Last Updated on January 24, 2024 by andrewshih
PMP Exam and PMP Certification
What are PMP exam and PMP certification?
Project Management Institute (PMI) governs the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification. It is the most highly regarded project management certification in the world. In order to obtain the PMP certification, the candidate must meet the application and work experience requirements and pass the PMP exam.
What are PMP certification requirements?
Project Management Professionals need to meet the high standard and must meet rigorous education, work experience, and learning requirements including:
Educational Background | Project Management Experience | Project Management |
Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or global equivalent) | Minimum five years/60 months of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience* | 35 contact hours of |
OR | ||
Four-year degree (bachelor’s degree or global equivalent) | Minimum three years/36 months of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience* | 35 contact hours of |
OR | ||
Bachelor's or post-graduate | Minimum two years/24 months of unique non-overlapping professional project management experience* | 35 contact hours of formal education unless you are an active CAPM holder |
The Global Accreditation Center (GAC) for Project Management Education Programs is an independent academic accreditation body with project management and related programs at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree levels.
Upon completing the application requirement above, the PMP candidate will earn the right to take the PMP exam. Upon passing the PMP exam, the candidate will earn the PMP certification.
What to write for PMP application?
On the application, you must demonstrate you have earned enough work hours leading or managing projects. You must complete the online application that includes the timeframe, hours, and summarizes each of the projects breaking down the tasks into each domain group.
Completing the application is a common challenge for candidates, especially with project descriptions and many candidates who have failed the audit simply wrote they wrote the project description does not meet the PMI’s requirement.
I have created an application blog section that provides an overview, tips with examples for writing project descriptions, and how to prepare for the audit.
How to earn 35 hours of project management education?
PMI introduced Authorized Training Partner (A.T.P.) in January 2021, a big rollout, and all the PMP training providers were impacted.
The downside to the PMP aspirant is that there are fewer on-demand course options because the ATP can no longer offer on-demand courses that satisfy the 35 contact hour requirement per PMI’s mandate.
The live virtual boot camp training can typically cost between $1000 to $2000 dollars.
A new option available is to take the official on-demand PMP course created by PMI. The PMI’s official on-demand training cost $699 for PMI members and $799 for non-members.
Fortunately, there are still free and low-cost options for earning the 35 contact hours.
Who can take the PMP exam?
Before you can even sign up for the PMP exam, you must meet the minimum education and work experience requirement and 35 hours of education credit mentioned above as part of the PMP application process.
How many questions are in PMP exam?
The exam consists of 180 questions. Questions will be a combination of multiple-choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank. You can refer to some prototype questions here.
There will also be 5 questions that are mixed within the 180 questions, which are not scored and used by PMI for future exam preparation purposes.
Although the total number of questions is lesser compared to earlier exams, the exam is going to be more difficult because of more exam material to study and the new exam structure. There is no negative penalty if you answer the question wrong, so it is in your best interest to answer all questions even if you have to guess.
Reference: PMP Exam Update for 2021
How long is the PMP exam?
You will have 230 minutes to complete the exam, with up to two 10-minute breaks in between the exam.
I recommend getting comfortable with working at a pace averaging about 1-minute per question so that you will have time to review the marked questions at the end and not be stressed under time pressure.
What is the PMP exam structure?
According to the 2021 PMI Exam Content Outline, here is the proportion of the questions from each of the domains for the PMP exam:
| People | 42% |
| Process | 50% |
| Environment | 8% |
Compared to the old PMP exam, the new PMP exam has a much greater emphasis on the project manager’s leadership skill and ability to align the project to the business strategic initiatives, not just the understanding and ability to apply project methodologies.
What is PMP exam passing score?
You will need to score 61% or above to pass the exam. In other words, you will need to get 106 questions correct out of the 175 real questions. Since you cannot tell which questions are graded, you should aim to get at least 110 questions out of 180 questions correctly to pass the exam.
At the end of the real exam, you will only know if you passed or failed the PMP exam, and you will not receive a percentage score. For PMP exam tips, please take a look at my blogs under Exam category which includes exam study tips, how to prepare the day before the exam, and taking the exam.
Where can I take the PMP exam?
Before July 1, 2019, PMP aspirants used to take the PMP exam at Prometric testing center. After July 1, 2019, you will need to register and take the PMP exam at the Pearson VUE test center.
Due to the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the Project Management Institute (PMI)® announced in mid-April 2020 that candidates can now schedule and take the Project Management Professional (PMP)® Exam online from the convenience of their own home or office. The online-proctored PMP Certification exam is available 24/7.
For more information, please see:
PMI Online PMP Certification
PMI Coronavirus Updates
Pearson VUE Coronavirus Updates
How hard is the PMP exam?
It is not an easy exam. About one-third of the candidates failed the PMP exam even after rigorously studying for the exam.
The exam is difficult because it is mostly a “situational-based” exam. Many questions will give you a situation and you will need to be able to based on the knowledge and facts you learned and be able to apply to the situation.
Several answers may appear to be correct, and rightfully you may need to take all those tasks, but usually, you need to pick the one that you need to perform first.
The new exam format will make the test more challenging because it is no longer straightforward multiple-choice questions, and there will a mix of 5 types of questions, including multiple-choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank.
Lastly, the PMP exam is not an exam that simply tests on your memorization – it tests if you can apply the knowledge in real project management scenarios.
Should I take the PMP exam?
In order to get into a project management career, it is becoming more common that the job requirement states candidate with PMP is preferred. With more senior positions, a PMP designation will likely be a requirement. Current project managers may see having PMP designation as becoming more prevalent and need to stay competitive.
How many times can I take the PMP exam in a year?
The candidate will have 1 year to pass the PM exam from the time the application is approved by PMI. The candidate has up to three attempts to pass the exam within 1 year.
Suppose you fail the examination three times within your one-year eligibility period. In that case, you must wait one year from the date of the last examination you took to reapply for the certification. However, it doesn’t limit you from pursuing another exam such as CAPM.
How much is the PMP membership fee?
The PMP annual renewal membership fee is $129 and $10 extra if you are a new member. If you are going to take the PMP exam, it is more cost-effective to become a member and get the discounted fee and a free electronic version of the PMBOK guide.
What is PMP exam cost?
The cost for online and center-based testing is the same, but it will depend on whether you register as a member and if you are taking the PMP test the first time or retaking it.
| Attempt | Status | USA | Euro |
| First Time | member | $405 | €340 |
| First Time | nonmember | $555 | €465 |
| Re-exam | member | $275 | €230 |
| Re-exam | nonmember | $375 | €315 |
There are other costs that you need to consider in addition to the cost of the PMP exam. You should also factor in the cost of acquiring 35 professional development units (PDU) required before taking the exam.
Moreover, there is the cost of the online PMP exam simulator and PMP exam study guides you may want to purchase. Here are the approximate costs for those additional items:
| Item | Cost |
| Printed PMBOK guide (if you are a member) | $50 |
| Printed PMBOK guide (if you are NOT a member) | $99 |
| A.T.P. Live Training | $1,000 ~ $2,000 |
| Prepcast PMP Exam Simulator | $149 |
| One Study Guide/Book (Book Review) | $50 ~ $100 |
Please refer to the resource page for a complete list of recommended resources.
How to maintain PMP certification?
PMP holders have to continually educate themselves from the date they pass the examination. PMP has to earn 60 professional development units (PDU) every three years.
There are several ways to earn PDU at no cost, including volunteer opportunities at the local chapter or at PMI. If you are a PMI member, you can also access projectmanagement.com to watch live and on-demand online webinars for free and earn PDU.
Do I need to pay the renewal membership fee to maintain PMP certification?
No, you do not have to pay the membership fee to maintain your PMP designation. The only requirement is that you must satisfy 60 PDU every 3 years to maintain the designation.
