• Examinations

• Recertification

A. Your recertification deadline is the expiration date of your certification. Because you might be involved in activities that could be claimed for CPE credit right up to your deadline date, recertification packages can be submitted up to 60 days after the deadline to qualify for timely recertification. However, activities after the deadline - even if during the 60 day grace period - may not be counted toward recertification. If you miss the cutoff for the grace period, your certification expires automatically.

A. There is no limit on the number of CPE credits you can earn in one year. There is a maximum number of credits you can earn in certain categories per year. For example, the maximum number of CPE credits that can be claimed in Category D, Professional Participation, is 20 per year. You can earn any combination of credits during the three years before your certifications expiration date as long as they total 120 credits.

Q4. What if I have both CSQA and CSTE certifications? Do I have to submit 120 CPE's for each certification?

A. You will need to submit separate Recertification Journals for each certification you hold by their respective expiration dates. If the activities qualify and the subject matter is within the parameters of the Common Body of Knowledge for both certifications, then CPE credit can be claimed for both certifications.We will not accept (See CSQA/CSTE submittal for backup).

A. You will receive either: 1) Updated credentials showing your new expiration date, or 2) A rejection notice requiring you to correct errors and resubmit your materials. Do not contact Software Certifications to ask the status of your package. If you want to be sure the package has been received, send it via a controlled trackable shipper (e.g. US Mail - Certified Receipt, Federal Express, etc.)

Q6. When can I submit my Recertification materials?

A. Recertification materials can be submitted at any time after earning 120 CPE credits; but the choice of a date impacts your potential new recertification deadline. Recertification journals and payment will typically be submitted up to six months before, or two months after, your current recertification experation date. If accepted, the recertification process will issue new credentials showing an additional three year term for certification from your original expiration date. However, if submitted more than six months in advance, a new expiration date will be calculated three years from the date of recertification. This means that the longest any certificant can go between recertifications is three and a half years (e.g. six months early plus the normal three years), ensuring that the value of recertification is never diluted by allowing too much time between recertification dates because of an early submission during one of the cycles.

A. Software Certifications website contains extensive information describing the recertification process and associated forms. The forms require you to completely describe each activity, including describing the specific CBOK category supported and the improvements in your professional competency attained by participating in the activity. If an activity qualifies, you'll know this as you complete the forms. If you struggle to complete the forms for an activity (e.g. you can't rationalize the CBOK category, or you can't describe how an activity enhanced your professional development), then the activity should not be reported. Do NOT ask Software Certifications to prescreen activities. Because your description and rationale are critical components of the recertification process, it is not possible to say whether or not specific activities would be acceptable without the full submission materials.

A. Each individual item in your recertification package is evaluated separately. It's possible that some of your items will be accepted while others are rejected. If the accepted items still add up to the required 120 CPE hours, your package will be accepted even though some of the items have been rejected. If the total accepted hours is less than the required 120 CPE credit hours, your entire package is rejected and you will be notified of the rejected items. Upon correction, the entire package needs to be resubmitted for reevaluation. Because this takes time, certificants are urged to submit their recertification packages early enough to support an extra iteration if they have doubts about the items they are submitting. Also, submitting more than the required 120 CPE hours helps ensure that one or two rejected items will not impact the actual recertification.