Assessment as Individuals

IPMA® Certification always assesses individual’s competence as a whole. Assessment measures individual’s ability to adapt their know-how in order to achieve the desired result.

Individual competences are divided into three competence areas: perspective, people and practice. 

In addition to experience and knowledge related to agile work, interaction skills and personal characteristics are also assessed.

There are a total of 29 Competence Elements, and in order to receive a certificate, the candidate must demonstrate evidence of at least 80% of all elements.

Download IPMA® Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World which is a guide explaining how IPMA® Individual Competence Baseline is used in an Agile World. Download Individual Competence Baselines (ICB 4.0).


References reify Candidate’s Experience

Candidates on levels C, B and A must illustrate their experience through reference agile assignments. Reference complexity is assessed individually. References are used to prove that the candidate fulfils the criteria of the certificate in question.


Completion Phases for Certificates of Different Levels

If you wish to learn more about the completion phases of a certain certificate, see below for more details.


  1. Order an application package which includes the necessary forms to fill and instructions.
  2. Study the IPMA® Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World and IPMA® Certified Person's Code of Ethics. It is also good to get familiar with e.g. some of the following books:
      • Gil Broza (2015): The Agile Mind-Set: Making Agile Process Work, ISBN: 978-151-47-6933-1
      • Rob Cole, Edward Scotcher (2015): Brilliant Agile Project Management: A Practical Guide to Using Agile, Scrum and Kanban, ISBN: 978-129-20-6356-0
      • Gil Broza (2019): Agile for NON-Software Teams: A Pratical Guide for Your Journey, ISBN: 978- 098-80-0165-7
      • IPMA (2018): Individual Competence Baseline for Project, ISBN: 978-94-92338-16-7
      • Karlos Artto, Jaakko Kujala, Miia Martinsuo (2008): Project business, ISBN: 978-952-92-8535-8.

  3. Fill out the form you received with the application package.
  4. Enrol for a suitable certification round in the certification system and submit your application with the required attachments.

  5. Once your application has been approved, you will receive written confirmation and can take the written exam. A failed exam can be retaken once without extra fee. You can prepare for the exam e.g. by reading the IPMA® Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World book and the IPMA® Certified Person's Ethics Guidelines.
  6. After the written exam, a final assessment will be compiled on you. After receiving approval, you will be granted a Level D Certificate.

  1. Order an application package which includes the necessary forms to fill and instructions.
  2. Study the IPMA® Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World and IPMA® Certified Person's Code of Ethics. It is also good to get familiar with e.g. some of the following books:
    • Gil Broza (2015): The Agile Mind-Set: Making Agile Process Work, ISBN: 978-151-47-6933-1
    • Rob Cole, Edward Scotcher (2015): Brilliant Agile Project Management: A Practical Guide to Using Agile, Scrum and Kanban, ISBN: 978-129-20-6356-0
    • Gil Broza (2019): Agile for NON-Software Teams: A Pratical Guide for Your Journey, ISBN: 978- 098-80-0165-7
    • IPMA (2018): Individual Competence Baseline for Project, ISBN: 978-94-92338-16-7
    • Karlos Artto, Jaakko Kujala, Miia Martinsuo (2008): Project business, ISBN: 978-952-92-8535-8.

  3. Fill out the forms you received with the application package and compile a free-form CV. A signature is required only if you do not use strong authentication when logging in to the certification system.
    Enrol for a suitable certification round in the certification system and submit your application with the required attachments.
  4. Once your application has been approved, you will receive written confirmation and can take the written exam. A failed exam can be retaken again once without extra fee. You can prepare for the exam e.g. by reading the IPMA® Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World, the IPMA® Certified Person's Ethics Guidelines.
  5. Once you have passed the written exam, you will be invited to a one-day group workshop and personal interview on the following day or an extended personal interview replacing the workshop and interview. A failed interview or workshop can be retaken again once.
  6. After the interview, a final assessment will be compiled on you. After receiving approval, you will be granted a Level C Certificate.

  1. Order an application package which includes the necessary forms to fill and instructions.
  2. Study the IPMA® Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World and IPMA® Certified Person's Code of Ethics. It is also good to get familiar with e.g. some of the following books:
    • Gil Broza (2015): The Agile Mind-Set: Making Agile Process Work, ISBN: 978-151-47-6933-1
    • Rob Cole, Edward Scotcher (2015): Brilliant Agile Project Management: A Practical Guide to Using Agile, Scrum and Kanban, ISBN: 978-129-20-6356-0
    • Gil Broza (2019): Agile for NON-Software Teams: A Pratical Guide for Your Journey, ISBN: 978- 098-80-0165-7
    • IPMA (2018): Individual Competence Baseline for Project, ISBN: 978-94-92338-16-7
    • Karlos Artto, Jaakko Kujala, Miia Martinsuo (2008): Project business, ISBN: 978-952-92-8535-8.

  3. Fill out and sign the forms you received with the application package and compile a free-form CV. A signature is required only if you do not use strong authentication when logging in to the certification system.
  4. Enrol for available certification round in the certification system and submit your application with the required attachments.
  5. Once your application is approved, you will receive a confirmation and you can download a report template from the certification system. When the report is ready, save it to the certification system.

  6. Once your written report has been approved, you will be invited to an oral exam and personal interview. In this interview, you are asked to present documents related to the management of your reference assignment. Every step in the process can be retaken once.

  7. After the interview, a final assessment will be compiled on you. After receiving approval, you will be granted a Level B Certificate.

  1. Order an application package which includes the necessary forms to fill and instructions.
  2. Study the IPMA® Reference Guide ICB4 in an Agile World and IPMA® Certified Person's Code of Ethics. It is also good to get familiar with e.g. some of the following books:
    • Gil Broza (2015): The Agile Mind-Set: Making Agile Process Work, ISBN: 978-151-47-6933-1
    • Rob Cole, Edward Scotcher (2015): Brilliant Agile Project Management: A Practical Guide to Using Agile, Scrum and Kanban, ISBN: 978-129-20-6356-0
    • Gil Broza (2019): Agile for NON-Software Teams: A Pratical Guide for Your Journey, ISBN: 978- 098-80-0165-7
    • IPMA (2018): Individual Competence Baseline for Project, ISBN: 978-94-92338-16-7
    • Karlos Artto, Jaakko Kujala, Miia Martinsuo (2008): Project business, ISBN: 978-952-92-8535-8.
  3. Fill out and sign the forms you received with the application package and compile a free-form CV. A signature is required only if you do not use strong authentication when logging in to the certification system.
  4. Enrol for available certification round in the certification system and submit your application with the required attachments.

  5. Once your application is approved, you will receive a confirmation and you can download a report template from the certification system. When the report is ready, save it to the certification system.

  6. Once your written report has been approved, you will be invited to a personal interview. In this interview, you are asked to present documents related to the management of your reference assignment. Every step in the process can be retaken once.
  7. After the interview, a final assessment will be compiled on you. After receiving approval, you will be granted a Level A Certificate.

National Certification Regulations (NCR):

The IPMA® four-level certification system (IPMA 4-L-C) is implemented in Finland in accordance with the International Certification Regulations (IPMA ICR), version 4.0, published by IPMA®.

Read more about writing the application