PMP

180 questions in 240 minutes - about 80 seconds each - with two 10-minute breaks built in. You can sit it in person at a Pearson VUE testing center, which PMI recommends, or online with a proctor. Practise pacing early: burning several minutes on one scenario is the fastest route to unanswered questions at the end.

Three domains: People (33%), Process (41%), and Business Environment (26%). PMI frames the exam as methodology-agnostic - valid for predictive, hybrid, and agile delivery alike - so expect situational items about leading teams, running delivery processes, and tying projects to business priorities rather than recall of one framework's terminology.

$675 at full price, or $425 if you are a PMI member. PMI states the exam fee is only required after your application has been accepted and you are ready to schedule, so application and study costs come first. If you are also buying training, price membership against the fee difference before deciding.

You need one of four combinations: high school diploma plus five years managing projects; associate's degree or vocational trade school diploma plus four years; bachelor's degree or higher plus three years; or a PMI GAC-accredited bachelor's or post-graduate degree plus two years. You also need 35 hours of Project Professional training or an active CAPM.

Time you spent managing projects in a professional setting, taking responsibility for planning, decisions, delivery, and outcomes, within the last ten years. Overlapping projects cannot be double-counted, and each project is listed separately on the application. Adjacent work such as coordinating tasks without owning delivery generally will not satisfy the requirement.

35 hours of Project Professional training, met by an online on-demand course, a live instructor-led class, or an active CAPM certification. The restriction applies to live classes: starting 1 December 2026, they count only if delivered by a PMI Authorized Training Partner, a China Registered Education Provider, or an eligible accredited higher education program including PMI GAC.

Yes - you may take the exam up to three times in one year. Because the window is twelve months, decide before your first attempt what you would do differently on a second: a different question source, a domain-by-domain error log, or targeted work on the domain where your misses cluster.

In person at a Pearson VUE testing center (PMI's recommendation) or online with remote proctoring - for online, run the system test first, choose a private space, and have photo ID ready. The exam is offered in 15 languages, including English, Spanish, German, French, Arabic, Japanese, Korean, and both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

Earn 60 professional development units (PDUs) in each three-year renewal cycle. One PDU equals one hour of learning, teaching others, presenting, reading, volunteering, or content creation - so structured reading and mentoring can count alongside formal courses. Track them as you go rather than reconstructing three years at renewal time.

Start with the Exam Content Outline, then weight practice to the domain split: Process carries 41% and People 33%, so they deserve most of your hours. The sample items PMI publishes all turn on assessing impact and following process before acting - practise that reflex instead of memorising definitions, and log which domain your errors fall into.