ICDL/ECDL

Overview

ICDL (International Certification of Digital Literacy) is a digital skills certification run by the ICDL Foundation, which describes itself as the regulatory body for ICDL certification. The foundation's site lists ECDL as another of its registered names. Certification is available in more than 100 territories through a network of more than 20,000 accredited test centres.

Levels or stages

ICDL is modular. You can take any number of modules in any order, and a chosen group of modules is called an ICDL Profile. The foundation groups its modules into programmes:

• ICDL CORE: for employability in a modern office. Its six modules are AI Essentials, Cyber Security, Presentation, Computer and Online Essentials, Documents and Spreadsheets. Completing all six earns the ICDL Certificate of Digital Competence.

• ICDL PROFESSIONAL: advanced modules for people in technology-reliant roles. Examples are 3D Design, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Data Analytics, Databases, Digital Marketing, Project Planning and advanced versions of Documents, Presentation and Spreadsheets.

• ICDL DIGITAL CITIZEN: for people with no computer or internet experience. Modules include Computer Essentials, Digital Citizen and Tablet Essentials.

• ICDL DIGITAL STUDENT: for school students. Modules include Essential Skills, Computational Thinking, Computing and Robotics.

How to apply

Choose an ICDL Accredited Test Centre, which can be a commercial training provider, a school or college, a corporate training centre or a government institution. The ICDL site has a country map for finding one and says to check that a centre is accredited. The site does not state test formats, timings or pass marks on these pages, so confirm them with the test centre.

FAQs