Exam Discount for MCT-Benefit is Not Auto-Applying – Looking for Community Insight

hi dilan_ranasinghe​ You’re not doing anything wrong here, this confusion comes up a lot because ESI discounts and MCT benefits are often mixed up, even internally.

A few clarifications based on recent experiences from other MCTs:

1.ESI 50% discount vs MCT benefit

The “ESI 50% Discount (DAC – auto-applied)” you’re seeing in that screenshot is not tied to MCT status.

That discount is part of the Enterprise Skills Initiative (ESI) and is:

• Linked to an organization’s tenant
• Activated through an Enterprise Agreement / ESI enrollment
• Applied automatically when the user signs in with an eligible corporate account

So an MCT using:

• A personal Microsoft account, or
• A company tenant that is not ESI-enabled

will not see that discount, even with active MCT status.

3.Why some MCTs do see it

Some trainers happen to:

• Be MCTs and
• Work for companies that participate in ESI

In those cases, the discount appears automatically at Pearson VUE checkout, which makes it look like an MCT perk, but it isn’t.

3.MCT exam benefits today

As of now:

• MCT does not include a universal 50% exam discount
• Occasional exam offers for MCTs are time-bound promotions, not always-on entitlements
• If there’s no active promo listed in the MCT Central / Learn announcements, nothing will auto-apply

4.Region, exam type, or renewal timing

From what the community has observed:

• Region and exam type don’t affect ESI eligibility
• MCT renewal timing doesn’t impact this either
• There’s usually no sync delay, if your tenant is ESI-enabled, the discount shows up immediately

5.What to check if you think you should have ESI

If you believe you’re eligible for ESI:

• Confirm your work email domain is part of an ESI-enrolled tenant
• Sign in to Pearson VUE using that corporate account, not a personal Microsoft account
• Your org’s Microsoft ESI admin or L&D team can confirm eligibility

What you’re seeing is expected behavior:

• The 50% ESI discount is tenant-based, not MCT-based
• Some MCTs see it simply because they’re also in an ESI-enabled organization
• There’s no missing entitlement or sync issue with your MCT account

You’re definitely not the only one who’s been puzzled by this, thanks for raising it, it’s useful clarification for the community. Let’s wait for others response.