Notion has just revolutionized its certification system.

During Make with Notion 2025, they introduced the new Notion Academy: a platform where anyone can obtain official certifications without needing invitations or prior interviews.

If you work with Notion, are a consultant, or simply want to validate your knowledge officially, this guide will interest you. We'll explain everything about the new certification system, which ones you can get, and what's the best path according to your profile.

Brief history of Notion certifications

The Notion certification system was born in 2020 with a small group of consultants certified by invitation. Over time, it gradually opened up, starting to require demonstrated experience, documented use cases, and personal interviews. In our case, when we joined we had to show 3 use cases from real clients, take a practical exam, have all previous certifications, and pass an interview.

Now, with Notion Academy, access is completely open. Anyone can access certifications and obtain all official badges, including the Notion Certified Consultant certification which now has a different name.

What exactly is Notion Academy?

Notion Academy is Notion's official platform where you can train and get certified. In this case, Notion has decided to organize certifications into two main categories:

Open certifications: Three free badges (Essentials, Workflows, and Advanced) plus a paid certification for administrators.

Exclusive certifications for partners: Designed for consultants and professionals who want to offer Notion services officially.

The three free badges: Essentials, Workflows and Advanced

Notion Essentials

It's the most basic level and is designed for those starting with Notion. It covers the fundamentals: creating pages, using basic blocks, understanding navigation. With less than an hour of dedication for each one, you're done. Also, once you finish each course, you'll have to pass a multiple-choice exam of 20 questions where you need to get 80% correct to obtain the corresponding certification.

Workflows

Here you take it a step further. You're introduced to basic automation and start connecting information between different parts of your workspace. It's ideal if you already master the basics and want to start creating more organized systems.

It's a quite entertaining course that starts teaching you some of the most important basics when you begin creating systems in Notion.

Advanced

It delves into databases, relationships between them, and basic formulas. Although it's called "Advanced," it's actually closer to an intermediate level. Still, it's very useful for consolidating everything you've learned.

An important detail:

All exams are only in English. Notion says they're working on Spanish versions, but there's no confirmed date.

Tip: Read all the course content carefully before taking the exam. The questions come directly from the lessons, so if you pay attention there won't be any surprises.

Notion Certified Admin: the certification for administrators ($100)

If you manage your company's Notion workspace—especially if you use the Business or Enterprise plans—this certification will be very useful.

It covers everything related to roles, permissions, single sign-on (SSO), SAML, and global governance. Basically, everything you need to manage a workspace with multiple teams and maintain control over who accesses what.

Also, if you plan to do the Service Specialist later, this certification is mandatory.

The new program for consultants: Notion Service Specialist ($150)

It used to be called Notion Certified Consultant. Now it's Notion Service Specialist and has a different focus. Once you pass this exam, you'll be able to enter the consultants' Marketplace.

The course covers the entire consulting process: how to build and deliver systems, implementation project management, and how to close an engagement with clients professionally.

However, keep in mind that the content is heavily influenced by the American consulting model. It's designed for large companies with considerable budgets, which can make some parts seem a bit oversized if you work with SMEs or in the Spanish-speaking market.

Still, it's a good course to discover how Notion believes consulting should be and expand your vision on how to provide services.

What's coming: new technical certifications

Notion has announced two more certifications coming soon (Q1 2026):

• Notion Sales Specialist: Aimed at those who want to become authorized resellers of Notion. It's scheduled for late 2025 or early 2026.

• Notion Technical Specialist: An ultra-technical certification focused on integrations, APIs, and administration of complex systems.

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Our experience with the certification process

We've gone through the entire certification process and here are some notes from our experience:

The real difficulty

The three free badges are quite simple if you already use Notion regularly. The Certified Admin raises the level a bit, especially on security and governance topics which are more specific.

The Service Specialist is the densest of all, but more because of the volume of content than the technical complexity itself. Also, it contains some practical exercises that can take you some time.

Any of these certifications measures your reading comprehension. By reading and applying a bit of logic, you can pass any of them regardless of your Notion level.

Errors we've seen (and you can avoid)

The most common is taking the exam without having read the course carefully. The questions are literal, they come directly from the lessons. If you skip parts thinking you already know it, you might find surprises.

We've also seen people trying to get certified without prior practical experience, especially in the Service Specialist. It's not impossible, but rather than getting this certification, your energy should be on continuing to learn Notion and practicing what you learn in real cases.

And finally: underestimating the time it takes. The Admin and the Service Specialist are not especially difficult, but they do require dedication.

Recommended strategy

Do each course and its exam in the same session. If you leave it for another day, you'll have to review everything again and waste time.

We completed the three free ones plus the Admin in a couple of afternoons. The Service Specialist took us another additional afternoon.

What path to follow according to your profile?

If you use Notion at work

Start with the three free certifications. They'll help you consolidate knowledge and you'll probably discover features you didn't know or weren't using well.

Plus, it's always positive to have this type of certifications for your company or if you're looking for new employment.

If you manage your company's Notion workspace

Add the Certified Admin to your path. It's worth the cost, especially if you have to manage complex permissions, explain to IT how Notion works, or implement security policies within your company.

Especially necessary if your company uses a Business or Enterprise Plan, which is where most of the course focuses.

If you want to offer professional consulting

You need to do the complete path: the three free ones, the Admin, and the Service Specialist. It's the official path to become a certified partner of Notion.

Want to go beyond certifications?

The Notion certifications are very good for validating knowledge and giving professional credibility. But let's be honest: these Notion Academy courses don't really teach you Notion. They teach you what you need to pass the certification.

If you're looking to go beyond passing exams and learn to build systems that really work in business environments, with real cases adapted to the Spanish-speaking market, we have a Course and several add-ons that might interest you.

We work with real cases and situations you really encounter when implementing Notion. Plus, you have personalized support and access to the community.

The material is completely updated and includes all the news from Notion Academy.