Updated PCC–MCC Exam · 2025 ICF standards
ICF PCC exam syllabus and competency weights
The updated ICF PCC–MCC Exam uses the 2025 ICF Core Competencies, the 2025 ICF Code of Ethics and ICF’s definition of coaching. ICF publishes weights for eight competencies grouped under Foundation, Co-Creating the Relationship, Communicating Effectively, and Cultivating Learning and Growth.
How much of the exam covers each competency?
The domain totals above are the sums of the individual weights published by ICF. Use the weights as a guide to relative emphasis, then adjust your study time for areas where you struggle to explain a response.
| Domain | Competency | Published weight |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Demonstrates Ethical Practice | 13% |
| Foundation | Embodies a Coaching Mindset | 13% |
| Co-Creating the Relationship | Establishes and Maintains Agreements | 12% |
| Co-Creating the Relationship | Cultivates Trust and Safety | 12% |
| Co-Creating the Relationship | Maintains Presence | 13% |
| Communicating Effectively | Listens Actively | 13% |
| Communicating Effectively | Evokes Awareness | 13% |
| Cultivating Learning and Growth | Facilitates Client Growth | 11% |
Foundation · Ethics and coaching mindset
For ethical practice, study how confidentiality, conflicts of interest, professional boundaries and role clarity affect decisions. In a study note, pair each obligation with the point at which it matters. For instance, think about what a coach should clarify before sharing information with anyone beyond the client. Use the 2025 Code of Ethics to check your reasoning.
For coaching mindset, study how preparation, ongoing learning and self-awareness shape the coach’s response. After reviewing a sample, name an assumption you made on first reading and identify the detail that actually supports or undermines it. That habit helps when a scenario leaves part of the context open.
Co-Creating the Relationship · Agreements, trust and presence
Separate the agreement for the overall engagement from the outcome the client wants in a specific session. Look at how the coach and client establish, check and adjust the work when circumstances change. For trust and safety, review how the coach responds to the client’s context, values and expression. For presence, notice whether the coach stays responsive to what is happening in the conversation.
A useful review exercise is to write one line each for what was agreed, what the client is expressing now and what the coach needs to learn before acting. If you cannot identify an agreed goal from the scenario, consider which responses would help the client clarify it.
Communicating Effectively · Listening and awareness
Active listening includes attending to the client’s words, emotions, context and changes in energy or emphasis. In a sample scenario, mark the phrase, behavior or shift that prompted your interpretation. Then check how closely the coach’s possible responses connect to what the client actually expressed.
For evoking awareness, study how questions, observations and other coaching tools help the client consider something new. When comparing two plausible actions, look at where each one leads the conversation and how much space it gives the client to make meaning from the discussion.
Cultivating Learning and Growth · Turning insight into action
Look at how the client names what they learned, decides how to use it and identifies support or accountability. In a short review of a session ending, record whose idea the next action was, what makes it feasible for the client and how progress might be reviewed. Those details help you distinguish a next step the client owns from one the coach has simply proposed.
How to turn the blueprint into a study session
Start with ICF’s definition of coaching. In your own words, explain what the coach and client contribute to the partnership. Then use the Code of Ethics to identify what you would clarify if a client asked for advice from your other professional role. This gives you a way to study the definition and the boundaries of coaching alongside the eight competencies.
Pick one competency and explain its purpose from memory. Read the corresponding part of the 2025 standards, then try to describe how you would recognize it in a conversation. Work through an ICF sample item, name the part of the standard that shaped your choice and make a note to revisit any distinction you missed. ICF’s PCC Minimum Skills Requirements give examples of observable coaching behaviors for further study.
Repeat with a second competency in the same domain and explain how its role differs in the conversation. A single interaction may offer evidence of both.
Frequently asked questions
Does this syllabus apply to the outgoing ICF Credentialing Exam?
This syllabus covers the updated PCC–MCC Exam. Use the outgoing exam guide and check your booking if you will sit the ICF Credentialing Exam before its final date.