In an ongoing effort to improve our training offerings, Zend is retiring the Zend Certified Engineer Directory effective August 28, 2023. Zend Certified Engineers with active certifications who need a PDF version of their certificate are encouraged to reach out to our team at itraining@zend.com with the following information included:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email address used with your ZCE account
  • Certification month and year

If you have additional questions, please consult the FAQ below and contact us if you have any questions not answered in this FAQ.

Note: If you received your certification prior to January 1, 2018, we can not reissue your certification.

How do I request a copy of my certification?

To request a copy of your certification, please contact itraining@zend.com with the following information:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email address used with your ZCE account
  • Certification month and year
What is the deadline for requesting a copy of my certification?

Certification requests must be submitted by December 31, 2023.

I currently link to my certification on LinkedIn, what should I do now?

Certifications can still be listed on your LinkedIn profile without linking to your certification URL. In the case you would like to still link to your certification, we would recommend saving a copy of your certification to a publicly accessible cloud drive, then linking directly to that file.

Why is Zend discontinuing the Zend Certified Engineer web page?

Zend is currently pausing the Zend certified engineer program while they reevaluate their training offerings. With that change, Zend will be discontinuing the Zend Certified Engineer site until further notice. While we understand this may be disappointing news to those who have completed their certification, certificates will still be available via PDF upon request.

Why is Zend pausing the certification program?

In order to better create a better overall training program, Zend is currently reevaluating their training and certification offerings. As part of that process, we will be pausing the certification program while we focus on relaunching our training program – including the addition of both free and on-demand options.

I have an unexpired certification voucher that I need to use, when do I need to use it by?

Anyone that has purchased a certification voucher under our current program will need to complete their certification testing via a Pearson Vue testing location prior to June 30, 2023 at 12:00am EDT.

What happens if I fail my certification testing exam?

Due to the above deadline, if you fail your certification testing exam you will not have a retake opportunity.

When is the deadline for scheduling an exam?

We encourage impacted teams to schedule a certification before June 15, 2023 via the instructions provided below.

How do I schedule my exam?

To schedule your exam, go to http://www.pearsonvue.com/zend/ create an account, and select your preferred testing center, date, and time (before June 15, 2023). Before confirming your scheduled exam, enter your voucher number in the Exam Voucher field, select APPLY so balance due will then become $0.00 and then proceed with confirmation.

I have an exam scheduled after the June 15th deadline, do I need to reschedule?

If your team has scheduled a certification appointment after June 15, 2023, you will need to reschedule your exam for before the June 15, 2023 deadline.

Can I get a refund or transfer my voucher?

Sorry, but we do not offer refunds for exam voucher purchases. However, the voucher can be transferred to another person and used prior to the expiration date.

How will I know if I passed?

At the end of the exam you will receive a pass/fail grade. 

When will I receive my diploma?

We will email your diploma once you have passed the exam. Please allow 6 weeks for delivery.

What should I take to the exam?

On the day of the exam don't forget to take 2 forms of identification with you to the testing center--testing staff must verify your identity.

If I pass the exam, can I use the term 'Zend Certified Engineer' on my resume/CV or business card?

In general, yes. You can also include the logo provided here. The only exception is for those who have passed the Zend PHP Certification exam and live in Ontario, Canada. For legal reasons, you cannot use the designation "Zend Certified Engineer" on your resume/CV or business card. You can, however, use the acronym "ZCE" to stand for "Zend Certification Endorsed".

Is there a non-disclosure agreement, and terms and conditions associated with the exams?

Before taking an exam, a candidate must read it and agree to the terms of our non-disclosure agreement. The non-disclosure agreement is presented to the candidate before the exam starts. If you do not agree to the non-disclosure agreement, you can end the exam, but you will forfeit the exam fee. The NDA prohibits you from discussing or describing the exam or its questions with anyone.

Who wrote the exams?

The Zend Certification exams encompasses curriculum specified the Zend PHP Education Advisory Board and the Zend Framework Education Advisory Board as essential to demonstrate expert proficiency in PHP or Zend Framework.

Each Board's members are among the most well known and respected in the PHP and Zend Framework Communities. It is important to note that the Board is completely neutral and was not influenced by Zend's business objectives. In fact, the only point Zend insisted upon was that exam excludes references or questions relating to Zend's products.

Where do I take the exam?

You now have 2 options to take the test.

You can go to a Pearson VUE Testing Center, which are available in over 4700 locations around the world.  Contact your local testing center to arrange an exam date/time.  You can register online or by calling your local center.In most cases, you also have the option to take the test in your home. OnVUE online proctored exams allow you to conveniently take an exam in the comfort of your home or office while being monitored by an offsite proctor. Before choosing this option we suggest that you run a system test to be sure you can utilize this option.

Please note: The second option (test at home) is only available in English and cannot be taken in the following locations: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Slovenia, Japan, South Korea, China, *Syrian Arab Republic (Syria).
 

What are the exams like?

The exam itself is very similar to most other IT exams offered these days. The exam is taken in an isolated room, using a specially configured computer. The exam is closed-book, so you won't be able to consult any reference material or use the Internet while taking it.

The PHP exam is composed of a total of 75 questions, and the Zend Framework Exam is composed of 70 questions, which must be answered in 90 minutes.  Each question can be formulated in one of three ways:

As a multiple-choice question with only one right answer. As a multiple-choice question with multiple correct answers. As a free-form question for which the answer must be typed in.
 

On what version is the PHP exam based?

The PHP exam is based on version PHP 200-710. Test takers should study this version when preparing for the exam.

What topics/subjects does the PHP exam cover?

The exam was designed to evaluate knowledge of PHP from a practical perspective. While there are a few theoretical items, the vast majority of the questions are based on the ability to evaluate and analyze a snippet of code. For a complete list of topics, see: PHP Certification.

Do I need to know anything particular (other than PHP) for the PHP certification exam to pass?

Put simply, you need to know those technologies that a PHP developer uses in his/her day-to-day job, including databases and regular expressions. As far as the latter are concerned, the focus is on Perl regular expressions, while for databases the focus is on standard SQL, rather than any particular implementation. If you've learned databases exclusively by using MySQL, it is strongly urged you look into standard SQL, because MySQL diverges from it in some significant ways.

Why standard SQL? A PHP developer should know about proper database design so that he/she can work with more than one DBMS, and so that the developer who uses, say, Oracle or PostgreSQL is not at a disadvantage -- after all, this is a PHP exam, not a LAMP one.
 

I have a question not listed here. Who can I contact for answers?

If you have questions or concerns regarding your certification voucher, or the details listed above, please contact us today at itraining@zend.com.