The Board Certified Coach Exam Study Guide

The Board Certified Coach Exam Study Guide is our book for candidates preparing for the BCCE. In about 260 pages, it teaches the knowledge the examination samples, trains the case-by-case judgment it rewards, and gives you one honest full-length rehearsal with every answer explained. It is available now on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions.

Every copy includes a $50 coupon for the BCC Exam Prep course and simulator. The guide is $49.99, so if you continue to timed practice, the book pays for itself.

What the Board Certified Coach Exam Study Guide is

The full title is The Board Certified Coach Exam Study Guide: Knowledge, Judgment and a Full-Length Practice Exam, by BCC Exam Prep with the Positive Psychology Institute. The paperback is 8.5 x 11. We developed the guide from the BCC Exam Prep course and the Positive Psychology Institute’s Foundations of Coaching curriculum.

The BCCE tests what you know and what you would do with it in a case you have never seen, under time, with four plausible answers. The guide trains both, in the order of CCE’s 2025 content outline. For the format itself, see what the Board Certified Coach exam measures.

Who the BCC exam study guide is for

• First-time candidates who want one structured path through all six domains before they practice.
• Experienced coaches trained under another set of standards, who need to see where the BCC Code of Ethics differs. Our BCC Code of Ethics guide previews the standards that most often decide exam items.
• Retake candidates who want a new full-length rehearsal and a method for turning misses into a short review list.

What is inside the guide, part by part

Part I: The exam and how to read a case

The format, the six domains and their weights, a method for reading a vignette, and how to tell the best answer from the one that is almost as good.

Parts II to VII: The six domains

One part per domain, each with its share of scored items:

• Part II: Ethical and Professional Standards (20 percent)
• Part III: Agreements and Goal-Setting (10 percent)
• Part IV: Coach Presence and Applied Skills (25 percent)
• Part V: Effective Coach-Client Communication and Rapport (15 percent)
• Part VI: Facilitating Client Growth and Accountability (15 percent)
• Part VII: Coaching Business Practices and Professional Development (15 percent)

Every section teaches the core concepts, works through an example and closes with an exam-style decision and a second-best test, described below.

Part VIII: A full-length practice exam

Twelve new cases, each a vignette followed by ten questions: 120 questions in three hours, the shape of the BCCE. The clients range from a fire officer to a mayor to a doctoral candidate. None repeats a case from our simulator.

Part IX: Answers, explanations and your plan

An explanation for every option of every question: why the key is best, why each other option loses, and what would have made the runner-up right. Then scoring by domain, an error-log method that sorts your misses by cause, and an exam-day pacing plan.

At the back of the book

Study plans for two, four and eight weeks, a testing-day sheet, a quick reference to the BCC Code of Ethics, a crosswalk from CCE’s content outline to the sections and practice questions, and a glossary. Our guide to how to prepare for the Board Certified Coach exam explains the plans.

A sample of the teaching: the second-best test

Many BCCE items come down to two defensible answers. The guide teaches you to find the case fact that separates them, then to name the fact that would make the runner-up correct. That second step, the second-best test, keeps you reading the case in front of you rather than answering from habit.

An example written for this page:

A self-paying client’s agreed goal is a promotion by June, but for three sessions she has steered toward a mentoring program she wants to build, and today she calls the promotion “someone else’s idea.” The stronger response reflects that pattern back and asks whether she wants to revisit the goal; the second-best response, building her promotion plan, would become correct if she had already weighed both paths and chosen the promotion again.

Every teaching section ends this way, and Part IX applies the same logic to every practice question. For more items in this style, see our Board Certified Coach exam sample questions.

How the guide works with the course and simulator

Start with the guide; rehearse with the simulator. The book teaches the knowledge and gives you one full-length rehearsal. Print cannot time you case by case, hold feedback until a section ends the way the exam does, or show how your results change as you practice. The BCC Exam Prep course adds:

• teaching modules for all six domains, with short concept videos and an audio discussion of every module
• timed case simulations that build from short practice runs to a full-length sitting in exam mode, with feedback held until the section ends
• an explanation for every option
• a readiness report that shows where your results are strongest and weakest
• an extended-time practice path for candidates with CCE-approved accommodations

Together, the guide and the course are the most complete BCC preparation we know of. The course is $297 (an introductory price through December 31, 2026; $397 from January 1), or $247 with the reader code. To see how it works first, try the free sample. For a wider view, read our comparison of BCC exam prep options.

How to redeem your $50 coupon

1. Go to bccexamprep.com/book.
2. Enter your email address and the passphrase printed in the book.
3. Your single-use code arrives by email. It is tied to the address you entered and is valid for 90 days.

One code per reader; it cannot be combined with other offers. Current terms are on the redemption page.

Who made the guide

The author is the developer of the BCC Exam Prep simulation, a Board Certified Coach and Professional Fellow of the Institute of Coaching, who also founded the Positive Psychology Institute. He aced the BCC exam and built the simulation around what he found it measures: the ability to choose, under time pressure, what a competent coach would do next.

BCC Exam Prep is independent of the Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE) and is not endorsed by it. CCE’s current BCCE Handbook governs eligibility, fees, scheduling, retesting and scoring.

Frequently asked questions

Is the study guide enough to prepare for the BCC exam?

The guide covers all six domains and includes a full-length practice exam with every option explained: a complete course of reading and one honest rehearsal. What a book cannot give you is repeated timed practice in exam mode and a readiness report that tracks your results. For those, the $50 coupon in every copy goes toward the course and simulator.

Are the practice questions real BCCE questions?

No. Every case and question in the guide is original and fictional, and none is an actual BCCE item. The practice exam follows the examination’s published shape: 12 cases, each a vignette followed by 10 questions, for 120 questions in three hours. Sit it once, under time, after you finish the reading.

How do I use the $50 coupon?

Go to bccexamprep.com/book, enter your email address and the passphrase printed in the book, and a single-use code arrives by email. The code is tied to that address, is valid for 90 days and takes the full course and simulator from $297 to $247.

Every copy includes a $50 coupon for the BCC Exam Prep course and simulator.