Certified AI Compliance Foundation — EU AI Act

Who this certification is for

The competency standard for reading and applying the EU AI Act — risk tiers, roles, obligations, and timelines — for the professionals who must operationalise it.

Who it is for. Compliance, legal, and product professionals responsible for EU AI Act conformity.

Prerequisites

No formal prerequisites. Candidates are expected to have professional experience in a compliance, legal, or risk function.

Status

Open for registrationOpen for registration · Examinations from October 2026

This is the Foundation grade of the AI Compliance — EU AI Act family — Practitioner and Fellow follow it.

What the examination covers

The examination is mapped to the EU AI Act. Weightings are indicative until each syllabus issues.

1. 01

   Scope, definitions, and risk tiers20%

   What the Act covers, and the prohibited, high-risk, limited, and minimal tiers a system is classified into.

2. 02

   Roles and duties20%

   Provider, deployer, importer, distributor, and general-purpose model provider — which the organisation is, and how the role can change.

3. 03

   High-risk obligations and conformity25%

   The obligations attaching to high-risk systems, and the conformity-assessment route to placing one on the market.

4. 04

   General-purpose AI and transparency15%

   Obligations for general-purpose models, and the transparency duties that reach beyond high-risk.

5. 05

   Timeline, enforcement, and governance20%

   When each obligation applies, the enforcement and governance architecture, and current deferrals.

Curriculum mapping indicates alignment of learning content with published frameworks. It does not constitute endorsement by, or certification under, any standards organisation or regulator.

What preparation is anchored to

Anchored to the EU AI Act text and official guidance; timeline content is date-checked against the current implementation schedule. Candidates prepare independently against the published materials.

The Council certifies individuals — it sells no preparation of any kind, and how a candidate prepared is never visible to an assessor. How impartiality is protected.

One route: the examination

The full rules — registration, identity verification, examination conduct, adjustments, retakes — are in the candidate handbook.

Fees and the pass standard are fixed in the scheme rules and confirmed ahead of the October 2026 examination window.

How candidates are assessed

Examination centred on a supplied AI system and organisation, requiring its classification under the Act and the obligations that follow from it.

Every script is marked twice — an AI assessor first and provisional, an independent human assessor second and final. The credential carries a unique identifier any employer can check on the public register.

Questions about this certification

What are the prerequisites?

No formal prerequisites. Candidates are expected to have professional experience in a compliance, legal, or risk function.

When can I sit the examination?

Registration is open now through the candidate portal; examination sittings run from the October 2026 window and are scheduled at booking.

How is the examination marked?

Every script is marked twice, in a fixed order: an AI assessor first, producing a provisional mark, and an independent human assessor second, whose determination is final on any divergence. No result is issued on automated marking alone, and no adverse decision — a fail, a suspension, a withdrawal — is ever made without a human assessor.

How long is the credential valid?

2 years from the date of issue, recorded on the public register. The term and what follows it are set out in the revalidation policy.

Scheme-wide questions are answered on the FAQ and in the candidate handbook.

Background reading

• What is AI assurance? A practitioner's definition

  Producing credible, independently reviewable evidence that an AI system works as intended — and how that differs from governance and compliance.

• AI governance and assurance certifications compared

  An honest comparison of ISACA AAIA, IAPP AIGP, ISACA AAISM, vendor tool certificates and the Council — including which to take when we are not the answer.