Changes to the PMP Exam Effective for 2022

The new exam prioritizes three competencies of project management: People, Process, and Business Environment (42%, 50%, and 8% of each of the questions, respectively). This replaces the previous structure of the exam, where questions would be selected from each of the phases of the project lifecycle.

The most important thing to remember here is that the PMP exam has not eliminated the idea of the project life cycle! In fact, you are still expected to know how to manage each phase of a project - initiating, planning, executing, monitoring & controlling, and closing. So, what does the change in structure mean for you?

This new question structure takes a more wholistic approach to project management. PMP no longer assumes that each phase of a project will end cleanly before you enter a gateway into the next phase. Rather, you must now assume that a project can and will reenter a phase of the life cycle depending on the needs of the project. A project may even be in multiple phases at once if the project is complex enough. This is an effort for PMI to tailor the exam in a way that emphasizes practical solutions over theoretical ones.

On the new PMP exam, at least 50% of the questions will focus on agile or hybrid approaches to project management. This is a drastic change from the previous exams. In the past, the PMP focused primarily on traditional, or waterfall, methodologies of project management. Another exam that the Project Management Institute (PMI) offers is PMI-ACP, or Agile Certified Practitioner - before 2021, this is where you were expected to find more agile focused questions, but now, you may find that some questions on the PMP are questions that you may expect to find on the PMI-ACP.

These changes to the PMP offer the opportunity for project managers to demonstrate their knowledge of agile methodologies, which is an increasingly necessary skill. Agile project management is becoming more common for types of projects which require some flexibility in planning. In incorporating more agile and hybrid project management approaches into the PMP exam, the PMI is acknowledging that many projects in the present-day environment require a more flexible way of thinking. Hybrid methodologies may borrow from some concepts of agile and apply them to a traditional project management approach. For example, you may find that a project team benefits from the idea that team members should work in pairs so that they can check each other's work. This idea is borrowed from the idea of "pair programming" in XP, an agile methodology. The idea that some concepts of agile methodologies can be used in a project without necessarily transforming it into an agile project is important for answering questions on the new PMP exam.

I will keep this one brief. The PMBOK 7th Edition is the source material for traditional project management methodologies - there is no change here. However, the exam now uses the Agile Practice Guide in addition to the PMBOK for source material, so you will need to be familiar with both.

The format of the exam has changed, as you can see illustrated below:

Previous Version	2021 / 2022 Version
200 total questions, 175 scored	180 total questions, 175 scrored
240 minutes	230 minutes
One ten-minute break	Two ten-minute break
Multiple choice questions only	Additional types of questions: multiple response, matching, and fill in the blank questions

The exam is split into three sections, with an optional ten-minute break at the end of each section. You will not find a specific type of question concentrated within one section; all questions on your exam will be randomized. In addition, you will be allotted the same amount of time for each question. Once finished with a section, you will not be allowed to go back and look at the questions you have answered.

Note that you will be able to review the answers to your question prior to finishing each section. Once you mark that you are finished with the section, however, you will not be able to go back.

The PMP is currently being offered virtually, an option which was not available prior to COVID-19. Because this was originally a pandemic driven change, there is no official word on whether this change is permanent. However, for the foreseeable future, note that you can take your exam through one of the following avenues:

1. In person at a Pearson VUE testing center

2. Online with a virtual proctor

Note that there is no change to the way in which you will schedule your exam. The educational and experiential requirements for taking the exam are the same. In addition, you must schedule your exam in advance through PMI, and the fee will be the same ($405 for PMI members, $555 for non-members).