Exam Structure & Syllabus

The PMP exam is currently based on tasks from three performance domains or process groups, encompassing a total of 49 processes. The PMP Examination Specification weights these groups as follows:

1. People (42%)

2. Process (50%)

3. Business Environment (8%)

The exam consists of 180 multiple choice questions written against the PMBOK specification and the PMP Code of Ethics. The exam is closed book; no reference materials are allowed. Five of the 180 questions on the exam are "sample" questions used to fine-tune the degree of difficulty and precision of the exam and as such are not counted for or against a test taker. These questions are placed randomly throughout the exam. The test taker is only graded on their proficiency on 175 questions. The numbers in parentheses describe the percentage of questions for each domain.

Mapped to these five process groups are ten project management Knowledge Areas:

1. Project Integration Management

2. Project Scope Management

3. Project Schedule Management

4. Project Cost Management

5. Project Quality Management

6. Project Resource Management

7. Project Communications Management

8. Project Risk Management

9. Project Procurement Management

10. Project Stakeholder Management