Credentialing Overview
Purchasing a Passport, being assessed on the Skill Standards and earning Skill Points and experience hours leads to Certificates and Credentials…
The heart of the WCA credentialing program are the skill standards which are an observable, measurable level of achievement or performance. Rather than using a written test to determine a candidate’s skill level, we feel it’s much more useful to observe someone using a tool, so we’ve written thousands of Skill Standards for hundreds of tools covering a broad spectrum of the woodworking industry.
There are a number of tool categories, with each tool broken down into a number of operations, each of which has two potential testing levels:
Level 1 – Basic woodworking skills – Output oriented
Level 2 – Intermediate to advanced woodworking skills – Setup oriented
The WCA Passport is your entry into the program and also the representation of your achievements as you advance through the credentialing process.
Cost: $55 Learn more…
Skill Points are earned each time a candidate is tested, or assessed, on a tool operation which are accumulated and used to earn a credential. Testing a level 1 earns one point, and testing at level 2 earns an additional one point. Assessment credits are purchased from the WCA and spent each time a candidate is assessed.
One Skill Point uses one assessment credit at a cost of $5 per credit.
Sawblade Certificate
Available to high school students only, no experience requirements + passing grade on Basic Skills Written Test + 10 Skill Points. Learn more…
Credentials
There are five main levels of credential that can be earned, plus the Sawblade Certificate that is for high school students only. Learn more…
Green Credential
6 months (800 hours) experience, work or school + 30 Skill points
