PMI-ACP® Agile Certified Practitioner Training Course with Certification

This is perhaps the most asked question. First and foremost, you need education and experience combined to qualify for PMI-ACP. Here’s what you need:

• Secondary Degree (High School Diploma, Associate’s Degree, or equivalent international degree): You have to showcase 12 months of aggregate project experience in the last 5 years, PLUS 8 months of actual Agile project experience in the last 3 years.
• Four-Year Degree (Four-Year Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent worldwide): You will need 8 months of experience working on Agile projects in the last 3 years. The project experience requirement is waived if you have a four-year degree.

For All: You will need 21 hours of coursework specifically in Agile practices.

Yes, you don’t need a Bachelor’s degree. You just need a bit more aggregate project experience – remember that 12 months in the past 5 years we were referring to. To make it clear, you still need the 8 months of experience with Agile and overall 12 months of aggregate project experience in the given number of years. Besides this, you need 21 hours of Agile training. So, yes, it is definitely an option!

Great question! There are two kinds of experience that PMI is seeking (based on your level of education):

• General Project Experience: This is where you are an active member of a team on some kind of project (not necessarily Agile). It shows you the knowledge of basic project work. (Remember, this is only required if you don’t have a four-year degree)

Agile Project Experience: You should have experience with a project where you’ve had experience with Agile processes (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, XP, etc.). Experience should be recent (not more than 3 years ago).

Yes, actually, those 21 contact hours are indeed required!  Think of it as quality time spent in total dedication to Agile methods, rules, tools, and practices. It gives you both formal Agile field experience and working-in-the-shoe experience. Self-study is great, but there is nothing to be done here – you will need to take a special class or coursework.

That’s a typical cause of confusion! While we agree that experiential learning and self-study are truly, very beneficial to getting ready to take the exam, as mentioned before they’re not something you can replace with the 21 contact hours of formal Agile training. You’ll need to provide proof that you’ve done an accredited Agile course when you apply. So, a combination: formal training (required) + self-study/experience (strongly recommended to pass!).

Okay, now answering the questions about the actual exam! The PMI-ACP exam has 120 multiple-choice questions. You have 3 hours (180 minutes) to answer them. 

Interesting fact: 100 of the questions actually do count toward your score, and 20 are ‘pretest’ questions PMI will use to gather data for future exams – but you won’t be able to identify which are ‘pretest’ questions, so you may as well go ahead and answer them all anyway!

This is one where PMI keeps it a bit mysterious! They don’t provide a fixed percentage to pass (like 70%, for example). Instead, they use a sound psychometric technique – ie, a statistical process – to guarantee all test-takers pass a certain standard. Your score will just be Pass or Fail, depending on your total score across the different exam sections. Our tip would be to stay mindful to learn the material in general terms.

We all find the PMI-ACP challenging but certainly manageable if well prepared!

It’s less memorization of definitions and more learning the Agile principles and how to apply them to real-world scenarios. Search for a huge number of situational questions (“What do you do next in this situation?”). Passing rates are not publicly disclosed by PMI. However, we’ll let you know that well-prepared candidates who work diligently with good courses and study materials have a high pass rate (which is no surprise). Don’t be frightened by the test, consider it a building block of confidence in your true Agile skills! 

Practice, please! Here is a good plan:

• Plan for a while: Plan quality study time weeks or months.
• Use Quality Resources: Highlight the PMI Agile Practice Guide and quality PMI-ACP exam prep books.
• Practice Exams: Important! Use solid simulators to adjust to the question format and time. Walk through your wrong answers prettily.
• Take Formal Training: A solid prep course (especially one from an Authorized PMI Training Partner) not only meets the 21-hour requirement but also provides formal study, expert teaching, and even practice questions and simulators.
• Examine the ECO: Make sure you’re comfortable with the Exam Content Outline (ECO) of PMI – it plainly tells you what’s covered.

You’ll need a combination of materials.

Begin with the Agile Practice Guide (co-published by Agile Alliance and PMI) – a good place to begin. 

Second, acquire a widely respected PMI-ACP concentrated study guide book (writers like Mike Griffiths are popular). 

Our flashcards can be effective for key ideas and jargon for some people. And, of course, we give you multiple mock tests to get you prepared for the exam.

If you attended our 3-4 live training, you’re already good to go. It’s all just about how much knowledge and experience you have with Agile. Remember, it’s mainly about quality study time, not hours, consistently, is what it’s about.

Your primary text should be the Agile Practice Guide and other ACP-focused materials. It’ll give you a good idea about how you should approach the exam, rest you can leave up to our training. We’ll give you a good roadmap on how you should be approaching this exam.

The PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline (ECO) is the exam blueprint available on the PMI website. It has the following Domains: Agile Principles and Mindset, Value-Driven Delivery.

• Stakeholder Engagement
• Team Performance
• Adaptive Planning
• Problem Detection and Resolution
• Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, People)  The test also tests your knowledge and capability on all of them, including other Agile methodologies such as Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP, etc., tools, and techniques.
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It’s all online at the PMI site (pmi.org). You’ll create an account and then fill out the online application form. You’ll delineate here your education, your total project experience (if any), your Agile project experience, and your 21 hours of Agile coursework. Be concise and detailed! PMI can verify against your application, so have documents in front of you. When you apply, PMI processes (typically in 5-10 business days).

After your application has been approved by PMI and you have paid your examination fee, you will be told how to schedule your exam. You schedule it with Pearson VUE, PMI’s testing partner. You can sit for the test at a nearby Pearson VUE test site in your community, or try to sit for the online proctored test. You just log in, choose a time and date that suits you best, and reserve your place!

Yes, it does! PMI does provide an Online Proctored (OP) test mode. That way, you can sit at the office or remain at home and take the test in front of a live proctor through your webcam and microphone. It is itself very convenient, but please make sure that you have a good internet connection, a quiet spot to sit, and your computer has satisfied PMI and Pearson VUE technical requirements ahead of time.

It doesn’t occur, but just in case you do, PMI has a plan B.

In case you fail on your first try, don’t freak out!

• Your one-year application clock begins the day your application is approved.
• You have that one year to attempt again, up to two additional attempts (three attempts total).

There is a re-take price for every re-take, and it will generally be less than the initial price. Utilize the report that you receive when you sit for an exam so that you are aware of your weak points and focus your study before attempting again!

We can give you many, but since it’s an FAQ, we’ll give you a few fabulous benefits of PMI-ACP certification! It formally states your expertise and experience in Agile practice, empowering you with better qualifications for employment, clients, and peer companies. It could also create new job vacancies looking for Agile experience in itself (e.g., Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Agile Project Manager). It clearly shows you’re committed to professional growth in this very valuable field and Agile.

Yes, surely! PMI-ACP is universally accepted. Since PMI itself is such a highly acclaimed international organization, its certifications naturally become universally accepted too. Agile principles are followed in so many various sectors now – IT, software development, marketing, building construction, banking and finance, healthcare, and so on, which makes PMI-ACP much more valuable today, and the best part is you’ll enjoy the benefits of this certification wherever you’re employed or reside.

Your PMI-ACP certification is valid for three years.

To keep it, you need to be registered under PMI’s Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) program.

For ACP, that means earning 30 Professional Development Units (PDUs) in Agile material within the three-year period. You will also be billed a renewal fee. You can earn PDUs from additional Agile classes, participating in webinars, volunteering, reading books, or simply being an active Agileist. You just need to report your PDUs through the CCR system on the PMI website, and you will be renewed without problems!