ITIL exam fees and recertification

DPI is shared between Managing Professional and Strategic Leader. Candidates pursuing both designations only sit DPI once. Only Foundation can be sat exam-only; every module above Foundation requires accredited training (an ATO course or PeopleCert Official eLearning), and the £1,359 figure is PeopleCert eLearning with the exam included. Module prices are uniform at that figure across the Managing Professional and Strategic Leader modules (CDS, DPI and DITS re-verified October 2026), though not across the wider ITIL 4 catalogue: the practice-based Specialist modules list from £684 and the single-practice Practitioner modules from £227.

PeopleCert also lists a cheaper £682 exam bundle on each module page, and it is easy to mistake for a first-sitting route. It is not. PeopleCert attaches the note "For exam retake only. Training through an accredited partner or ITIL Official eLearning required" to that option on every module above Foundation, verified October 2026 on Create, Deliver and Support; Direct, Plan and Improve; Digital and IT Strategy; and ITIL Product (Version 5). The same slot on both Foundation products reads "Self-study option" instead, which is why Foundation genuinely can be bought that way and a module cannot. For a first attempt at a module the realistic PeopleCert-direct price is the £1,359 eLearning, which satisfies the training requirement itself; the alternative is an ATO course with the voucher included in the course price. Budget £682 as a resit, not as a cheaper way in.

ITIL 4 and ITIL (Version 5) certifications carry a three-year renewal cycle that applies to all levels, Foundation included, counted from the original certification date. Holders keep a certification current through the PeopleCert Plus membership: they accumulate continuing-professional-development points through professional activity (work experience, conference attendance, related certification) and log 20 a year for three consecutive years, at least 5 of them from professional experience. Where credits fall short, re-examination is the fallback.

The route most budgets miss is free. PeopleCert treats every certification in a product suite as sharing a single renewal date, three years after the most recent exam taken, so a candidate who sits any further ITIL exam inside the window re-dates the whole suite without buying a membership at all. That matters for a programme already planning a second module: sequencing it before the renewal date removes the renewal line rather than adding to it.

Booking the ITIL 4 Foundation exam directly without an Accredited Training Organization course is permitted and supported. The candidate logs in to the PeopleCert portal, selects the exam, and books an online proctored sitting.

This route applies to Foundation only. For every module above Foundation, PeopleCert makes accredited training mandatory and will not release exam results without proof of completion, so there is no genuine exam-only path at Managing Professional or Strategic Leader. For Foundation self-study, the trade-offs are no structured preparation and no instructor support; the official guidance eBook is purchasable separately. Best suited to self-directed learners with prior ITSM experience.

• UK exam fees with VAT detail
• Exam fees by region
• Per-level certification cost
• AXELOS ITIL certification cost