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Failed my CTI exam twice — what finally worked for me

by Tyler B. 31 views3 replies
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Tyler B.OP
May 27, 2026

So I just passed my CTI on the third attempt and honestly I'm still in shock. My first two tries I was scoring in the low 60s, just below the passing threshold, and I couldn't figure out what I was missing. I'd been studying for months using whatever random resources I could find online, which in hindsight was a huge mistake.

What finally turned things around was getting serious with a structured CTI study guide instead of jumping between YouTube videos and random blog posts. I also started hammering a CTI practice test every single day for the last three weeks before my exam — like multiple timed sessions per day. That repetition really exposed the gaps I didn't even know I had, especially around the coaching competency frameworks and the ICF core values sections.

For anyone prepping right now: what resources are you using? I want to share what worked for me and also hear if others have specific exam tips, especially for the recorded session evaluation portion. That part caught me completely off guard the first time.

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Ravi S.
May 27, 2026
Congrats on passing! The recorded session evaluation is brutal if you're not expecting it. I passed on my second attempt and what helped me most was actually doing mock coaching sessions with a study partner and recording them myself. Listening back is humbling but you catch patterns fast. Also I stopped cramming theory and focused on applying the competencies in real scenarios — that shift made a huge difference in how I answered the situational questions.
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Megan P.
May 28, 2026
Wait, is the CTI the same as the CPCC pathway or is this a different credential? I'm new to the ICF ecosystem and genuinely confused about which certification to pursue first. I've been looking at exam tips for both and some of the prep material seems to overlap. Did you find the practice tests matched the actual exam format pretty closely? That's been my biggest concern — spending time on the wrong style of questions.
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Samantha C.
May 28, 2026
Third time is definitely the charm — I passed on attempt three too, no shame in it. The coaching world doesn't talk enough about how specific the CTI exam language is. Once you internalize their exact framing for things like 'powerful questions' versus general listening, the questions get way less tricky.

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