ITIL® credit system and how to switch to ITIL 4

The ITIL® Credit System supports the ITIL certification scheme by recognizing your investment in ITIL certifications. ITIL is currently evolving from ITIL v3 to ITIL 4. What are the recommendations for candidates?

• New to ITIL: Start your journey with ITIL 4 Foundation
• ITIL Foundation certified (any version) or ITIL v3 up to 6 credits collected: Keep your skills up-to-date and take ITIL 4 Foundation
• ITIL v3 more than 6 credits collected: Continue your ITIL v3 journey, collect 17 credits for an easy transition to ITIL 4 Managing Professional
• ITIL Expert/Master: Take ITIL 4 Managing Transition module

ITIL v3 scheme
Within the ITIL credit system, each ITIL certification has been assigned a specific credit value, based upon its level of ITIL content. Upon successful completion of any ITIL examination recognized under the scheme, you will be awarded both the certification and the credits attached. The credits earned through this system can then be used towards the ITIL Expert level of certification,
for which you must have earned a required number of credits (22) from a selection of certifications, including ITIL Practitioner (3 credits), which cover the full spectrum of ITIL best practice.

The 17 credits required before Managing across the Lifecycle (MALC) to advance to ITIL Expert can be earned in any order once the two credits for ITIL Foundation have been completed.
ITIL Practitioner can be taken immediately after Foundation, or after completing any number of Intermediate modules.

ITIL 4
AXELOS released ITIL 4 Foundation in February 2019 with higher levels due for release throughout 2019 and into 2020. The certification scheme is aligned with ITIL v3 and has been streamlined to provide clear paths for practitioners to continue their ITIL journey.

To obtain the designation ITIL 4 Managing Professional or ITIL 4 Strategic Leader, the candidate must complete all modules in each stream, with ITIL Strategist being a universal module
for both streams.

ITIL v3 Foundation
If a candidate has taken ITIL v3 Foundation, then the recommended approach is to take the ITIL 4 Foundation exam in order to be able to transition to the new scheme.

ITIL v3 Intermediate (3 or 4 credits achieved)
End-learners holding a low number of credits beyond Foundation have two recommended options to transition to ITIL 4 dependent on what they want to achieve in the scheme.

1) Candidates are encouraged to take ITIL 4 Foundation and a further module in their preferred area of interest, becoming either an ITIL Specialist, Strategist or Leader.

2) Candidates are encouraged to achieve 17 credits from ITIL v3 to become eligible to take the ITIL 4 Managing Professional transition module. This means that students will continue
to collect v3 credits until they reach the required number of 17 credits. They will then be able to complete the ITIL 4 Managing Professional transition module. ITIL v3 exams will be completed in 2020.

ITIL Intermediate/Practitioner (6 or more credits achieved beyond Foundation)
If candidates have earned 6 v3 credits or more, it is in their interest to continue collecting v3 credits and prepare for the ITIL 4 Managing Professional transition module. They must earn 17 credits.

ITIL v3 Expert
If a candidate has achieved ITIL v3 Expert, they can take the ITIL 4 Managing Professional Transition module as soon as it is released to achieve the ITIL 4 Managing Professional designation. After achieving the ITIL 4 Managing Professional designation, if the end learner is interested in pursuing the ITIL 4 Strategic Leader stream, they would only need to complete the ITIL 4 Leader Digital & Strategy module. Once they have completed both streams they are eligible to move towards ITIL Master.

Earlier ITIL Certificate Holders
Some earlier ITIL certificates, which were awarded under previous versions of ITIL, can be used to enter the current certifications scheme. For more information click here.

EDU Trainings offers an extensive portfolio of ITIL courses.

Courses overview