Certification Renewals - Is it required to take certification specific courses to renew a cert?

[Dietmar Doerschlag]

Hello Community. I am on the CertMetrics portal looking at my certification credentials and the CEs that need to be earned to renew them (100 of course).

In each credentials it lists  a Complete Folder 1 and then 1.1 Required: Exam Renewal for the specific certification (unfortunately I cannot upload a screen shot here). It then lists a folder 1.2  with CE for coursework, attending local and global events and presenting at events.  What is listed under folder 1.1  seems to be specific to the certification (ACP-620/120/420/520). 

My question therefore is: Is it required to complete COURSEWORK SPECIFIC TO THE CERTIFICATION I HOLD in addition to general coursework on Atlassian University? I am asking, as this is the case for Atlassian Accreditations (Technical and Sales). If the answer to my question is Yes, then where do I find those certification specific courses?  I was digging around on Atlassian University and could not find them. 

The logical next question is:

As I hold multiple certs, and CE are applied to all certs, I do not want to renew all certs at the same time, as it would not extend the full two years on all of them. Is it a correct assumption that one would therefore complete the certification specific course work close to the expiration date? If yes, where do I find this coursework?

Thanks. 

[Ree Kent · Accepted solution]

Hi @Dietmar Doerschlag!
The coursework to be completed does not need to be related to the certification. CE units are applied to all of your certifications. 

Here are a couple of additional links -  The new certification renewal program is now live! and Maintain your Certification

Hope that helps!

[Dietmar Doerschlag]

Thank you Ree and Trudy, your detailed answers are appreciated and clears this topic up once and for all. Speaking with several others here in my company, we found the wording in section 1.1 a bit confusing and interpreted this as specific course requirements. Of course, as Partner Consultants we also think about Accreditation renewals which DO require specific courses.  Re-writing the certification exam (option 1) is the last thing I will do, guaranteed. 

I am intrigued by the fact that, for example, I could do a Cloud Org. Course and it then applies against ACP-420 (JSM Project Admin) and ACP-620 (Jira Project Admin) renewals, two rather different topics. 

It also means that when I meet the 100 CE threshold, ALL certs I have renewed at the same time (which is awesome) but with the same reset expiration date, which means that the last cert I obtained (14 months after the first one) will only renew for 10 months, and not for 24 months as is the case for the first one. The good thing is that this is a temporary problem, and in the next renewal cycle all certs renew for 2 years, as they all have the same reset expiration date. If what I am stating here is incorrect, please let me know. 

Happy certifying.

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Dietmar Doerschlag 

Section 1.1 is one method for renewing your certification which is to take a certification exam. If you choose that path, then you must take a certification exam that is matches the certification.

Section 1.2 is the other method for renewing your certification, which is to use CEUs earned from coursework and ACE. 

Details about maintaining certifications can be found here:

https://university.atlassian.com/student/activity/836788-maintain-your-certifications

It includes an example walk-through of how the earning and entry of CEU items affects the certification renewal.

On that page there are no statements that say the courses you take must be relevant to the certifications you want to renew.

If you choose the CEU path then any courses that you take in Atlassian University and enter into Certmetrics will count towards all certificate renewals.

If you want to renew a specific certification by taking a certification exam instead, completing the coursework to prepare for that exam can optionally be entered to get CEU credit towards all certificate renewals.

Certification renewal based on CEUs will occur automatically based on the entry of CEUs into Certmetrics. If you want to delay the renewal, delay the entry of the CEU items into certmetrics. But, as you enter them, they will automatically be applied to all certifications

[Ree Kent]

Thanks for the response @Trudy Claspill , but one minor change. The date that matters is the date of the activity, not when it is entered. It is encouraged to enter activities as soon as they are completed so that candidates can see their progress. 

[Trudy Claspill]

Thank you for that correction @Ree Kent .

I understand that the activity date affects to which certs a CEU will apply (which certs were active at the time of the activity), and a given activity/CEU can expire and become irrelevant based on the activity date.

However, does the cert renewal date update based on the activity date, or based on when the final qualifying activity gets entered into certmetrics?

If I have a cert in the renewal period and

• I have all the qualifying activities done but have not entered them in certmetrics,
• and the activity dates are such that they apply to my current cert
• and the activity dates would not "expire" for several months,
• and enter them now

then the new renewal date would be relative to today, correct?

But what if I wait and enter the activities later 30 days from now? Is the new renewal date then 30 days later, because I waited 30 days to enter the activities?

[Ree Kent]

@Trudy Claspill The date that is used for calculating renewal is the activity date, not the upload date. It is not advisable to wait, as entering the activity later does not impact the renewal dates, and it is possible to forget about the activity or lose the image to be uploaded. Also, entering the activities as you earn them will help you plan for how many CE units are still needed.

Here is an example: A certification suspends on Jan 1, 2026 and expires on April 1, 2026.

The last activity needed to renew is earned on Dec 1, 2025.

If the candidate enters the activity on Dec 2, 2025. The new suspension date will be Dec 1, 2027, and the expiration date will be March 1, 2028. (Note that the new suspension date is two years from the date of the last activity.)

If the candidate waits to enter the activity until March 2026 the dates would be the same as if they had entered them on Dec 2, 2025. Nothing is gained by waiting to enter the activity. 

If you want to delay renewal, you could wait to earn the last activity near the suspension date. HTH!

[Trudy Claspill]

Thank you @Ree Kent !

I was sure that during one the live session talking about the renewal process advice was given to delay the entries to get the latest possible new suspension date.

I'm glad you cleared that up!