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SHRM Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) Exam
The SHRM-CP is SHRM's certification exam for early to mid-career HR professionals, assessing operational HR knowledge and behavioral competencies based on the SHRM BASK.
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Questions134 multiple-choice questions: 80 stand-alone knowledge-based items and 54 scenario-based situational judgment items; 24 items are unscored field-test questions
Testing time3 hours 40 minutes of exam time in two independently timed 110-minute sections (one optional 15-minute break; the clock does not stop)
ScoringCriterion-referenced passing standard set by the Modified Angoff method; all candidates who pass receive the maximum scaled score of 200
Exam feeUSD 350 SHRM member / USD 450 nonmember early-bird; USD 399 member / USD 499 nonmember standard (reduced military USD 320/369 member and student USD 150/199 member rates; each rate includes a USD 50 nonrefundable application fee)
Prep options
Study resources for SHRM-CP
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- SHRM
- Category
- Human Resources & Payroll
- Current version
- Current specification based on the SHRM Body of Applied Skills and Knowledge (SHRM BASK); no public version label
- Where it applies
- Global
- Exam languages
- English, Arabic, Korean
- Score scale
- 120–200 scaled score
- Testing provider
- Prometric
- Format
- Computer-based, delivered in person at Prometric test centers
- Availability
- Two testing windows per year at Prometric test centers (2026: May 1 - July 15 and Dec. 1, 2026 - Feb. 15, 2027), with early-bird and standard application periods
- Results
- Preliminary pass/did not pass decision at the test center upon completion; official results available in the SHRM Certification Portal approximately two to three weeks after testing
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
134 multiple-choice items of two types (80 stand-alone knowledge items and 54 situational judgment items); half the items cover three behavioral competency clusters (Leadership, Interpersonal, Business) and half cover three HR knowledge domains (People, Organization, Workplace); 40% of items are situational judgment, 10% foundational knowledge, 50% HR-specific knowledge.
Where rules vary
SHRM describes the SHRM-CP/SHRM-SCP as the global standard for HR certification; Prometric lists regional contact centers across the Americas, Asia Pacific, and EMEA and publishes global pass rates. The Arabic-language form is limited to residents of listed Arabic-speaking countries and the Korean form to South Korea residents; some countries are subject to U.S. OFAC restrictions.
Eligibility
None required: SHRM-CP candidates are not required to hold an HR title and do not need a degree or previous HR experience; SHRM membership is not required and candidates need not be employed when applying
Retake policy
Unsuccessful candidates may retest only in a future testing window by applying as a new candidate and paying the full exam fee; testing the same exam in the same window is prohibited