Training, exams and certification
Training, exams and certification
Forty questions in one hour, closed book, seventy per cent to pass. Framework and process are twenty-five of the forty questions; the principles are fifteen.
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The PECB ISO 31000 Foundation exam checks that you know the principles, the framework and the process of risk management as ISO 31000 describes them.
| Questions | 40, multiple choice with three options each |
|---|---|
| Duration | 1 hour |
| Pass mark | 70% — 28 of 40 |
| Materials | Closed book — no standard, course materials or notes |
| Non-native language | 10 additional minutes for Foundation exams taken on paper, on request |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Typical course | Two days, 14 CPD credits |
| Title awarded | PECB Certificate Holder in ISO 31000 Foundation — no experience requirement |
| Delivery | Online in the PECB Exams app with a remote invigilator, or on paper at a PECB partner’s site |
| Retakes | One free retake within 12 months for candidates trained by a PECB partner (included in our Exam Bundle) |
Two domains, forty questions, published weights:
| Risk management framework and process | 25 questions · 62.5% | |
| Fundamental principles and concepts of risk management | 15 questions · 37.5% |
Ninety seconds a question and no book: this is a recall exam. The definition of risk as the effect of uncertainty on objectives, the eight principles around the creation and protection of value, the six components of the framework and the steps of the process are what the questions are built on.
You can drop twelve questions. That is a reasonable margin, but the fifteen questions on principles are where candidates who studied only the process lose it.
Learn the lists. Eight principles, six framework components, the steps of the process: closed book means you need them by heart.
Learn the definitions word for word. Several options will sound plausible; the right one is the wording of the standard.
Know what ISO 31000 is not. It gives guidelines, not requirements: organizations are not certified against it.
Forty multiple-choice questions, with three options each.
70 per cent, which is 28 of 40.
One hour. Foundation exams taken on paper allow 10 extra minutes, on request, for candidates sitting in a language other than their own.
No. It is closed book: no standard, course materials or notes.
No. There are no prerequisites and no experience requirement.
Sources. Every figure on this page comes from PECB’s published candidate handbooks, brochures and certification pages, checked in October 2026.
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