CoreCHI is CCHI’s English-language knowledge exam, required before its performance exams. Prepare across all five official domains and practise applying professional standards to scenarios. This guide also explains eligibility and the January 2027 end of standalone CoreCHI awards, so you can plan the next step toward CHI or CoreCHI-Performance.
What the CoreCHI™ exam is for
The CoreCHI knowledge exam comes before CCHI’s performance exams. It assesses shared professional knowledge and judgment in English.
CCHI’s standard route for Arabic, Mandarin and Spanish leads to the bilingual CHI performance exam. For other languages, the CoreCHI-Performance route uses the English-to-English (ETOE) performance exam. ETOE is monolingual; it is not a bilingual performance test.
Check the route and language-proficiency requirements that apply to you. Sign-language candidates should read CCHI’s specific eligibility guidance, which currently limits CoreCHI-Performance eligibility to hearing interpreters meeting the ASL proficiency requirements.
Official sources: Eligibility – CCHI — Eligibility and certification routes
Who can apply
CCHI requires applicants to be at least 18, have a high school diploma or equivalent, complete at least 40 hours of healthcare interpreter training, and demonstrate the required language proficiency.
The language requirement covers English and your primary language of service. Review the accepted documentation in the current eligibility guidance and handbook before submitting your application.
CCHI does not accredit, pre-approve or endorse beginner-level training programs. Check what a course actually covers and the documentation it provides rather than relying on claims of CCHI endorsement.
Official sources: Eligibility – CCHI — Eligibility and certification routes
What to expect on exam day
You have two hours for 100 multiple-choice questions in English, plus a 15-minute tutorial before the timed exam.
Each question has four options with one best answer. CCHI describes most questions as job-based scenarios.
Of the 100 questions, 85 count toward your score and 15 are pretest items. You can mark questions for review and change answers before submitting. CCHI does not provide paper or a pencil for this exam.
The knowledge exam is available year-round at test centers or through live online proctoring. Check the current scheduling instructions, identification requirements and accommodation process for your chosen delivery method. The separate CHI and ETOE performance exams use physical test centers.
Official sources: CoreCHI™ Exam – CCHI — Exam purpose, format, administration, and candidate issues procedure; CCHI CoreCHI 2023 Examination Outline — Five domains, weights, task lists, and JTA background, effective May 1, 2023; Eligibility – CCHI — Eligibility and certification routes
The five knowledge domains
CCHI’s published outline, effective May 1, 2023, sets out five domains. Use the full task list to check the coverage of your materials.
| Domain | Weight | Official task summary |
|---|---|---|
| Professional Responsibility and Interpreter Ethics | 23% | Apply codes of ethics and standards of practice; uphold the interpreter's boundaries; maintain impartiality; assess advocacy needs; adhere to safety measures; manage emotional well-being; maintain credentials and pursue professional growth |
| Managing the Interpreting Encounter | 24% | Self-monitor ability to interpret in a given encounter; manage unfamiliar terms and concepts; establish communication protocols, choose modes according to communication needs, and manage the flow of communication |
| Healthcare Terminology | 25% | Keep current on healthcare terminology and language usage in the healthcare context in working languages |
| U.S. Health Systems | 13% | Maintain familiarity with U.S. health systems, their cultures, organizational structures, and related legal and socioeconomic environments |
| Cultural Responsiveness | 15% | Avoid making assumptions about a party's identity, meaning, and intention; serve as a respectful cultural mediator by promoting inclusive and equitable encounters |
Official sources: CCHI CoreCHI 2023 Examination Outline — Five domains, weights, task lists, and JTA background, effective May 1, 2023
How scoring works
The passing score is 450 on CCHI’s 300–600 scale. It is not a raw percentage-correct threshold.
CCHI uses equating to account for differences between test forms. Your overall scaled score determines the outcome; do not average the domain percentages or convert 450 into a raw pass percentage.
Domain subscores can help you identify areas to revisit, but CCHI advises reviewing all domains when preparing for a retake.
Official sources: CoreCHI™ Exam Score – CCHI — Scaled scoring, equating, standard setting, and score report interpretation
Ethics practice: correct an omission transparently
Accuracy includes correcting an interpretation error. Transparency means making an interpreter’s intervention clear to the participants.
For this original exercise, use NCIHC’s adopted 2005 National Standards of Practice, accuracy standards 1–6. They address complete interpretation, correction of errors and transparent communication. This is study practice, not a recalled CoreCHI question.
Practice exercise
You realize that you omitted “not” when interpreting a patient’s sentence, reversing its meaning. Assume it is possible to interrupt promptly and clarify with both parties. Which response best fits the stated standards? A) Leave the interpretation unchanged. B) Wait and hope later conversation makes the meaning clear. C) Transparently identify and correct the interpretation error as soon as possible. D) Silently replace the sentence with your own clinical explanation.
Show answer
C) Transparently identify and correct the interpretation error as soon as possible.
The omission changed the message. NCIHC’s standards require accurate and complete interpretation, correction of errors and transparency. A and B leave the error unresolved; D substitutes the interpreter’s explanation for the speaker’s message.
Official sources: NCIHC National Standards of Practice (2005), adopted standard for the practice example — Accuracy standards 1–6, printed page 5; 2005 adopted publication
Plan for the CoreCHI credential transition
From January 1, 2027, CCHI will stop awarding the standalone CoreCHI credential. The knowledge exam remains part of the CHI and CoreCHI-Performance routes.
For candidates passing CoreCHI on or after January 1, 2027, earning CoreCHI-Performance requires passing ETOE within one year. The bilingual CHI route also requires its performance exam within 12 months. These are different performance tests.
CoreCHI credentials awarded or renewed during 2025–2026 have up to two years from the award date for the ETOE transition. For earlier awards or renewals, check the existing credential’s expiration date. The final transition deadline is that expiration date or December 31, 2028, whichever comes first.
Use CCHI’s current transition page and your individual credential record when planning. Do not assume that a timeline in an older handbook applies to every award date.
Turn the outline into a study plan
Use domain weights to understand the exam’s coverage, then use practice errors to choose what you study next.
Read each official task and match it to your notes, practice materials and relevant professional standards. A heading alone cannot tell you how to resolve an ethical scenario; check the underlying standard and its conditions.
For terminology, keep definitions and usage examples from reliable references. Verify an unfamiliar term instead of relying on its apparent word parts. For a scenario question, explain why the best choice fits and why the alternatives fail.
- Cover all five domains, including the smaller ones.
- Record whether an error came from terminology, misunderstanding the situation, or misapplying a standard.
- Revisit missed questions after studying the underlying issue.
- Use the handbook’s sample questions to become familiar with the format.
Official sources: CCHI Candidate Examination Handbook — CoreCHI exam description, domains, scoring, transition, administration, handbook contents; CCHI CoreCHI 2023 Examination Outline — Five domains, weights, task lists, and JTA background, effective May 1, 2023; CoreCHI™ Exam Score – CCHI — Scaled scoring, equating, standard setting, and score report interpretation
Before you book
Confirm your eligibility, selected credential route and current booking instructions before paying.
Use CCHI’s eligibility page and handbook for the application, and its current fees and scheduling pages for the booking. Plan the later performance exam as well: passing the knowledge exam does not complete that stage.
- Check documentation, fees, identification and accommodation requirements.
- Choose a delivery method you can access.
- Record the performance-exam deadline that applies to your route and pass date.
- Use the current transition notice when older documents give a different timeline.
Official sources: CCHI Candidate Examination Handbook — CoreCHI exam description, domains, scoring, transition, administration, handbook contents; CoreCHI™ Certification Sunsetting & Transitioning to the CoreCHI-Performance™ Certification – CCHI — January 1, 2027 policy update, transition timelines, and expiration alignment; Eligibility – CCHI — Eligibility and certification routes
Official sources
Exam facts verified against CCHI's published materials:
- CoreCHI™ Exam – CCHI
- CCHI Candidate Examination Handbook
- CCHI CoreCHI 2023 Examination Outline
- CoreCHI™ Certification Sunsetting & Transitioning to the CoreCHI-Performance™ Certification – CCHI
- CCHI – The National Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters
- CoreCHI™ Exam Score – CCHI
- Publications – CCHI
- Eligibility – CCHI
- NCIHC National Standards of Practice (2005), adopted standard for the practice example