Microsoft VBA Excel Certification

Why certify in Microsoft VBA Excel?

Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel VBA, and Power BI) are foundational tools for productivity in schools and workplaces across the United States. Widely used in academic institutions and professional environments, Microsoft Office remains a standard for creating documents, analyzing data, delivering presentations, professional communication through Outlook, data visualization and business intelligence with Power BI, and workflow automation using VBA. A Microsoft VBA Excel certification allows students and job seekers to demonstrate their proficiency in a programming and automation language and supports their academic success and long-term career readiness.

Tosa certification for Microsoft Excel VBA measures real proficiency with no prerequisites. It is ideal for students and adult learners seeking to validate their ability to automate spreadsheets, create macros, and develop efficient Excel-based workflows.

Skills Assessed

The Tosa Microsoft VBA Excel certification exam evaluates four key domains:

Environment and Debugging Tools

This domain covers the creation of custom functions, the different editor windows (properties, spy, etc.), and the use of instructions (points of interest, stop instructions, step-by-step debugging, error handling). It also covers the creation of add-ins and code protection.

Objects

This domain covers the candidates’ knowledge of using Excel-related objects and all types of collections that contain objects (workbooks, worksheets, rows/columns, cells, charts). It also covers the declaration of variables, the manipulation of charts, and the management of object building blocks (fields, properties, methods, events).

Dialog Boxes, Forms, and Active X Controls

The candidates are tested on their knowledge of ActiveX controls, simple dialog boxes (MsgBox, InputBox), and Userforms (building with the different controls, display, events, usage).

Procedures

This domain evaluates the candidates’ ability to code within procedures, handle procedures (conditions, loops, errors, events, etc.), and call procedures.

Certification Exam Specifications

Test Format

The Tosa certification for Microsoft VBA Excel lasts one hour and uses a 35-question adaptive exam drawn from a pool of more than 200 items, including multiple-choice, interactive, and live in-application tasks. The test evaluates a candidate’s skills and knowledge in the four domains presented above and selects questions from five difficulty levels depending on the abilities of the test taker.

Exam Conditions

Tosa certification exams are not open book. The certification tests must be taken in a secure environment and are proctored at all times in accordance with the Tosa Exam Policy. Adaptive testing produces a unique sequence of items for each candidate, reducing the risk of cheating and item memorization. In-person and remote proctoring options are available.

Validity and Retakes

The certification is valid for 3 years. Earners may retest anytime to improve their score or to maintain their certification. There is a minimum 24-hour waiting period between two retakes. Candidates receive a new version of the test with each attempt.

Score, Proficiency Level, and Award

The result of the exam is a numeric score between 1 and 1000 points associated to a proficiency level. It is calculated using a pattern-scoring model (IRT). The minimum score required to earn the certification is 551. Certification earners receive a Tosa certification diploma that indicates the test date, the score, and the proficiency level achieved. It contains a unique authentication code for online verification. Earners with a score of 551 and above are also eligible to receive a Credly digital badge.

Preparing for a Certification Exam

Reaching a productive level or higher typically requires around 150 hours of training and hands-on practice with Microsoft VBA Excel, depending on prior knowledge and learning format. To prepare for the Tosa exam, we recommend that learners:

Validate Mastery in the Microsoft Office Suite of Applications with a Tosa Certification Bundle

Tosa Certified User for Microsoft Office

This credential verifies a learner's versatility and expertise in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. It’s available at two levels:

Experienced User

Earned by scoring 551-725 (Productive level) on Tosa Microsoft Excel, Tosa Microsoft Word, and Tosa Microsoft PowerPoint.

Professional User

Earned by scoring 726+ (Advanced or Expert level) on Tosa Microsoft Excel and Tosa Microsoft Word, plus any two of the following at Productive level or above: Tosa Microsoft PowerPoint, Tosa Microsoft Outlook, or Tosa Microsoft VBA Excel.

How to earn the Tosa Certified User for Microsoft Office credential?

Candidates are automatically awarded the Tosa Certified User for Microsoft Office credential in one of two ways. They can earn the credential after completing and earning the Tosa Microsoft Excel, Tosa Microsoft Word, and Tosa Microsoft PowerPoint certifications at the minimum required score. Candidates can also earn the credential by completing Tosa Microsoft Excel, Tosa Microsoft Word, and any two of the following individual certifications: Tosa Microsoft PowerPoint, Tosa Microsoft Outlook, or Tosa Microsoft VBA Excel. The Tosa Certified User for Microsoft Office Diploma is issued and emailed to the earner within 5 business days from completing the required exams.