Certification under AIRS-J/1: questions people ask
AIRS-J/1 assesses how people decide with AI. These answers explain certification for candidates, employers, risk teams and trainers, with the section of the Standard each answer rests on.
AIRS-J/1 assesses how people decide with AI. These answers explain certification for candidates, employers, risk teams and trainers. Each answer names the section of the Standard it rests on. Judgment is how well a person decides once AI has given the answer. The Standard, AIRS-J/1 v2.3 (in force 19 October 2026), is published in full at https://airapac.org/standard/v2-3/.
Before you register
Is it a test of AI skills or knowledge?
No. AIRS-J/1 assesses how a person decides when working with, alongside or in supervision of AI systems. It does not assess prompt craft, model selection or tool fluency. It does not assess domain knowledge, because each scenario supplies the domain content the candidate needs. It is not a measure of intelligence or personality. A result describes the person's judgment in AI-enabled work at the level certified, and nothing beyond it (sections 2, 2.1 and 2.2).
Does a government or regulator approve it?
No. AIR APAC does not claim approval by any government, regulator or funder. The certification rests on things a reader can check. The Standard, its anchors and its decision rules are published in full. An external academic reviewer is named in the Standard (section 17). There are no undisclosed criteria and no outcome-contingent fees (sections 4.1 and 4.4). Any party can verify a credential by its code, free of charge. Every candidate has an appeal route (section 18.5).
What evidence supports a reading?
Every reading is scored by published rules and traces to what the person did. The validation report is published as the checks in the Standard are met. Section 2.1 of the Standard sets out the basis each claim about a result needs before anyone may make it. A holder or organisation that states a claim beyond that basis is acting outside the Standard. AIR APAC states its own claims in those terms.
What does it cost?
Fees are confirmed at registration. Verification is free: any party can check a credential by its code with no account, no registration and no commercial relationship with AIR APAC (section 14.3). A first appeal is free (section 18.5). Where an applicant's result is Provisional or Insufficient, AIR APAC offers the applicant one further sitting on an unseen form, at no charge to the applicant (section 12.6).
The sitting
Can I use AI during the Assessment?
Yes. Candidates are expected to use the AI provided inside the assessment. The AI systems provided inside the assessment environment are there to be used, and declining to use them is not scored as caution. Use of AI tools outside the provided environment during a certifying session is prohibited. It is grounds for suspension or revocation of the credential (sections 9.2 and 18.4). Candidate identity is verified at the start of each certifying session, and a remote session requires a live check (section 9.1).
Does StepSim or AIR APAC grade me with an AI?
A model may assist the scoring, but no model's opinion stands alone as a reading (section 11.4). StepSim, built and operated by Exeter Labs, is the official instrument of the Standard. Each observation is scored from the candidate's recorded acts. Every level traces to those acts and a published rule (section 2.1). The candidate's report states the model-assisted proportion and the evidence cited for each observation (section 12.5). An appeal therefore looks for a rule or anchor applied wrongly, not a second opinion (section 18.5).
Your result
Who sees my result?
Every candidate receives the report required by section 12.5, whether or not they certify. Candidates are told before starting who receives their result. Commissioning employers receive employees' results by name, but receive applicants' results only at Moderate or High confidence (section 12.6). Independent candidates, including sponsored candidates, choose which parties receive their result. The register shows no scores or employer. A holder's name appears only with separate, revocable consent (sections 14.1 and 14.2).
How long is a certification valid?
Two years from the date of issue (section 18.1). Recertification is a full reassessment against the version of the Standard current at that time. A prior band gives no credit, no exemption and no reduced evidence requirement (section 18.2). A credential issued under an earlier version stays valid to its expiry and shows its version (section 18.3). The credential belongs to the individual. It survives a change of employer, and nobody who paid for it may withhold or revoke it (section 14.4).
Can I appeal?
Yes, within 30 days. Grounds include an anchor applied wrongly, an observation the transcript does not support, a procedural or technical failure, and a translation defect (section 18.6). An appeals reviewer who was not involved in the original decision reviews the case. The first appeal is free. Disagreement with an anchor itself is a comment on the Standard, not an appeal. A development reading comes from practice, a training session or a public demonstration, or from an Assessment whose confidence is Provisional or Insufficient. Confidence describes how much evidence there is, not the candidate's ability. A development reading cannot be appealed. Send a comment on it to https://airapac.org/standard/complaints/ (sections 18.5 and 18.7). To appeal, see https://airapac.org/standard/appeals/.
Employers and HR
Can I decline if my employer asks me to sit?
Applicants for a role may decline. If an applicant declines, the employer decides without this result. Its licence asks it not to treat the decline as adverse (sections 12.9 and 12.11). For an employee, the Standard does not state a right to decline. Employees must be told before starting who receives their result and what it may be used for (section 12.6).
What may an employer decide with a result?
An employment-grade result is AIR APAC's expert reading of the person's judgment in AI-enabled work, which the employer may rely on as one input. The employment decision is the employer's. The employer uses the result with at least one method of its own, and a person reviews any decision in which it is used. No hiring, promotion or appraisal decision rests on the result alone. AIR APAC provides no rank order of applicants: the band is the reading (sections 12.6 and 12.11).
How does an employer check a certificate?
By its credential code, at https://airapac.org/standard/register/verify/. Verification is free and needs no account, no registration and no commercial relationship with AIR APAC. The register shows the credential code, track, band, confidence, Standard version, issue and expiry dates, status and a plain-language scope. It does not show the employer, the dimension scores or any transcript content. A holder's name appears only with their separate, revocable consent; the default is verification by code (sections 14.1 to 14.3).
Trainers and programmes
What is the difference between a session and an Assessment?
A session is a training or practice run. It gives a development reading, which decides nothing about employment or certification. An Assessment is the certifying sitting, on held-back scenarios, from an approved instrument. Only an Assessment at Moderate or High confidence gives an employment-grade result. Before a session, participants are told that a hiring or certification decision uses a separate Assessment. They are also told which roles receive their development reading by name, for example the facilitator and their own line manager (sections 12.6 and 12.8).
Why does the Standard say the owner of AIR APAC also owns Exeter Labs?
Because it is a declared interest, and the Standard states it (section 4.9). Exeter Labs builds and operates StepSim, AIR APAC's official assessment instrument. The owner of AIR APAC also owns Exeter Labs. The Standard sets limits around that interest. Outcomes are decided by the rules in section 12 alone, never by what a candidate or employer bought. The owner takes no part in any individual result (section 4.3). Delivery partners and trainers may not vary the criteria (section 4.5).
What this does not claim
- That any government, regulator, funder or professional body approves the certification.
- That a result says anything about a person beyond their judgment in AI-enabled work at the level certified.
- That the certification measures AI tool skill, domain expertise, intelligence or personality.
- That a credential authorises the holder to act beyond their existing professional or legal authority (section 2.1).
Exeter Labs builds and operates StepSim, AIR APAC's official assessment instrument. The owner of AIR APAC also owns Exeter Labs.
Register for an assessment: https://airapac.org/standard/certification/apply/