The three Certified levels, explained.

Job titles in this profession mean almost nothing. I have placed PAs who ran a founder’s whole operating rhythm and Executive Business Partners whose remit was the diary. When we built the Core Standard, the first decision was that the levels would describe what a person does, not what they were called. So there are three, they are defined by behaviour, and you cannot choose one at checkout. You sit the assessment and the work places you.

One sitting, three possible results

TCS Certified is one scenario-based working day. You handle a live inbox, a diary clash, a difficult stakeholder and a judgement call under pressure, and everything you produce is scored against every level of the standard by the same reviewers and the same rubric an employer commissions against. The level on your certificate is the one your work demonstrated on the day. Your report shows that level and, just as usefully, exactly what would have taken you to the next one.

Level 1: Operational EA

An Operational EA keeps an executive’s working life running accurately and calmly. Diary, inbox, travel and coordination are handled so that nothing slips. Employers typically commission this level for candidates with up to about three years in the seat, but the years are a guide and not the test. What the reviewer is looking for is reliability under pressure: the obvious calls made correctly, loose ends closed, a clean handover. All five pillars are scored, and the standout at this level is usually Execution or Communication. This is the person whose work you never have to check.

Level 2: EA to Senior Leadership

This is the level most people picture when they say a proper EA. A true right hand to a senior leader, who anticipates rather than reacts, prioritises against the principal’s agenda rather than the loudest voice, manages stakeholders on her behalf and holds things together when the day falls apart. Employers commission it for candidates with roughly three to eight years’ experience, and it is where the assessment starts to add dimensions beyond the five pillars. AI Fluency asks you to improve an AI-drafted output or describe how you would use AI for a specific task. Mindset and Resilience is a short layer, scored separately, that tells the reviewer whether you understand the role you are being hired into. The pillar that most often decides Level 2 is Judgement: whether you read the message for what it meant, not just what it said.

Level 3: Executive Business Partner

An Executive Business Partner is a strategic partner who reads the commercial picture and operates as an extension of leadership. He is trusted to act in the principal’s name, to make decisions alone within known limits, and to see the risk in a board paper before the principal does. Employers commission it for candidates with eight or more years, or for anyone already operating as a business partner whatever their title. The assessment adds Judgement and Ethics, AI Fluency, and a Data Interpretation module: a KPI dashboard or a messy spreadsheet, with the brief to surface the three things the principal needs to know. Partnership carries the most weight here. The reviewer is looking for someone who works as a genuine partner, not a very good pair of hands.

What actually decides your level

Three things, in order. First, the bands. Every pillar in every module is scored on the same behaviourally anchored rubric, and the modules are recalibrated at each level: a Level 1 Inbox Triage is not a Level 3 Inbox Triage, even though both carry the name. Second, the higher-level dimensions. If your AI Fluency and Data Interpretation work holds up, the reviewer has evidence for Level 3 that a Level 1 sitting could never produce. Third, the reviewer’s read across the whole day, which is where the expert sign-off matters. AI generates the first pass, and a named reviewer adjusts and signs every report.

Years of experience do not enter into it. Neither do your name, age or education, which are stripped before the reviewer sees the work. The full rubric, bands and safeguards are on the methodology page.

Inside the level: bands and the rating

Two more measures sit under your level. Each pillar carries a band, Developing, Proficient, Strong, Distinctive or Exemplary, and each band is a description of what you did rather than an adjective. Your report also carries a rating out of 100, and it is worth understanding what that is. It is not a percentage of marks. It is your position against the population of EAs we have assessed at the same level. A rating of 72 at EA to Senior Leadership means you sit ahead of 72 per cent of the EAs we have seen at that level. A rating in the high eighties is top decile.

The shape matters as much as the number. Eighty-five on Judgement and fifty-five on Prioritisation is a different EA from the reverse, and suits a different set of roles. Your report shows the shape, and your Recruiter Summary carries the bands so that a recruiter can see it in seconds.

When your level is not the one on your business card

It happens in both directions, and both are useful. If you are titled Executive Business Partner and demonstrate EA to Senior Leadership, your report tells you precisely which behaviours the reviewer did not see, which is a development plan nobody at work has ever written for you. Position it honestly, lead with your strongest band, and re-sit when you have done the work. If you are titled PA and demonstrate EA to Senior Leadership, you now hold third-party evidence that you are operating above your grade, and that is the start of a pay conversation with a shape to it. Either way the level is yours, the report is yours, and you decide who sees it.

Chief of Staff is not Level 4

People ask. A Chief of Staff is not a more senior EA. The remit is different: proxy decision-making, influence without authority, board-level communication and strategic synthesis. That is why it is a separate stream with its own scenario, and why CoS Certified, the candidate edition, is in build rather than bolted on as a fourth level. If you are an Executive Business Partner wondering whether you are really a Chief of Staff, the guide to the difference is the place to start.

Common questions

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