Your PMP exam is changing in 2015

By Sarah Morgan


The PMP certification proves you’ve got up-to-date project management skills and gets you on track for a massive £55,000 salary (ITJobsWatch).

Owing to these reasons, and many more, the PMP® is one of the most important certifications for project managers. And in order to stay relevant alongside the changing demands of project management professionals the PMP must continually evolve. On 1 November 2015 your PMP exam will be changing.

How is the PMP exam changing?

The five domains of practice for the PMP are staying the same. However, new tasks are being introduced and current tasks modified or removed. As of 1 November 2015, the current exam will be retired and only the new version of the PMP exam will be administered.

See the below table for a brief look at the new tasks added across the domains. Or for a more detailed overview of what the new tasks are, take a look at this blog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Why is the PMP exam changing?

A. PMI are updating the PMP certification to reflect the current status of the project management profession.

A recently completed Role Delineation Study (RDS) – a method used to identify and prioritise crucial tasks of a job or profession – has provided a new description for the role of PMP professionals.


Q. What major differences in the role of project management professionals were identified by the RDS study?

A. PMI’s most recent RDS has shown that the role of the PMP has remained largely consistent over the past few years. However PMI do acknowledge that some aspects of the role have changed over time. These include:

• Inclusion of benefits analysis and realisation
• Looking at risk management in terms of opportunity
• Placing more emphasis on stakeholder management plans and communications
• Additional focus on lessons learned

Q. This exam update is only affecting the tasks, but to what extent?

A. Some tasks have been slightly modified whereas others have been changed or deleted entirely. In addition to this, there are also 8 entirely new tasks. Take a look at this blog post for more details on the relevant tasks.


Q. Will I need to take a different preparation course now that the exam is being updated?

A. PMI Chapters and R.E.P.s have been informed of this change and should be updating their courses accordingly.

Firebrand will be ready to deliver the new PMP content on our accelerated four day course, when the current exam is retired in November 2015.


Q. I’m studying for the PMP, how will this affect me as a candidate?

A. If you take your PMP exam after the 1 November date, be aware that you will be taking the new exam. Get caught out and you risk revising out-of-date content.

However, the PMP application and testing process remains the same.


Q. I don’t want to test under the new version of the content – what can I do?

A. If you don’t want to be tested on the new version of the PMP exam, you must test on or before 1 November 2015. After this date all PMP exams (this includes retakes and language aids) will reflect the new exam content outline.


Q. Will the exam report change?

A. No – the PMP exam report will remain the same. For computer based tests (CBT), you will continue to receive an exam report immediately after testing.


More to come from PMI...

It is important to note that this is not the finalised version of the content outline (at the time of publication). Currently, the proportion of questions from each domain that will appear on the final exam has not yet been determined. This information will be available by 15 June 2015.

For more information, take a look at the official PMI PMP FAQ.


Related articles:

• Top 10 PMP resources 2015
• PRINCE2 vs. PMP - which certification should you choose?
• Free PMP practice exercises help you prepare for certification success
• Four great benefits of the PMP certification

About the Author:        
Sarah writes for Firebrand Training on a number of IT related topics. This includes exams, training, certification trends, project management, certification, careers advice and the industry itself. Sarah has 11 years of experience in the IT industry.