The ITIL 5 Certification Path Explained (2026)

ITIL Version 5 arrived on 12 February 2026, with the Foundation certificate first and the advanced modules rolling out across the rest of the year. PeopleCert is the certification body, and the framework keeps the shape people already know from ITIL 4 while reworking a good deal of the detail underneath. If you manage IT services, or you want to move into that work, the sensible question is not whether to learn ITIL 5 but how the certification path fits together and where to begin. This guide walks through each level, explains what it covers, and sets out a practical way to start now rather than waiting for the whole catalogue to settle.

What changed in ITIL 5

ITIL 5 is an evolution rather than a clean break. Roughly 40% of the content is carried over from ITIL 4 and about 36% is new, so the underlying ideas about value, services and continual improvement remain familiar to anyone who has worked with the framework before. That balance is deliberate: it protects the investment organisations have already made in ITIL 4 while modernising the parts that had started to date. If you want a grounding in what the framework is actually for before you commit, our explainer on ITIL and project management is a useful starting point, and the same ITIL guiding principles continue to run through the new version. The most visible addition is a dedicated AI Governance extension module covering responsible, ethical and compliant AI adoption, which reflects how much service management now depends on automation and machine-driven decisions.

Foundation: the entry point

Everyone starts with ITIL 5 Foundation. It sets out the shared vocabulary, introduces the ITIL Value System and explains the Product and Service Lifecycle. There are no prerequisites, and it is designed to give both practitioners and managers a common language before they specialise. Think of it as the map rather than the territory: it will not make you an expert in any single area, but nothing else on the path makes sense without it. For many people Foundation is also the only certificate they need, because it gives enough shared understanding to work confidently alongside colleagues who hold the advanced qualifications.

The specialist modules

Above Foundation sit five specialist modules, each focused on a distinct part of service management:

• ITIL Product — building and managing products and the teams behind them, with an emphasis on long-lived product ownership rather than one-off delivery.
• ITIL Service — running services day to day, including the operational practices such as release management that keep changes flowing safely into live use.
• ITIL Experience — the customer and user experience of services, and how to measure and improve it.
• ITIL Strategy — aligning IT direction with the wider goals of the business.
• ITIL Transformation — leading and delivering change across an organisation.

You do not take all five for their own sake. Instead, you combine them to earn the designations described below, choosing the modules that match the direction you want your career to take. Someone running a service desk will make different choices from someone shaping IT strategy at board level, and the modular structure is meant to support both.

The designations

The specialist modules combine into four recognised designations, each aimed at a different kind of role:

• Managing Professional — Product, Service, Experience and Transformation. This is the route for people who run services and lead delivery teams, and it covers the day-to-day work of turning technology into value.
• Strategic Leader — Strategy and Transformation. Aimed at those shaping how IT supports the business as a whole rather than the running of any one service.
• Practice Manager — a set of practice modules together with Transformation, for specialists who go deep on particular management practices.
• Master — awarded once you hold all of the designations. It is the top of the path and demonstrates breadth across the whole framework rather than depth in a single area.

One detail is worth noticing: Transformation appears in every designation. That tells you something about the direction of ITIL 5, because leading change is now treated as a core skill for everyone rather than a specialism reserved for a few. Whatever route you take, you will be expected to help an organisation adapt, not just keep the lights on.

How ITIL 4 and ITIL 5 fit together

Here is the part that matters most if you are deciding what to do this year. ITIL 4 and ITIL 5 are running in parallel for at least twelve months. ITIL 4 is not being switched off, and your existing certificates keep their value. More importantly, ITIL 4 Foundation is a recognised prerequisite and bridge into the ITIL 5 advanced modules. Because around 40% of the content carries across, the time you spend on ITIL 4 Foundation is not wasted — it is the groundwork that lets you move into the ITIL 5 specialist track when you are ready.

That makes the choice straightforward. You do not have to wait for the full ITIL 5 catalogue to settle before you start learning, and there is little reason to. Building the foundation now means you keep momentum, you gain a qualification that is useful in its own right today, and you position yourself to step up into the ITIL 5 modules as they arrive and as your own plans allow.

Where to start with Career Smarter

Career Smarter is adding ITIL 5 courses soon, and full details of the new path will follow as the modules become available. In the meantime the practical starting point is ITIL Foundation, which is available now and gives you exactly the grounding that bridges into the ITIL 5 advanced modules. You can see the wider range of related training on our ITIL courses page, which is a good way to understand how the pieces connect before you choose a direction.

If you already know you want the ITIL 5 path specifically and would like to register your interest, get in touch and we will let you know as soon as the new courses go live. ITIL 5 is coming soon to Career Smarter, and starting with Foundation now means you will be ready to move straight into it rather than starting from scratch when the advanced modules land.