If you still have questions after reading about my experience, contact me for additional information.
What can I control here?
When I started on this leg of my ICF Coaching journey, I knew one of the requirements was that I would have to do an exam, and while the idea of that was a little daunting, I have done several exams over the years, so figured I could study and pass as I have done historically. What I did not realize was that the ICF ICE was not only multiple choice, but situational, AND requires you to give both the “best” and the “worst” answers. I also found out that as of 2023, the ICF reports that the first-time pass rate of the exam is 75%. Being a curious person by nature, I needed to know more about this and to determine what I needed to do to be part of the 75%.
There are two exam options available for your ACC credential until March 14, 2025, and I elected to do the ICF ICE that is the same exam for Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and Master Certified Coach (MCC) levels. If you are applying for your ACC from March 15, 2025, some of this information may still be useful for you, but it would be more relevant for anyone preparing for PCC or MCC. Click here for more information about the ACC Credential Exam (ACE).
After doing some research and realizing this was “not your average exam”, I decided to focus on what I could control. An area I felt I could control was to optimize my study approach. A key success pillar was enrolling in Lyssa deHart’s ICF ICE Prep Course. A key take-away from training with Lyssa deHart to prepare for the exam was her wisdom perspective, “Pass or Practise”. Lyssa invites us to approach the exam as an opportunity to pass it successfully or practise successfully. If we don’t pass it, to look upon the experience and knowledge gained as practicing for the next attempt. These words became my mantra while I studied and helped calm me, especially during the exam. Here are some of my additional strategies and learnings.
Exam Day – Morning Preparation
February 26, 2025, Journal excerpt:
OK, exam day. Pass or practise – I am challenging myself to be unattached to the outcome. I hope my calmness is not complacency.
I have my Golden Acorn symbol for success. I’m calling in and channelling all the energies and wisdom of my coaching teachers and supportive family, friends and communities today. Yes!
Unfortunately, I did not sleep that well and woke around 6:30am to allow myself time to meditate and journal to start my day as I typically do. I did have a black tea early to try to shake off my tiredness. I stopped drinking at 9:00am, 2 hours before the exam time of 11:00am. I showered and prepped for the day. I had organised my snack the night before, so grabbed that out of the fridge. I had also put everything I wanted to take to the exam by the door the night before, so I did not have to look for anything last minute.
An hour before we were scheduled to leave, I did the eight ICF questions from their website that Lyssa has on her learning portal. I wanted to warm up my brain to think in the situational ways the exam format is in. I answered 2 of them incorrectly (both from choosing the worst). Oh well. I figured if I repeated that at scale, I would still pass. I reviewed Lyssa’s explanation of the eight ICF scenarios again. I would have liked to do Lyssa’s 12 scenarios again for a further brain warm-up up but ran out of time.
Paul (my wonderful and supportive husband) left home around 9:15am for the 45-minute drive, allowing buffer time for any traffic delays. We arrived with plenty of time before my 10:30am check-in time and 11:00am exam start. Traffic was unusually smooth, so when we arrived, Aspire Learning Centre was not open yet. Paul and I found a coffee shop nearby where he was going to work while I was in my three-hour exam.
Check-In
The check-in at Aspire Learning Centre was as expected according to the Pearson VUE information.
1. I arrived early and was allowed to check in with Tanya the proctor at 10:30am (30 minutes before my scheduled exam start time).
2. Tanya showed me to my secure locker, and I put all my things away that were not permitted in the exam room. I put my locker key in my pocket.
3. At the reception area, I gave Tanya my driver’s license as my ID and there was a printed form to be completed agreeing to the Pearson VUE Guidelines.
4. Tanya took a webcam photo of me and returned my ID after checking I had also completed the form correctly.
5. She checked my glasses; the pockets of my sweater and as requested, I unrolled my turtleneck for her to see there was nothing hidden there.
6. Tanya asked if I was ready and allowed me to start 10 minutes early as we had finished formalities in 20 minutes.
The Testing Space
I chose Aspire Learning Centre after one of my lovely ICF ACC peers, Eva Nouri kindly responded to this post with her positive experience there. I am so glad I booked there. It is a small, welcoming space: modern, clean and quiet. They provided free parking in the back lane, and it was easy to find. Tanya, who was to be my proctor on my exam day, was very friendly and helpful on the phone when I called to ask about visiting the centre ahead of time. I went to visit on Monday, three days before my exam date and she showed me the exam space, bathroom and kitchen areas. There was a sweet dog there that day named Napoli. I wish I had taken a photo as he was not there when I went back on Thursday.
I wore the clothes I wanted to wear on exam day to make sure they were acceptable as I had heard of people not being able to wear hoodies for example and I did not want to be cold. I wore a sweater without a hood deliberately. Tanya approved my attire as well as the candy (unwrapped) in a clear bag I wanted to take in for the exam. Plus, a cushion and even my spikey acupressure Spoonk mat (huge gratitude to Codie for gifting this mat to me so many years ago!) to sit on during the exam. Tanya also let me know earplugs and headphones were provided if needed for noise control.
I felt lucky to be the only one there the day of my exam as the one other person who was booked, had rescheduled. He had been due to arrive an hour after I started, and I had been nervous about how that interruption may affect my exam performance. I was able to take in four “totems” to help ground me – I like to hold a special rock, beads, crystal or similar in my fingers when I think.
I recall there were five cubicles in the testing room. Tanya had set me up in a corner which I appreciated. There was a clock on the wall, but when I was seated, I had to lean to the left to see it over the partition of my cubicle space. Felt like my desk space was about 5 feet (approximately 1.5 metres) x 3 feet (just under 1 metre). The set-up was two rows of cubicle desks facing each other with solid partitions between each computer. The monitors seemed to be about 24 inches (approx. 61 cm) and your basic keyboard and mouse. I think they were wired. Next to my mouse, there was an erasable sheet letter size (8” x 11”) or approximately A4 (21 cm x 29cm). There was a box of tissues and antiseptic wipes at each station too. Tanya was very patient with me when I wiped the keyboard and mouse down with a wipe and logged myself out at the start before the exam started. She had to log me in again.
Exam Review
My overall experience of the exam was that it seemed very executive coach-heavy, with lots of contract gigs, sponsorships and career scenarios. As I am a career coach, I was OK with those scenarios, but I am curious how others who are not as familiar with those environments would find the situations. Especially those who focus on life, health, or other coaching areas where career-related challenges may not be as prevalent. As I had been advised, there were a lot of ethics scenarios too.
I used acronyms I had memorised: PIPI, LIFE PACT, PACCAT and TRAPS* (the latter two from Lyssa) acronyms. The acronyms were helpful as an outline but when every question would start with “ask”, I leaned heavily on my knowledge of the competencies and ethics to determine how to choose. Sometimes it felt like the answer sets with “tell” or “recommend” were better to choose. I would use selecting the “best of the worst”. Of course, since I do not know the results, I cannot say that strategy necessarily worked, but it felt right intuitively. I was glad that Lyssa’s course had prepared me for that too.
I am a native English speaker, but there was at least one scenario where the use of “they” as a pronoun was ambiguous to me and caused confusion. I appreciate being inclusive and that is an important value for me, but I will be giving feedback to the ICF to endeavour to reframe scenarios to limit the use of pronouns. I would encourage greater clarity in the scenarios and answer sets to explicitly specify whether the reference is to the coach, sponsor, or client. I imagine it may be even more confusing to non-native English speakers when confronted with pronoun ambiguity.
I forgot to breathe for each question as I had practised. I did use my self-regulation techniques as needed and took deeper breaths at times when I remembered. I was aware of environmental distractions – venting system noise, people talking outside, muffled proctor conversations, and a student coming in. I briefly turned on the white noise machine next to me, but it was more distracting than helpful, so I turned it off. I did not use the headphones that were available at my station.
EXAM FORMAT
This is from the ICF email invitation to book the exam:
I. Exam Instructions: 4 minutes
II. Section 1 (39 items): 83 minutes
III. Scheduled Break: 10 minutes
IV. Section 2 (39 items): 83 minutes
Note: For test security purposes, candidates cannot return to section 1 after they begin section 2.
Part I
Prior to hitting the Start Exam button, I was able to write down all my acronyms and time stamps on the erasable sheet. I saved a minute or two since I had practised writing it down as part of my exam routine. This was a safety net in case I had a moment of overwhelm or cognitive freeze, but I did not have time to refer to the sheet during the exam. There were instructions on the first screen, and I think there was a two-minute period to read those. I didn’t realize the exam had started after reading the instructions info on the first page. I think I expected an intro page before the questions started, so if you are taking it, make sure you are ready for the exam timer to start as soon as you click next after the info page. Perhaps if I was not feeling so hyped up, I may have noticed that.
To zoom in/out, I used Ctrl +/- (the machines were Windows computers), but it didn’t help much. All questions were on the left of the screen, but the next button, flag and timer were on the right. I didn’t have to scroll for that, which was helpful to know in advance from listening to Lyssa’s prep videos. As mentioned, I think the monitor was about 24 inches (approx. 61 cm). I moved my chair more to the left to have the questions centred in front of me. I did not think of moving the monitor over, but maybe that would have been an option too? I read the answer sets first, then the scenarios and then chose the answers. I was feeling stressed, and I did my best to read quickly, then select and move on. I flagged about 20 questions to go back to but only had three minutes to review after I finished answering all the questions. I did not have time to review more than six or so before time ran out. I was trying to be calm and accepting that this was a practice for me as the timer ran down, because I honestly thought I had failed Part I.
Break Time
Tanya had already informed me that I could leave my desk when I was ready for my break. She also said to let her know when I wanted her to log me back in to start Part II. I had a whole 10 minutes for a break time and the washrooms were very close by, so I used them, then grabbed a snack out of my locker and stood and ate. I deliberately did not drink during the break.
I popped my head out to say hi to Tanya in the reception area and she asked how it was going; I told her that I would probably be seeing her in two weeks to do the exam again because I felt I failed Part I. I did not finish my snack of a protein bar and plain yoghurt. I did some stretches and took some deep breaths during my break too. I reset my nervous system and imagined this was a brand-new exam and intentionally forgot about Part I. I was back at my station with Tanya logging me back in with two minutes to spare. I settled myself with slow, deep breathing and clicked start when the timer ran down for the break and started Part II.
Part II
I approached this part as pure practice since I figured I had failed Part I. I told myself I was doing another one of Lyssa’s practice exams and imagined her and her friendly team reviewing the responses. I let go of my attachment to the outcome and trusted my intuition. I focused on selecting answers from the client’s perspective rather than my own experience. When all options seemed unfavourable, I selected the most neutral and least harmful response. At the end of Part II, I had 18 minutes left to review 11 flagged questions. Probably should have flagged more as I had more than enough time to review all of those.
Post Exam
I let the clock run down reviewing the flagged questions and the exam was ended for me. I packed up my things at my station and went out to tell Tanya I had finished. She asked how I was, and I replied again I felt I had not passed, but was relieved it was over. She then went off to print my results and I went to collect my things from the locker. I went out to the reception area and Tanya was holding out my printed results with a little smile. I looked at my results and could not believe I had passed with a score of 506/600 (460 is a pass). I laughed out loud in disbelief and Tanya congratulated me. I thanked her for all her help and left.
Celebration
Paul was coming back from the coffee shop as I left Aspire, and we met at the car. I told him I passed, and we hugged. I was relieved at my result and we were both excited. He said he had no doubts, but I sure had! At my request, he took a photo of me with my results. We then headed to have lunch near by to celebrate. I sent messages to all my family, the friends and peers who had helped and supported me. We also had dinner with friends that night, so the celebrations continued. I had a relaxing weekend without any study or work and rewarded myself by starting a jigsaw puzzle as well. Yes, that is one of my favourite ways to unwind and indulge.
What Went Well:
- I passed my ICF ICE exam on the first try. Yay me!
- Study Timeline – I started reviewing the ICF material in late November 2024 lightly and then intensified my study in mid January including signing up for Lyssa deHart’s course. I cleared my schedule as much as possible in February to focus on studying.
- I used ChatGPT to create a study schedule based on my calendar too. I spent about 10 hours per week from mid-January and approximately 30 hours the final week leading up to exam day as I was able to study all weekend prior.
- Lyssa deHart’s course – beyond valuable.
- Utilising the concept of an ICF Avatar to embody the ICF Core Competencies and Ethics. A super helpful hack from a fellow student in Lyssa’s ICE Prep course.
- Resources from other coaches who had taken the exam. Big shout out especially to Manuel Arambul for his wonderful ICF Exam Prep Resources document!
- Reviewing my own coaching training resources.
- Recording the ICF Competencies and Ethics Interpretive Statements in my own voice and listening to them every day.
- I did the free ICF Ethics Coaching course on their website as Lyssa’s suggestion. I wish the ICE exam was as easy as the quiz at the end of that course.
- Reading through the ICF Ethics Case Studies.
- Four study/coaching sessions with some other coaches and going through the questions and answer sets.
- Leveraged as study partners AI: Chat GPT + NotebookLM (thank you Dr Crystal Green Brown!).
- Reading, listening to, and answering practise questions and the rationale for the answers.
- Explaining concepts from the PCC Competencies, Markers and Ethics to non-coaches (e.g. hubby and friends).
- Seeking community support and talking to other coaches who had taken the exam.
- Extra self-care to help with regulation including meditation, qigong and yoga.
- Having a “Pass or Practise” mindset and not being attached to the outcome of the exam from Lyssa’s wisdom.
- Cleared my calendar for focus the week of the exam.
- Rehearsal for being in an external environment – café noises soundtrack + my local library.
- Visiting the testing site & talking to Tanya on the phone ahead of time.
- Asking to take all the permitted comforts I needed to the testing centre.
- Booking a massage the day before the exam to help me relax and for my back pain.
- Paul driving me to the exam centre.
- Planning my celebration post-exam (whatever the outcome was to be).
- Conditioning myself not to drink or use the bathroom for 3 hours.
- No alcohol for 3 months leading up to the exam.
- Lowering my sugar intake and eliminating caffeine the past few months.
Do Over Suggestions:
- Sleep in the spare bedroom separate to Paul (I am a light sleeper) the night before to avoid being woken by my partner.
- Find a regular study buddy.
- Allow more time to review so start studying earlier.
- Request an accommodation for more time.
- Use better time reminders during the exam – countdown, not count up, as the latter flustered me on exam day.
Reflections for the ICF Credentialing Exam (ICE)
February 27, 2025, Journal excerpt:
Woke up this morning and remembered my test is OVER and I passed! When I let go, trusted my intuition and kept thinking of the perfect ICF markers and becoming the ICF Avatar, that helped. It really is as much a test of mindset as anything else. You definitely need to know your material thoroughly.
Excited that I passed the ICF exam and what a quest. It was about knowledge, trust, resilience, discipline, self-regulation and managing my mindset. The preparation and exam experience reinforced my coaching essentials: presence, self-awareness, and meeting the moment with curiosity rather than fear. I am not the first person to say that the preparation and study I did has made me a more proficient coach and I would add I feel I have grown personally as well.
I appreciate the rigor of the ICF in creating an exam that challenges you to absorb and learn the material so well to determine the worst course of action as a coach. That aspect made me study more conscientiously. I am aware that like any organization, the ICF is not perfect and may not be able to allow for all the complexities and nuances of coaching, but I feel honoured to be included in a thoughtful community that is making a concerted effort to raise the professionalism of coaching. I want to acknowledge other coaching bodies and associations who are also contributing to that noble aspiration.
For those preparing for the ICE or ACE exams, I invite you to trust yourself, lean into the process, and focus on what you can control. I hope that you find something helpful here, and that you will be inspired to create your own study program and find your cadence. Remember – whether you pass or practise, every step of the journey is valuable to you as a professional coach and for your personal development. I wish you all the best in preparing for the ICF exams and beyond for your coaching career.
Gratitude
When I ran a half marathon many years ago, I had a team of people supporting me. I feel like this part of my coaching journey has been a marathon too and another team has supported me this time. My official training for coaching started in 2018 and that is a longer story. This chapter started in September 2023 when I made the life-changing decision to enrol in training to become a Certified Positive Psychology Coach with Positive Acorn. Deep gratitude to all who helped me achieve my ICF ACC credential.
A huge thank you to all the wonderful people who went above and beyond to help me achieve this milestone:
My incredible husband, Paul and my family.
My amazing assistant, Daisy Inso and for all the help last year to Yash Lapay as well.
The Positive Acorn Community, notably Keya Biswas-Diener, Robert Biswas-Diener, Christian van Nieuwerburgh, Yenifer N, Mouna Belhabib Filali, Lucy Fisher, Jeffrey Miller, Georgia Danzger, Gerry Dinglasan, Anne Wallace, Anne Rosario, Andrea Garin Kopilak, Bettina Hantmann-Willmes, Debbie Tracht, Julie Cusmariu, and Ryan Meachen.
My Qigong, Meditation and Support Community, notably Wendy Lang, Rick Reiner, Corine Berben, Sharon Lees, Jennifer R, Valerie Odon, Paige Wheeler, Ingrid van Niekerk, Helen Anagnostos, Alberto Lopez Murtra and Patricia Morgan.
My counselling supervisor, Diane Auld and group peers and friends, Karen Laskey and Linda Nardelli.
ICF Coaching friends and peers, notably Annalise Evenson, Manuel Arambul, Ava Nouri, Lee Chaix-McDonough, Jennifer Campbell and Fanie Zis.
Lyssa deHart and her team and community, especially Matthew Cintron-Quinones and Michele Logan.
The ICF team.
Last, but not least, my friends, and clients for their patience and support.
Reach Out
I am incredibly fortunate to have many supportive people and communities that have helped me and continue to support me on my coaching journey. If you need some extra support preparing for your exam or would like me to share some of my exam prep resources, feel free to contact me. Ethical coaching is important and a benefit to social wellbeing. I sincerely believe that the coaching industry will be elevated and improved if we can support more coaches to gain their credentials as professionals. If you are embarking on the ICF journey, I would be delighted to help you.
*ICE Study Acronyms
You are welcome to use these or perhaps they will inspire you to create your own version of mnemonics and study aids:
PIPI
Person not Problem
Internal vs External
Progress
Immediacy
Core Competencies: LIFE PACT
Listens Actively
Integrity / Ethics
Facilitates (Client) Growth
Evokes Awareness
Presence
Agreements
Coaching Mindset
Trust & Safety
Lyssa deHart created these acronyms to reference. This is another way to study and remember the concepts. I added P (Partnering) after Lyssa mentioned she would add that now:
*PACCAT– Partnering, Asking, Client Centered, Curiosity, Awareness of Judgements and Bias, Transparency
*Stay Curious and avoid TRAPS – Telling/Teach, Remind/Recommend, Advise/Lead/Assume, Praise/Judge / Secrets
I generated an AI podcast version of this blog post and it has some hyperbole at the start about my exam result. The timeline is a bit skewed and a few mispronounciations, especially of Qigong (sounds like chee-gong). It is otherwise relatively on point.
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If you would like to meet to ask more about my ICE experience, book a Brief Consult with me today!
