1.2 Jurisdiction Eligibility and Authorization to Test

Authorization is part of the exam plan

The EPPP has an administrative side that deserves the same discipline as content study. You do not simply decide you are ready and appear at a test center. The licensing authority controls eligibility, and you must complete that authority's process before sitting for the relevant part. Only after board approval does the registration chain open.

The standard registration chain

The operational sequence is consistent across most jurisdictions, even though the rules each board layers on top differ. Memorize the order so you do not pay or schedule out of sequence.

1. Board approval — your psychology board or provincial college reviews your degree, supervised hours, and application and approves you to test.
2. Registration portal invitation — ASPPB issues an invitation (commonly through the Certemy EPPP Registration Portal) to create a free account.
3. Fee payment — you pay the EPPP exam fee plus the Pearson VUE sit fee inside the portal; these fees are nonrefundable.
4. Authorization to Test (ATT) — you receive a confirmation and an ATT email with a link to Pearson VUE.
5. Pearson VUE scheduling — you book the seat at an authorized center. You generally must sit within 12 months of registering unless your jurisdiction sets a shorter window.

The Authorization to Test is a source document

The ATT is the bridge between approval and scheduling. Save it, read it, and compare it with your government identification before booking. Pearson VUE admission requires that the first and last names on your ID match the names on the ATT. Name mismatches from marriage, hyphenation, suffixes, or spacing differences are a common, avoidable cause of being turned away.

Part 2 sequencing is the most variable rule

Do not assume Part 2 is treated identically everywhere. Some jurisdictions require Part 1 only; others require both parts; some allow Part 2 only after a supervised-practice period or after the doctorate is conferred. Ask your authority explicitly: Is Part 2 required? When? For my license category? How does it interact with supervised, temporary, or mobility practice? Record the answer with the date and the source.

Keep a Board File

Create one page titled Board File containing: the licensing authority website, your application account login, a board contact email, the authorization date, which part is authorized, the name exactly as printed on the ATT, the names on your IDs, the sitting deadline, the board's passing standard, retake instructions, and any jurisprudence or supervised-experience requirement. Update it whenever you receive an official communication.

Do not outsource this step

A classmate may be in a different jurisdiction, license category, timing rule, or Part 2 transition policy. Peer advice can surface useful questions, but it must never replace your own authority's current written instructions. The exam is hard enough; remove administrative risk early, keep dated records, and confirm that the path you are studying for is the one your board actually recognizes.

Mobility, the EPPP score bank, and Certificate of Professional Qualification

Authorization questions extend beyond the first license. ASPPB maintains an EPPP score-banking service so a passing score can be transmitted to another jurisdiction if you relocate, and it administers credentials such as the Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ) that several boards accept to streamline licensure by mobility. Knowing these services exist early changes how you store records: keep your ASPPB account current, retain your official score report, and note the jurisdictions whose rules you may need later.

A candidate who plans to practice in more than one state benefits from confirming, at the authorization stage, whether the destination jurisdiction accepts banked scores or the CPQ rather than requiring a fresh exam sitting.

Time-boxing the authorization phase

Treat authorization as a dated project with deadlines, not an open-ended errand. Board review can take weeks, the portal invitation arrives only after approval, and the typical window to sit after registering is 12 months unless your jurisdiction shortens it. Map those intervals against your study calendar so you do not register, start the clock, and then let study slip until the sitting window pressures you into a premature attempt.

The disciplined sequence is: finish enough content review to set a realistic test date, complete board approval and portal registration, receive the ATT, verify name matching, and only then schedule the Pearson VUE seat. If your board sets a deadline shorter than the standard 12-month window, record that date prominently in your Board File and back-plan your study milestones from it, because the board deadline, not the ASPPB default, is the one that can disqualify a sitting.