Certifications
This page publishes the assessment plans, the planned sittings and fictional example records. No accreditation is claimed.
FDE Foundations: proposed exam blueprint
This published plan proposes a 90-minute, 60-question assessment. No certification exam is offered.
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Discovery & problem framing | 16% |
| Software & integration craft | 20% |
| Data & AI decisions | 20% |
| Production deployment & reliability | 20% |
| Security & data protection | 14% |
| Communication & handover | 10% |
Proposed pass rule: at least 70 percent in the security domain, regardless of the total score. No scoring engine is available.
FDE Practitioner: proposed capstone plan
The proposed Practitioner plan describes three capstone briefs and a live technical defense. The briefs are for self-study; external review and the defense are not available. The rubrics and briefs are public: see the course page.
Planned sittings
Planned sessions are listed below. Booking opens after the live payment checkout and production deployment are verified. Join the notify list today; nothing is charged now.
| Sitting | Level | Date and time |
|---|---|---|
| First sitting | Level 1 Foundations | 27 Dec 2026, 13:00 London time |
| First sitting | Level 2 Practitioner | 3 Jan 2027, 13:00 London time |
| Second sitting | Level 1 Foundations | 27 Feb 2027, 13:00 London time |
| Second sitting | Level 2 Practitioner | 3 Mar 2027, 13:00 London time |
A new two month calendar is published for Level 1 and Level 2 on a rolling basis. Level 3 (FDE Advanced) has no sitting yet. It is planned only, and entry requires both Level 1 and Level 2.
Three certificate levels, decided prices
One fixed price per level. One price covers one attempt in a supervised lab session.
| Level | Certificate | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | FDE Foundations | 495 USD |
| 2 | FDE Practitioner | 595 USD |
| 3 | FDE Advanced | 695 USD |
See pricing for what is free today, or join the notify list to be notified when booking opens. Nothing is charged by joining.
Booking status
- Booking opens after the live payment checkout and production deployment are verified. The notify list is open today and free.
- A course purchase is never a prerequisite for an exam.
- The records below are fictional examples, not issued credentials.
- We make no employment or salary claims, and no accreditation claim.
- Secure exam delivery and the verification service go live with the first sitting.
Example record format
Fictional example records with sample names and scores. They show a proposed format only. No credential has been issued, and these pages do not verify real assessment results.
ForwardEngineer
EXAMPLE RECORD FORMAT, NOT AN ISSUED CREDENTIAL
Fictional example record for
Ada Yilmaz (fictional example)
Proposed credential format, not evidence of an examination
FDE Foundations
Example serial
FE-FF-2026-A7K4-9Q2M
Example date
2026-09-27
Example page
forwardengineer.net/verify/fe-ff-2026-a7k4-9q2m
Record type: Example record
| Discovery & problem framing | 82% |
| Software & integration craft | 78% |
| Data & AI decisions | 74% |
| Production & reliability | 71% |
| Security & data protection | 73% |
| Communication & handover | 85% |
Sample score only. The published plan proposes a 70% security threshold; no exam scoring is currently available.
Fictional example record only. No credential has been issued and no assessment result is represented here. This proposed format makes no accreditation claim.
ForwardEngineer
EXAMPLE RECORD FORMAT, NOT AN ISSUED CREDENTIAL
Fictional example record for
Mert Kaya (fictional example)
Proposed credential format, not evidence of an examination
FDE Practitioner
Example serial
FE-PR-2026-C3H8-6T1W
Example date
2026-09-27
Example page
forwardengineer.net/verify/fe-pr-2026-c3h8-6t1w
Record type: Example record
| Integration Delivery (p01) | 84% |
| Secure Knowledge Delivery (p02) | 79% |
| Customer Workflow Delivery (p03) | 88% |
Fictional example: proposed technical defense format under changed constraints (p04).
Fictional example record only. No credential has been issued and no assessment result is represented here. This proposed format makes no accreditation claim.
ForwardEngineer
EXAMPLE RECORD FORMAT, NOT AN ISSUED CREDENTIAL
Fictional example record for
Fictional example record (revocation format)
Proposed credential format, not evidence of an examination
FDE Foundations
Example serial
FE-FF-2026-X9R2-4B7D
Example date
2026-08-15
Example page
forwardengineer.net/verify/fe-ff-2026-x9r2-4b7d
Record type: Example revoked record
| Discovery & problem framing | 76% |
| Software & integration craft | 72% |
| Data & AI decisions | 70% |
| Production & reliability | 69% |
| Security & data protection | 61% |
| Communication & handover | 74% |
Sample score only. The published plan proposes a 70% security threshold; no exam scoring is currently available.
Fictional revocation example. No credential was issued or revoked.
Fictional example record only. No credential has been issued and no assessment result is represented here. This proposed format makes no accreditation claim.
The blueprint and rubrics are published plans, not an available assessment. The Foundations course and practice tasks are self-study materials across these domains.
Straight answers
Certification questions
What is a Practitioner capstone brief?
A self-study project assignment: a fictional but realistic scenario, required deliverables and a weighted self-review rubric. You build the deliverables and score yourself against the rubric; no one reviews or scores it today.
Is there human review for capstones?
No. External review and the proposed live technical defense are not available. The briefs and rubrics are public so you can practice at the intended standard.
How do the three briefs differ?
Integration Delivery tests idempotency, quarantine and honest reporting. Secure Knowledge Delivery tests permission-aware retrieval with an evaluation scorecard. Customer Workflow Delivery tests discovery-to-handover delivery with an approval-gated agent prototype.