Frequent questions - Academic certifications
The areas of knowledge for which you have been trained or in which you have recognized professional experience are shown by academic or professional credentials.
This information is complemented with the number of SPs (Skill Points) that reflect the level of training received, according to the number of courses taken, their duration and objectivity in evaluating achievement (ver “How can I maintain or increase my Skill Points?”).
Academic credentials
Core
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| Core I: Scrum Master Scrum Manager has contrasted with a test that the holder has the necessary training to understand or manage the factors that create agile teams. | Core II: Scrum Level Scrum Manager has been contrasted with an exam that the holder has the necessary training to understand and manage the deployment of agility in an organization |
Complementary
The complementary credentials inform that the holder has taken courses that broaden the general knowledge of agile management or its specialization in specific professional areas, such as product design, management, marketing, people and talent management, kanban, etc.
The courses that incorporate these credentials are approved by Scrum Manager, who audits their quality on an ongoing basis.
Core certifications
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Scrum Master The basics of working in an agile team and performing the functions of a scrum master. |
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Scrum Level More advanced theory for agility to embrace the entire organization. |
Advanced and specialization certifications
Correspond to courses offered by Scrum Manager authorized and approved centers to deepen the development of agility in specific areas: management, people management, marketing, programming, product owner, etc.
Centers that provide:
- Core courses.
- Specialization areas.
*See "How do I obtain the Agile Coach academic certification?"
The Agile Coaching academic certification is acquired passing the specific Agile Coaching course of an approved Scrum Manager center; or acquiring the Agile Coach professional certification.
Skill Points, or SPs, are used to indicate whether the holder of the credentials is continuing their education or is applying the knowledge acquired in their day-to-day life.
To this end, SPs decrease by 20% annually after the first year of obtaining them. That is: with the change from 2022 to 2023, the points obtained in 2022 are maintained; the points accumulated before 2022 are reduced by 20%.
They can be easily maintained with demonstrable training and professional activity.
Academic levels and maximum SPs
Based on SPs (Skill Points), there are three levels of academic knowledge:
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Technician < 100 SPs. It accredits the knowledge to carry out a professional performance in projects managed in a scrum framework.
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Expert < 200 SPs. It accredits additional knowledge of flexibility in implementation and working with agile practices.
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Authority => 200 SPs. It accredits advanced and specialized knowledge in agile management practices and frameworks proportional to the certified degree.
The maximum level of SPs visible on each user's personal profile is 350. If more are obtained, the system marks 350+.
The Scrum Manager certification includes the number of Skill Points (SPs) that indicate the level of knowledge, either at the time of inquiry or at the time the certificate was printed.
This indicator reflects the loss and forgetting of acquired knowledge when not renewed or professionally employed. It experiences an annual decline of 20% if not professionally used or if no training activities are undertaken for its improvement or maintenance.
Activities that increase the level of SPs are:
1.- "Type A" training activities (with Scrum Manager certification)
Core certifications (Scrum Master and Scrum Level) and complementary ones (Agile Coach, Agile Foundation, etc.) include a number of SPs based on their content and characteristics. These are added to the academic profile upon obtaining the certification or revalidating it if it was obtained more than 2 years ago.
Observations
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The addition of SPs to the certification profile is done automatically upon obtaining the certification.
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Repeating the same course or certification exam within a period of less than 2 years does not accumulate SPs.
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Repeating the same course or certification exam in a period of more than 2 years but less than 4 recovers 50% of the SPs from the course or exam.
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Repeating the same course or exam in a period of more than 4 years recovers 100% of the SPs from the course or exam.
2.- "Type B" training courses and activities (without Scrum Manager certification)
These are complementary courses and training activities on agile project, people, or organization management.
Observations
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The addition of SPs to the certification profile is requested through the form in the personal area of scrummanager.com: Update SPs - For non-certified training.
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To request an increase in SPs, the Type B activity must have been performed in the year prior to the request. Valid courses include agile project management, agile organization management, kanban, lean, and agile programming techniques.
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The maximum accreditation for Type B training courses and activities is 30 SPs/year.
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In-person and online courses grant 1 SPs for each instructional hour of the course taken.
3.- Professional performance
Professional involvement in agile project, team, or organization management annually contributes 40 SPs.
Observations
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The addition of PDAs to the certification profile is requested through the form in the personal area of scrummanager.com: Update SPs - For professional performance.
The scale limit is 350 points and higher levels are not contemplated as they are outside the tabulation objective for professional categorization purposes.
For this reason, once the 350 authority points are exceeded, the academic information displayed does not go beyond 350+.
Internally, the system counts up to 400 SPs, so that in the event of exceeding the scale fund of 350, this level is not reduced by the 10% annual reduction process that reflects the obsolescence of non-updated knowledge, thus offering a sufficient margin of time to maintain the maximum level.
The speed at which knowledge evolves quickly outpaces the knowledge acquired.
The Scrum Manager academic certification reflects this reality with a 20% annual decrease in Skill Points (SPs).
Thus, for example, the certification of 100 SPs maintains this level during the first year, and once this year has passed, from January of the following year it is updated to 80 SPs, and so on a recurring basis each year.
Related information: How can I maintain or increase my SPs level?
If it's an academic certification, no. If it's professional, yes.
Academic Certifications
These credentials do not expire.
They are obtained after completing an academic training activity, meeting all of its objectives. Usually, this involves taking a final exam, although some activities are approved through projects or practical work.
After obtaining the credential, it appears on the user's Scrum Manager profile and is maintained indefinitely.
Professional Certifications
These credentials must be renewed annually.
To do so, the holder must remain active with a high level of recognition, as reflected in the ratings received (>8).
SPs
Skill Points (SPs) decrease by 20% each year (after the first year of having obtained them) but can easily be renewed through demonstrable training and professional activity.
They serve to communicate whether the holder of the credentials is continuing to train or is applying the knowledge acquired in their day-to-day work.
Of courses and exams*
Diploma of attendance
Academic certification diploma
This type of diploma corresponds to tests in which the identity of the student is verified and the completion of the exam or evaluation activities is supervised in person or by videoconference.
Complete information
General certificate
Grades certificate
Accreditations were obtained by taking an official online exam, without student identification or supervision during the test. However, they are no longer available.
Self-training courses, which are still available on Scrum Manager Open Knowledge, no longer provide accreditation diplomas but rather attendance diplomas.
This change helps to avoid confusion with certification diplomas, which require a supervised exam and verification of the student's identity. These certificates can be obtained through authorized centers.
Additional Information
Academic Certification Framework | Scrum Manager Academic Certifications
From the "Diplomas" section of the members area you can download the Scrum Manger certification certificate, and also the diplomas of the courses taken, with the number of SPs of each course, or the certification of attendance if you had not completed the exam, or you would not have passed it.
In order to add your certification to LinkedIn, select "Add certification" when editing your profile and enter the following information:
- Certification name: Scrum Manager.
- Certification authority: Scrum Manager.
- License number: the number on your certificate.
Scrum Manager’s certification keeps the amount of Authority Points and certified fields of knowledge for each student updated on their professional profile. Keeping this in mind, enter the following information on the remaining fields:
- Time period: from your registration date on Scrum Manager.
- Mark “This certification does not expire".
- Certification URL: URL of your professional profile at scrummanager.com.
What is the format of the Scrum Master and Scrum Level exams?
- The Scrum Master exam:
- Consist of 55 questions.
- The time to complete it is 60 minutes.
- The Scrum Level exam:
- Consist of 30 questions.
- The time to complete it is 45 minutes.
How can I take the official exam to get certified?
By searching the directory of centers that offer Scrum Master or Scrum Level exams.
The directory allows filtering by country, type of activity (course and exam or exam only), mode (in-person or online with web supervision), and language.
Can I prepare for the exam before getting certified?
Yes, there are two ways to do it:
- Training questions.
- Free Open Knowledge course.
In both cases:
- The exams accessed are created from the same question bank as the official certification exams.
- The test is not supervised, and therefore no certificate is awarded; for that, it is necessary to go to an official center.
1. Training Questions
As a Scrum Manager user, you have access to training questions.
They can be found within User Profile > "Academic Certifications" > "If you are going to take or renew the validity of a core certification, you can practice training questions by clicking here."
2. Free Course
The Open Knowledge platform periodically offers free courses with a final preparation exam. The exam is optional and does not certify, but it allows for a realistic simulation of what the certification exam would be like.
The main difference between the course and the training questions is that Open Knowledge courses have support from volunteer teachers and a forum to ask questions