I have been receiving a lot of queries regarding the “revised syllabus” of PMI-ACP® certification examination. Despite many articles on the same and numerous analysis by experts, this is still a persistent question. I could sense some uncertainly within people who have been preparing for the PMI-ACP® examination before the revised changes were affected in July 2015.
So I thought about briefly summarizing the changes brought in by the PMI® (Project Management Institute). To give a little background, PMI® conducted a Role Delineation Study (RDS) involving over 1,000 agilists from 60 countries. This RDS produced an updated description of the agile practitioner, and played a central role in revising the PMI-ACP® examination.
I spoke to some people who have taken the revised PMI-ACP® examination, and actually cleared it. Based on my discussions with the most recent PMI-ACP® certified folks (and a little analysis of my own analysis), here is my brief summary on the PMI-ACP® certification exam changes. My intent here is not to provide details on the PMI-ACP® examination, but focus only on the changes (or no changes) in the key aspects.
Eligibility criteria, fees, and application process:
There is absolutely no change in any of these aspects. Here is the link to our website PMI-ACP® pagefor complete details.
Exam duration and number of questions:
Again, no change. 120 questions in 3 hours. Out of these, 100 are scored and the remaining 20 are test (pilot) questions.
Syllabus / Reference books:
There is a slight change in the list of reference books. But in my opinion, the overall content (“syllabus”) is still the same. The whole content is now grouped into seven domains. There is addition of one new domain – “Agile Principles and Mindset”. Earlier, this content was grouped into 6 domains. I feel this is one great thing that PMI has done. There is going to be more focus on the agile values and principles now.
Type of exam questions:
This is one major change in the revised PMI-ACP® examination now. Now, the questions are more scenario based rather than focusing on theory. In my opinion, this is a great step ahead. In my workshops as well, I have always tried to focus on interactions with participants and discussing various real scenarios.
Maintaining your PMI-ACP® credential:
No change here as well. To maintain your PMI-ACP®, you will need to earn 30 professional development units (PDUs) in agile topics every three years.
So…
This is not that much of an extreme change that all your previous preparation for PMI-ACP®certification exam is wasted. In fact, none of your earlier effort towards exam preparation is wasted. One only needs some tuning from the perspective of relating scenarios to the basic values and principles, roles, etc. I would rather call it “improved” PMI-ACP® now.
Go folks! Take the PMI-ACP® certification examination now, increase your versatility in agile knowledge and be in the elite group of agile practitioners globally!
Be Agile, Scale Up!
Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] for any further question.