SHRM-SCP guides
Direct answers for SHRM-SCP format, studying, exam day, scores, and what to do next.
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The SHRM-SCP needs three calendar years of strategic-level HR work at 1,000 hours or more each, or three years holding the SHRM-CP plus a strategic role. Here is how to count your years, what SHRM means by strategic, and what to keep in case of an audit.
Read the guideThe SHRM-SCP uses the SHRM-CP's format and 2026 weights: 134 questions, 24 of them unscored, in two 110-minute sections. Here is the structure in one table and, area by area, what the BASK's advanced proficiency indicators add at the senior level.
Read the guideSHRM-SCP situational judgment items are keyed like the SHRM-CP's, but judged through a strategic lens. Here is how the BASK's advanced indicators change the best answer, the habits that cost senior candidates points, and an original worked scenario.
Read the guideSHRM's certification staff wrote that SHRM-SCP examinees needed 80 to 120 hours of preparation. Here is how to size your own number, split it by the 2026 weights, study both sets of BASK indicators, and fit a 10-, 12- or 16-week plan to the current window.
Read the guideAfter a SHRM-SCP result that isn't a pass, you can retest in any later window at the full fee, or apply for the SHRM-CP instead. Here are SHRM's actual retake rules, how to read the SCP feedback report, and how SHRM's own advice helps you choose.
Read the guideThe SHRM-SCP costs $399 for SHRM members and $499 for nonmembers at standard rates, the same as the SHRM-CP. Here is the fee table, who can pay less (employers, military, eligible students), the current deadlines, and the registration steps that avoid a denied application.
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How the SHRM-SCP exam is structured, timed and scored.
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