The PMP certification, aimed at managers and project leaders, is the most widespread and best-known certification in Project Management. Internationally recognized by companies and firms, the PMP certification is regularly cited in job advertisements and calls for tenders issued by companies to their partners or suppliers. The PMP certification recognizes the competence and skill of the Project Manager in leading projects and managing teams to achieve objectives within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources. 

As the project management sector is always in perpetual change, one of the major concerns of the PMI is to constantly adapt its offers to the needs of the market and Project Management professionals in order to meet its expectations in terms of training and certification. Every 3 to 5 years, PMI conducts research to understand the progression of the profession, new trends and the evolution of project managers' responsibilities. It is with this in mind that an update of the PMP certification exam is made as of January 2, 2021. This update mainly consists in dividing the questions according to transversal domains.

What will change?

Basically, the distribution of questions in the exam will be very different from the previous version of the PMP exam. The PMP exam was previously divided into 5 domains across 200 questions. The in-depth analysis of Project Management practices having revealed some business practices not represented in the exam, the exam will now focus on 3 new domains through 180 questions. With this change, the PMI wished, among other things, to focus on the skills and activities associated with effective project leadership, to strengthen the technical aspects of project management and finally to emphasize the link between projects and organizational strategy. After the update, the questions of the PMP exam will now be distributed over these 3 areas very similar to the PDU registration areas :

 Team and stakeholders: 42%, 

Project management process: 50%, 

Business environment: 8%. 

Also, many more questions in the new review will focus on agility: agile project methods are intended to be much more pragmatic than traditional methods. The form of the review will also change. Indeed, as of July 1, 2019, the paper-based (PBT) exams have disappeared, they only exist in an online version (CBT) and candidates can take their exam in a Pearson Vue center. Eventually, there must be at least one Pearson Vue center per country that is authorized to take the PMI exams. This change provides more flexibility in taking the PMP exam. 

Please note: not all Pearson Vue centers are authorized to administer PMI exams. It should be noted that during the COVID-19 period, therefore temporarily, you will be able to take the PMP exam directly from your home without having to go to a Pearson Vue center. The duration of the exam is now 230 minutes including two 10-minute breaks. The questions will be a combination of multiple-choice questions with the possibility of multiple answers, gap questions and interactive questions where you will be asked to drag and drop questions to make rankings or interact on graphs, for example.

Where can I find the material to prepare for the new exam?

PMI now offers a complete training kit based on the new exam, which can be called the official kit, called the "PMI CHOICE". It includes an electronic version of a PMP certification preparation course material that can be downloaded in PDF format or viewed and annotated online from various media (PC, iPad/iOS tablets, Android) as well as numerous short videos of 3 to 6 minutes to facilitate learning. A few additional tools are also provided such as the TO-DO LIST, a must for any project manager, various quizzes for self-assessment and a set of 200 questions from the new 2021 exam. 

I am being offered a PMP certification preparation course without an official kit, could I then be eligible to take the exam? 

Some training organizations or even independent trainers will offer to train you with their own material that they would have adapted for the new exam, indeed this will not prevent you from taking your exam afterwards (for the moment, because the PMI intends to make eligible only those who have received an official course). However, the PMI strongly recommends using their official kit for obvious quality reasons, therefore using instructors with an instructor badge. Indeed, in order to obtain the quality of PMI accredited instructor, it is necessary : To have a valid PMP certification, To have a significant experience in Agility, To have followed a "train the trainer" training from PMI, To have passed the instructor exam (to obtain their badge), To be attached to an ATP (Authorized Training Partner).