ICDL Project Planning (ICDL)

It is a multiple-choice assessment covering the five syllabus areas. The publicly available source page for this qualification contains no test specification, so the number of questions, the time allowed and the delivery method (test centre or remote) must be confirmed with the awarding body or your local ICDL centre before you book.

Most candidates find the content approachable: it assumes no prior certification and no specialist software. The difficulty lies in applying concepts to short scenarios rather than reciting definitions. People who already coordinate work informally usually progress quickly through scheduling and monitoring, but need more practice on cost estimation and risk planning vocabulary.

Retake rules, waiting periods and any additional charges are set by the awarding body and by your local test centre, not by this guide. They are not stated in the source material for this page. Ask your centre what happens if you score below the pass mark, and how soon a second attempt can be scheduled.

There is no published study-hour requirement. A practical approach is one focused session per syllabus domain, roughly five sessions, plus two or three sessions spent working through short scenarios end to end. Candidates returning to study after a long break often add a session for terminology. Judge your own pace against practice questions rather than a fixed hour count.

Work through them in sequence: fundamentals and the life cycle first, then scope and stakeholders, then scheduling and resources, then cost and risk, and finally monitoring and closure. Later domains assume the vocabulary introduced earlier - a cost baseline, for example, makes little sense before deliverables and activities have been defined.

Recurring mistakes include confusing a dependency with a duration, listing stakeholders without assessing their influence, treating an estimate as a budget, and reporting percentage complete without checking milestones. Another common slip is describing what a plan should contain instead of producing the artefact the question asks for. Read each stem twice and check which project phase is being described.

No particular tool is required: the syllabus is about planning concepts and artefacts, not button-clicking in a specific application. A spreadsheet is enough for practising activity lists, simple budgets and status reports. If your workplace uses dedicated scheduling software, use it for practice, but do not assume the exam tests menus or commands.

Fees, certificate validity and any renewal requirements are administered by the awarding body and vary by country and centre. None of these details appear in the source material used for this page, so they should be treated as unconfirmed. Check the current price list and validity terms with your local ICDL centre before you register.