Prep
How to get PMP certification: the process at a glance
If you want to know how to get PMP certification, the path has five stages: confirm you meet PMI's education and experience requirements, complete 35 hours of project management training, submit the online application on pmi.org, pay the exam fee and schedule the exam, then pass it. After that you keep the credential active on a 3-year renewal cycle.
The rules below come from PMI's official July 2026 PMP Exam Content Outline and the PMI Certification Handbook (revised June 2026). Since July 2026 the exam follows a new outline: 180 questions in 240 minutes, weighted People 33%, Process 41% and Business Environment 26%.
The slowest part for most people is not the exam itself but documenting experience correctly. Start there.
| Education | Experience leading projects | Training |
|---|---|---|
| Upper-secondary school (high school diploma, GED-type equivalent), EQF level 4 / ISCED 3-4 | 60 months (5 years) | 35 hours |
| Associate's-level, higher-certificate or advanced technical/vocational program, EQF level 5 / ISCED 5 | 48 months (4 years) | 35 hours |
| Bachelor's degree or higher, or a qualification formally mapped to EQF level 6 / ISCED 6 | 36 months (3 years) | 35 hours |
| Bachelor's or postgraduate degree from a program accredited by PMI's Global Accreditation Center (GAC) | 24 months (2 years) | 35 hours (GAC coursework can count toward it) |
PMP requirements: the four eligibility paths
The PMP requirements combine an education level with a minimum number of months spent leading projects. Every path also needs 35 hours of project management training. The table on this page shows all four paths.
Three details catch applicants out:
- The 10-year window. All experience must have been gained in the 10 years before you submit your application.
- Non-overlapping months. PMI counts months, not projects. If you led Project I from January to March and Project II from February to May, that is five months (January to May), not seven. Overlapping months count once.
- Education levels are mapped to frameworks. PMI now describes education by EQF and ISCED levels. If your diploma does not state a level and you are audited, you may need an extract from a national qualifications register, an official statement from the awarding body, or a formal evaluation by a recognized national body. Titles containing words like "advanced" or "professional" do not qualify for the bachelor-level path unless a competent authority maps them to EQF 6.
The GAC path is for graduates of a degree program accredited by PMI's Global Accreditation Center. PMI notes that GAC accreditation does not, by itself, change the degree level required.
If you do not meet any path yet, PMI suggests looking at the CAPM. We compare both in PMP vs CAPM.
What counts as experience leading projects
Your experience must show that you led and directed projects. PMI defines a project as a temporary initiative in a unique context undertaken to create value, with a beginning and an end.
- The work does not have to be paid, but it must be in a professional setting.
- School projects, academic research for a degree, personal events and home improvement do not qualify.
- Routine, operational or administrative tasks should not appear in your project entries.
- You record each project individually in the experience verification section of the application.
Write each entry around what you did as the leader: the objective, the approach you chose, how you planned and tracked the work, the stakeholders you managed and the outcome. Keep it factual, because a supervisor may have to sign off on it during an audit.
The 35 hours of project management training
PMI requires at least 35 hours of training aligned with the topics in the PMP Exam Content Outline. One hour of instruction equals one training hour, and only the project management portion of a broader course counts. The coursework must be finished before the certification is granted, and you record all training hours regardless of when you earned them.
PMI accepts training from these provider types:
- PMI Authorized Training Partners (ATP)
- China Registered Education Providers (REP)
- GAC-accredited programs and accredited higher education institutions
- Employer or company-sponsored programs
- Training companies or consultants
- Self-paced on-demand courses that include an end-of-course assessment
Books and practice exams alone do not count. PMI also reserves the right to reject training it judges to be of poor quality, so keep the certificate and course outline.
Two exceptions: active CAPM holders who meet the education and experience requirements have the 35-hour requirement waived, and graduates of a GAC-accredited degree can count that coursework toward the 35 hours.
Step-by-step checklist: from eligibility to exam day
Work through this list in order. Each step depends on the one before it.
- Match your education to a path. Find your diploma or degree level and, if it is not obvious, check how your national framework maps it to EQF or ISCED.
- Count your months. List every project you led in the last 10 years with start and end months. Remove overlaps and check that the total meets your path (24, 36, 48 or 60 months).
- Confirm your supervisors. For each project, note who could verify your role if you are audited.
- Complete 35 training hours aligned with the July 2026 outline and save the completion certificate.
- Decide on PMI membership before you pay. The member rate applies only if your membership is active before you pay the exam fee.
- Submit the online application on pmi.org with your education, training and project entries.
- Handle the audit if selected. Send your documents within 90 days.
- Pay the fee and note your PMI Eligibility ID from the confirmation email.
- Schedule the exam with Pearson VUE, at a test center or online, inside your 1-year eligibility period.
- Study against the outline. Use the 26 tasks in the July 2026 outline as your checklist.
- Take at least two full-length timed practice exams (180 questions, 240 minutes). Start with our free PMP practice test.
- Check exam-day rules. Your registration name must match your ID. Online candidates must run the OnVue system check and allow time for check-in.
The application and the audit
Every application can be audited, and PMI selects a percentage of them at random. It can also audit any candidate at any time, including after certification. If you are selected, you are told by email before you pay.
An audit asks for copies of your diploma or degree, signatures from the supervisors or managers for the projects you listed, and certificates or letters from your training providers. You have 90 days to submit them. PMI says a complete audit takes about 5 to 7 business days. You cannot continue until it is done, and your 1-year eligibility period starts on the day you are told you passed the audit. Failing or ignoring an audit leads to a 1-year suspension before you can reapply.
Paying and scheduling the exam
PMI states that fees vary by membership status and region, and its handbook does not list the amounts. According to secondary sources such as PM Study Circle, the PMP exam fee has been USD 445 for PMI members and USD 675 for non-members since August 2026 (USD 405 / USD 655 before that). We could not confirm these figures on a pmi.org page, so check the price shown in your application before paying. Our PMP exam cost page breaks down the full budget.
You can take the exam at a Pearson VUE test center, online with OnVue proctoring, or on paper in some locations, including mainland China, where delivery is paper-based only. Rescheduling or cancelling within 30 days of your appointment costs USD 70 plus taxes, and you cannot change the appointment within 48 hours of it. A no-show forfeits the whole fee.
What the exam looks like
- 180 questions: 170 scored and 10 unscored pretest questions placed at random.
- 240 minutes, with two 10-minute breaks. The first comes after the case-study section, the second about midway through the independent questions. Once you start a break, you cannot go back to the previous section.
- Domains: People 33%, Process 41%, Business Environment 26%.
- Approaches: about 40% predictive, with the remaining 60% split between agile and hybrid.
- Question types: multiple choice, multiple response, case or scenario sets and graphic-based questions (both new in 2026), plus matching, enhanced matching, point and click and pull-down list items on computer-based tests.
For a domain-by-domain look at difficulty, read how hard is the PMP exam. For a week-by-week plan, see our PMP study guide.
After the exam: results, retakes and renewal
On a computer-based exam you get a score report at the end showing pass or fail plus diagnostic feedback for each domain. For the PMP that result is preliminary until PMI confirms it, and the report is available online within 10 business days. Paper-based candidates get results by email in 6 to 8 weeks.
If you do not pass, you can take the exam up to three times within your 1-year eligibility period, paying a retake fee for the second and third attempts. After three failed attempts you wait 1 year from your last exam before reapplying.
Once certified, you keep the PMP by earning 60 professional development units (PDUs) every 3 years and paying the renewal fee. PMI's continuing certification requirements page explains how PDUs are earned.