About 4 hours for Foundations and about 14 hours for Operator, plus a two-week practicum. In calendar time that is usually six weeks to three months, depending on how many hours a week you have. The practicum is the part that cannot be rushed, and it matters most, because employers hire for judgement shown over time.
How are the hours split?
| Track | Learning time | Assessment | Credential |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foundations | About 4 hours, six modules | Module tests | Foundations badge, free, no expiry |
| Operator | About 14 hours, eight modules with labs | Written exam (40 questions, 60 minutes, pass mark four in five) and a two-week practicum | Certified Pryme Operator, valid 12 months |
| Builder | About 24 hours | Capstone agent certified in Attest to depth 2 or higher | Certified Pryme Builder, valid 12 months |
| Architect | About 30 hours | Written design and a board review with two Pryme assessors | Certified Pryme Architect, valid 24 months |
Each track is the key to the next. For most people moving into review, exception or approval work, Foundations and Operator are the whole route; Builder and Architect are for people who design agents or lead regulated, multi-agent deployments.
How many weeks is that in practice?
It depends on your week, not on the material.
- With a few hours most days, for example between jobs: Foundations in a few days, Operator modules in two to three weeks, exam, then the two-week practicum. Roughly six weeks in all.
- Around a full-time job, at two or three short sessions a week: Foundations in a week or two, Operator modules in six to eight weeks, then the practicum. Roughly two to three months.
- Around caring or shift work, with interruptions: three months or more is normal and fine.
Lessons can be read or listened to as audio, so commutes count. Labs need a screen and twenty to forty minutes each.
Why does the practicum matter more than speed?
Because it is the only part that measures what the job needs. The exam checks that you understand the ideas. The practicum checks that you apply them consistently: two weeks of review decisions to nineteen in twenty correct and no missed red line, signed off by a Pryme assessor.
Two weeks is deliberate. Anyone can make good decisions on a fresh evening; the question is whether your judgement holds on day nine, when you are tired and a case looks routine. Rushing the modules to reach the practicum sooner often backfires, because the habits are not yet automatic. A missed red line fails the practicum regardless of the rest.
What slows people down?
- Skipping labs. Reading about tracing a refusal is not the same as doing it, and the gap shows in the practicum.
- Leaving module tests until later. Take each straight after its module, while it is fresh; tests are set in your own industry and role, so they are quick.
- Learning to approve before learning to refuse. The first skill employers test is saying no for a stated reason; see learn to say no to an AI agent before you learn to use one.
- Underestimating manipulation. Cases built around injected instructions catch out fast learners; how to learn to spot prompt injection is worth doing before the practicum.
What does this look like for one person?
Take a hotel reservations agent we will call Marta, between contracts with free mornings. She does Foundations in three mornings and the Operator modules in three weeks of mornings, repeating one lab she found hard. She sits the exam in week four and does the practicum in weeks five and six, about forty-five minutes each morning.
Six weeks in all. A colleague working full-time takes eleven weeks for the same route. Both certificates show the same standard to an employer; neither guarantees a job.
Where the Academy fits
Pryme Intelligence Academy keeps the clock in your hands: lessons as text or audio, labs in a free Build workspace, and tests set in your own work, all free. The practicum runs on a simulated queue if your job does not use Pryme. You pay an issue fee only when a professional certificate is issued, never to pass.
Questions people ask
Can I go faster than the hours suggest?
Some people read quickly, but the labs and the two-week practicum set a floor. Speed through lessons is fine; speed through judgement is not.
Where should I start?
With Foundations. See what you should learn first about AI agents and how to learn AI agent skills from scratch.
Does it cost anything?
Lessons, labs and tests are free; see how to learn AI agent skills for free. The guide to AI skills for job seekers covers what employers ask you to prove.