Register Students in Certiport
Every student needs their own Certiport account before exam day, registered for the Adobe program. You then gather them into an Exam Group so the testing session knows who is coming. Students do Part A; you do Parts B and C.
On this page
Before you start
- Your Certiport account has the right roles. You need Teacher or Organization Administrator (for Exam Groups) and Proctor (for Guide 4), all associated with your school’s CATC. Your Organization Administrator grants these under Org Profile → Associations.
- Parental consent forms. CATCs must collect a signed Parental Consent form before any candidate under 18 sits a Certiport exam. Send the form home 3 to 4 weeks out; it is the item most likely to be missing on exam day.
- Vouchers. Know whether your school’s vouchers sit in the center’s pool or will be assigned to individual students. That choice shows up again in Part C and Guide 4.
Part A: Student creates a Certiport account
Give this a full class period the first time. The form checks names against ID, and fixing a wrong name later takes a support ticket.
A1. Start the sign-up
- Go to www.certiport.com.
- Select the blue Login / Register button in the top right.
- Select Join for free.
- Fill in the first screen:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Country / Region | United States |
| Email address | This becomes the username. See the recommendation below. |
| Password | 12 characters minimum. |
| I agree to the terms… | Required checkbox. |
Representation of the Certiport sign-up flow. The login page offers Join for free; the three-part form follows.
Which email? The email is the username for life, and the certification lives in this account long after graduation. Recommend a personal email the student will still check in five years. Use the school address only if the student has nothing else, and have them write the username in their planner either way. Do not collect student passwords.
A2. Name and birth date
- Enter First Name, optional Middle Name, and Last Name / Surname, exactly as they appear on a government or school ID. No nicknames.
- Check My details match… to confirm the name matches ID. Optionally check Display last name so the last name prints on the certificate.
- Enter Birth Date in the format
01 APR 2009and complete the I’m not a robot check.
Students 12 and under must enter a parent or guardian email, and the account waits for that adult’s approval. This rarely affects high school, but a young ninth grader can hit it.
A3. Register for the Adobe program
- Select My Profile in the top right.
- Open the Programs tab.
- Select Register next to Adobe (and any other program the student will test in, such as Microsoft Office Specialist).
- Read and accept the program’s NDA / EULA. The exam will not launch without it.
| Program | Status | |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe | Not registered | Register10 |
| Autodesk | Not registered | Register |
| Microsoft | Registered |
Each program shows its own NDA/EULA after Register. The list of programs varies.
A4. Collect usernames
Have each student submit their Certiport username (the email) to you through a Schoology assignment or Google Form. You need the exact string for Part B. A spreadsheet with Last, First, Certiport username, Consent form returned (Y/N) is the single most useful document on exam day.
Part B: Teacher creates an Exam Group
An Exam Group is a roster of candidates tied to your CATC. It is optional for Compass Cloud, but it lets you pre-load who is testing and select the group when you create the session.
B1. Open Exam Groups
- Log in at www.certiport.com.
- Switch your role to Teacher (or Organization Administrator / Organization Member) from the role dropdown.
- Select the Exam Groups tab.
- Select Add Exam Group. If you are associated with more than one testing center, select your CATC first.
| Name | Teacher | Students | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Illustrator 2026 | Teacher, M. | 22 | Inactive |
Tab names shown for the Teacher role. Organization Administrators see more tabs.
B2. Fill in the Exam Group
- Complete the details:
| Field | Required? | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Teacher (dropdown) | Optional | Select yourself so the group shows on your list. |
| Exam Group Name | Required | P3 Photoshop Dec 2026. Section, exam, month. |
| Description | Optional | Room and session time. |
| Location | Optional | Lab room number. |
| Number of Students | Optional | Roster count. |
| Status | Leave Active | |
| Print Exam Results | Choice | Allow it if you want paper score reports for portfolios. |
| Allow Open Enrollment | Only if needed | For candidates testing at multiple CATC locations. Leave off for a single school. |
- Assign an exam (optional but recommended): select the Program (Adobe), Language, and Exam the group will take.
- Proctors: select Use any associated proctor. This is Certiport’s recommended setting and means any proctor tied to your CATC can run the session if you are out.
- Access rights (optional): give a co-teacher Owner, Editor, or Viewer rights.
- Select Update to review, then Done to create the group.
Exam titles in the dropdown follow Certiport's official names, which differ from the app name alone.
B3. Add students to the group
- Open the Exam Group. At the bottom of the page, find Add Additional Users.
- Search each student by their Certiport username and add them.
- Note the Exam Group’s number. You can enter it in the Exam group number field when you create the Compass Cloud session.
| Name | Username | |
|---|---|---|
| Rivera, Jordan | jordan.rivera@example.com | Add |
Search results only return students who finished Part A. A student who cannot be found has not created an account, or gave you a different email.
Part C: Vouchers
Compass Cloud charges at the moment you create the session, and it offers two payment methods:
| Payment method | How it works | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Center assigned voucher | Draws unredeemed, unassigned vouchers from your CATC’s pool. | Your school or state bought vouchers for the center. Simplest for a whole class. |
| User assigned voucher | Uses vouchers already assigned to specific students. Requires the student to be associated with your center. | Students were issued individual vouchers, or a few are paying for a retake. |
A student with an individual voucher code assigns it to themselves: log in as Test Candidate, open My Exams, enter the code, and select Assign Voucher or License To Me.
Recommendation: use Center assigned voucher for a full class. It removes 26 chances for a voucher to be assigned to the wrong account.
Alternative: Bulk Registration
Older Certiport guides describe a Bulk Registration tab in the Teacher role: choose a language, organization, and optional Exam Group, upload a CSV with the columns Lastname, Firstname, StudentID, Alternatename, and select Register. Certiport returns a list of new usernames with a temporary password.
Verify this tab still exists on your account before planning around it. The procedure predates Certiport’s current email-as-username sign-up and 12-character password rule. If it works, have every student change the temporary password at first login, and still have them complete Part A3 (program registration and NDA).
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Student not found in Add Additional Users | No account yet, or a typo in the username | Have them log in and read the email on My Profile. |
| Name on account is wrong | Entered a nickname | Fix before exam day; name changes after certification are harder. Contact Certiport support if the field is locked. |
| Student forgot password | Common | Password recovery needs the username and the secret question answer. Build in 5 minutes for this on exam day. |
| Student forgot username | Less common, worse | Certiport support has to verify profile details. Your Part A4 spreadsheet prevents this. |