2026 SHRM BASK Changes for the SHRM-CP: Inclusive Mindset, AI Content and New Weights

If your SHRM-CP book, course or flashcards were made before 2026, three things in them are now out of date: one competency, the AI coverage, and the content weights. The rest of the exam stayed put. This guide compares the 2026 SHRM BASK and the 2026 handbook (revised May 2026) with the 2025 handbook, all opened on October 27, 2026.

What the 2026 SHRM BASK changed

The BASK's "New Material in the 2026 SHRM BASK" page lists four changes:

• One merged competency. Inclusion & Diversity and Global Mindset were combined "to eliminate overlap and refine definitions to align with current HR practice globally."
• AI in the behavioral competencies. Sub-competencies, proficiency indicators and key concepts were updated "to reflect the current and future use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the practice of HR globally."
• Expanded HR Expertise. Proficiency indicators and key concepts for the functional areas were updated and expanded.
• New examples and a new order. SHRM added examples for key concepts throughout and reorganized their order "to flow more logically."

SHRM's development history in the same document says research in 2024 and 2025 validated both trends, and that Inclusive Mindset was introduced as a refined competency "effective in 2026."

Inclusive Mindset, the new SHRM-CP competency

The BASK defines Inclusive Mindset as the KSAOs needed to create a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and feel a sense of belonging, while promoting collaboration "across diverse boundaries worldwide." It sits in the Leadership cluster, next to Leadership & Navigation and Ethical Practice, and has five sub-competencies:

The global side of the merger shows most clearly in the fifth sub-competency and in key concepts such as cultural models (the BASK names Hall, Hofstede, Schein and Trompenaars) and practices for globally diverse workforces, such as translating policies into local languages and accounting for time zones when scheduling meetings. Other key concepts range from approaches to building an inclusive workplace (executive sponsorship, employee resource groups, psychological safety) to barriers involving conscious and unconscious bias and I&D metrics.

In the 2026 BASK, the Interpersonal cluster has two competencies, Relationship Management and Communication, and the Business cluster has three: Business Acumen, Consultation and Analytical Aptitude.

Situational judgment items are tied to these competencies, so Inclusive Mindset scenarios are worth practicing at the SHRM-CP level. Planned SHRM-CP items mapped to Leadership, including Inclusive Mindset, are part of full prep at launch.

Where AI appears in the 2026 SHRM BASK

SHRM says AI examples were added across the behavioral competencies and HR Expertise. In the PDF's text, the explicit AI references Passy found sit in these places, none of them on the behavioral competency pages themselves:

Technology Management also lists, for advanced professionals, assessing and implementing AI-based and automation technologies, which is SHRM-SCP territory. At the SHRM-CP level, study AI the way the BASK frames it: as a tool HR uses and governs, with attention to bias, fairness and privacy.

SHRM-CP weights: 2025 vs. 2026

The clusters still total 50% and the domains 50%. SHRM doesn't explain the new numbers, so treat any explanation you read elsewhere as a guess. One caution: the graphics on SHRM's own SHRM-CP page still show the 2025 percentages and, in the question-types chart, "15 HR functional areas." The handbook is the document SHRM calls the primary source of information for certification, so plan on its 2026 numbers. To see how this plays out in practice volume, compare the planned SHRM-CP question counts per cluster and domain with the table above.

What did not change on the SHRM-CP

Delivery is the one non-content change: the 2025 handbook offered remote proctoring for U.S. candidates, and the 2026 handbook and SHRM's exam page offer test centers only.

Eight or nine competencies? SHRM's pages disagree

SHRM's own documents give both numbers, as checked on October 27, 2026:

Passy's reading: the 2026 BASK's competency pages define eight competencies (three Leadership, two Interpersonal, three Business), and the BASK's own history (page 7) says the earlier structure "included nine behavioral competencies." The "nine" references look like text carried over from before the merger. Study the eight in the 2026 PDF, and expect SHRM to reconcile its pages eventually.

Is a pre-2026 SHRM-CP study guide still usable?

Use this checklist on any material you already own:

• Separate "Inclusion & Diversity" and "Global Mindset" chapters. Pre-2026 structure. The content is still relevant, but study it through the five Inclusive Mindset sub-competencies and their proficiency indicators.
• Weights of 17%, 16.5%, 16.5%, 18%, 18%, 14%. The 2024–2025 handbooks. Re-plan your hours with the 2026 numbers.
• 160 questions, 15 functional areas or remote testing. These don't match SHRM's current handbook. Check everything else in that material against the 2026 BASK.
• No AI examples in Talent Acquisition, L&D, Technology Management or Risk Management. Add the 2026 key concepts from the BASK yourself.

SHRM's pages don't say which testing window first used the 2026 BASK. For the December 1, 2026, to February 15, 2027, window, the 2026 BASK and the May 2026 handbook are the documents SHRM publishes, and SHRM had announced no further change for 2027 as of October 27, 2026.

Study the 2026 SHRM-CP content next

Download the free 2026 BASK from SHRM and read the Inclusive Mindset pages first. Then try the free SHRM-CP practice questions, which are written on the 2026 BASK and include an Inclusive Mindset scenario, and rebuild your hours with the SHRM-CP study plan guide. The SHRM-CP exam format guide turns the new weights into approximate question counts, and planned SHRM-CP prep written on the 2026 SHRM BASK will follow the same structure when it launches.