Level 01 — Foundation

Most professionals cannot fully name what they bring to a professional exchange.

CORE Foundation provides the structured framework for identifying, organising and proposing the full range of your professional capabilities — not your skills, not your job titles, but the integrated architecture of what you can actually deliver and why that has value.

Level 01 — Foundation

Route Individual

Prerequisites None

Format Self-study or live webinar

Assessment Exam + Practical

Price Free — Founding Cohort

What This Covers

Four practical things Foundation certifies you to do.

Foundation is not a personality assessment or a confidence-building exercise. It is a structured discipline with a defined methodology. These are the four capabilities it develops — each one applicable from the moment you complete the programme.

Identify your capabilities — not just your skills

Skills are what you were trained to do. Capabilities are what you have developed through experience, circumstance, adversity and judgement — and they carry far more value. Foundation gives you the framework to identify and name every one of them with precision. Most professionals go through entire careers unable to articulate what they actually bring.

Translate life experience into economic language

Experience — including experience outside formal employment — generates capabilities that organisations need and will pay for. Foundation teaches you how to read your own history accurately, identify what it has developed in you, and express it in language that has weight in a professional exchange. Not narrative. Not reflection. Structured value proposition.

Enter professional exchanges as a proposer, not a candidate

Most professionals approach interviews and professional exchanges as candidates — people seeking to be selected. Foundation changes this. You learn to understand what organisations are actually acquiring when they post a role, and to position your capabilities as a direct response to that defined need. The dynamic shifts from selection to exchange.

Understand interview dynamics and perform with authority

An interview is a structured professional exchange with predictable mechanics. Foundation covers how those mechanics work, what each party is actually trying to establish, and how a capabilities proposer operates within that structure. You leave knowing how to read the room, respond with precision, and present your value without overstating or underselling it.

Who This Is For

Any professional at any stage who wants to understand and propose their full value.

Foundation has no prerequisites. It is designed for professionals who have accumulated value through experience but lack the structured framework to identify, organise and present it. That includes professionals who are actively job-seeking, those in roles that do not reflect their full capabilities, and those who simply want an accurate account of what they carry.

It is also the entry point for the CORE Leader pathway. Leader certification requires Foundation — the diagnostic capability Leader develops depends on the internal clarity Foundation establishes first.

The Assessment

Two stages. Both are required for certification.

Foundation certification is awarded on the basis of demonstrated knowledge and practical application. Two formats are available. Self-study: work through the material independently and complete both assessment stages on your own schedule. Live webinar: attend structured online sessions with a facilitator and study materials — the same assessment applies at the end. Both routes award the same certification.

Stage 1 — Knowledge Assessment

A 40-question multiple-choice exam covering the CORE framework, the SPEAKS model, the PCORE lifecycle, the Environment Framework and the principles of Professional Capabilities Positioning. The pass mark is 70%. You have three attempts. The exam is timed and completed online through your candidate dashboard.

Stage 2 — Practical Assessment

A written submission demonstrating your ability to apply the framework to your own professional context. You are asked to identify your capabilities, organise them into a coherent value profile, and construct a practical capabilities proposition. Submissions are reviewed by a CORE assessor and returned with a pass or detailed feedback within 10 working days.

What Comes Next

Foundation is the first step in a structured pathway.

Foundation establishes internal clarity — you know what your capabilities are and how to propose them. CORE Leader builds on this with the diagnostic tools to read the environment you operate in, assess its capacity, and direct your capabilities toward full professional expression.

Continue to

CORE Leader — Level 02

Develops the capability to identify when a professional environment is not supporting your growth, know when it is time to move on, and make that decision with clarity rather than frustration. Requires Foundation certification.

Learn about Leader →

Ready to start

Foundation is free for the first 100 certifications. Standard pricing of £150 applies once founding places are filled. The full programme — no shortened assessment, no reduced content.