This document outlines the eligibility criteria, application process and fees, and the examination process for the Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® certification. This is a resource designed towards helping you to earn your PMI-ACP Certification from Project Management Institute (PMI)®. If you are looking for information about the PMP Certification, please refer to our PMP Certification Requirements page.
The Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® Credential is targeted towards professionals who are looking to validate and sharpen their Agile project management skills. This certification is an ideal way to demonstrate knowledge in Agile project management methodologies and best practices.
Between 2010 and 2020 an estimated 15.7 million new project management jobs will be added globally... reaching an economic impact of over $18 trillion, across seven project-intensive industries. In the United States, the demand for project management professionals will grow by nearly 700,000 jobs. Strong demand will be reflected in average salaries far higher than non-project-oriented professionals.
PMI-ACP Certification Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility Requirement
PMI-ACP Requirement
Academic Education
Secondary Degree*
General Project Experience
2,000 Hours of Professional Experience on a Project Team
Agile Project Experience
1,500 Hours of Professional Experience on a Project Team
Training in Agile Practices
21 Contact Hours
* A secondary degree is defined as a high school diploma, associate's degree, or global equivalent.
Requirement Details
Academic Education
You are required to have a Secondary Degree* to qualify for the PMI-ACP exam. You will need the name of the institution, the year you graduated, and your major.
General Project Experience
2,000 Hours of general project experience hours must have been earned over the last five (5) years and must be as part of project group(s) that are non-overlapping and must be documented by project and summarized by process group to be counted on the PMI-ACP application. Refer to the PMI ACP eligibility check tool for initial eligibility evaluation.
Tip: A current PMP or PgMP will satisfy this requirement.
Agile Project Experience
1,500 hours of Agile experience hours must have been earned over the last three (3) years and must be as part of project group(s) that are non-overlapping and must be documented by project and summarized by process group to be counted on the PMI-ACP application. Refer to the above table for full PMI-ACP experience requirements.
Tip: These hours are in addition to the 2,000 hours of general project management experience. Projects and their associated timelines that count towards the General Project Experience will NOT also count toward your Agile Project Experience requirement.
Training in Agile Practices
You will need to show 21 contact hours of Agile Project Management Education. Agile training topics can include topics covering agile philosophy, agile methodologies, and agile principles and practices. PMTI plans ahead for our students and provides an inclusive online course so you qualify for this requirement even prior to attending the class. To learn more about our Agile & PMI-ACP Training, click here.
D. Training companies or consultants (e.g., training schools)
E. Distance-learning companies, including an end-of-course assessment
F. University/college academic and continuing education programs
Non-qualififing PMI-ACP Project Management Training Sources
PMI chapter meetings
Self-directed learning (e.g., reading books, watching instructional videos or sessions with coaches or mentors)
Tip: It is incredibly important that you do not falsify any of the information in your application. PMI has a random audit process which requires anyone being audited to present evidence to validate all information submitted with their application. Falsifying application documentation will result banishment from all future attempts to obtain any PMI certification.
To simplify the entire process of PMI-ACP application, you can optionally use the PMTI PMI-ACP Application Exam Prep Tool after you register for one of PMTI’s PMI-ACP Training Classes to help facilitate your application documentation.
PMI-ACP Certification Application Process
PMI-ACP Application Submission
You can submit your PMI-ACP application on PMI's certification website, certification.pmi.org. You will need to submit the following information:
Contact Address
Home Address
Work Address
Contact Information
Email Address
Phone Number
Attained Education
School or University
Address
Highest Level of Education Attained
Year Degree Awarded
Field of Study
Requirements
General Project Management Experience - All Items For Each Project
Project Title
Start Date
End Date
Project Role
Primary Industry
Agile Project Management Experience - All Items For Each Project
Project Title
Start Date
End Date
Project Role
Primary Industry
Project Management Education
Course Title
Institution Name
Course Start Date
Course End Date
Hours
Qualifying Hours
Certificate
Full Name for Certificate
PMI-ACP Application Fees
Cost Category
PMI® Member
Non-Member
PMI® Membership Fee
$139
N/A
PMI-ACP Exam Fee
$435
$495
PMI-ACP Re-Examination Fee
$335
$395
PMI-ACP Application Audit Process
Why Does PMI Audit PMI-ACP Applications?
In order to maintain the integrity of the PMI-ACP certification and enhance the credibility of PMI-ACP credential holders, PMI routinely conducts random audits of a certain percentage the PMI-ACP exam applications. Although PMI does not publish what percentage gets audited, our 14 years of experience shows about one in four or five of the applications get audited.
How Will I Know If I'm Being Audited?
Generally, you will not know you are audited until your application has been accepted and you have been authorized to pay. Once you complete the payment, you will be informed if you have been selected as an audit candidate within a few minutes via email or the online application portal. If you receive an email with an approval code or receive an approval code within your PMI application portal then you have not been audited and can schedule your PMI-ACP exam at your convenience.
I'm Being Audited by PMI, What Do I Do Now?
While the auditing process may appear intimidating just from the phrase, it is not as long as you follow the steps outlined by PMI. As part of our application prep tool assistance process we provide several tips that will simplify this process and will make it easy for you to navigate.
Once PMI informs you of your audit, you will be able to download the audit package. This audit package will contain instructions for providing verifications for the various items submitted with your PMI-ACP application. PMI will require you to provide proof of:
Academic Education:
This could be a copy of your education stated in your application. If you do not have a copy of the certificate or if the certificate is too big to copy, PMI will accept transcripts. Most schools and universities will provide a means of verification upon request.
Agile Education:
This refers to the 21 contact hours of training you have included in your PMI-ACP exam application. Most companies will provide a certificate and a copy of this certificate should suffice. If you did not receive a certificate as part of the training, a letter from a manager and/or training group indicating the DETAILS of the training will be required. Please ensure it states the number of hours you spent in training. The training must be in areas related to Agile project management.
Tip: If you have used PMTI’s PMI-ACP exam prep training (online or classroom) for the 23 contact hour PM Education requirement, all you have to do is inform PMTI about the training requirement and we will send you a certificate after verification.
Agile Project Management Experience:
As part of the PMI audit package stated above, you will be able to download individual Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of files of each of your position experience to verify. This document details your experience, requests the supervisor’s contact information, and provides PMI’s contact information.
When verifying your experience, it is essential that the supervisor:
Legibly signs all the position(s) experience
Puts the signed document in an envelope
Seals the envelope and signs across the flap
And, sends the signed envelope back to YOU and not to PMI!
General Project Management Experience:
As part of the PMI audit package stated above, you will be able to download individual Adobe Acrobat (PDF) version of files of each of your position experience to verify. This document details your experience, requests the supervisor’s contact information, and provides PMI’s contact information.
When verifying your experience, it is essential that the supervisor:
Legibly signs all the position(s) experience
Puts the signed document in an envelope
Seals the envelope and signs across the flap
And, sends the signed envelope back to YOU and not to PMI!
The last step is critical since PMI states on their website that they sometimes get individual envelopes from supervisor. PMI prefers all experience verification envelopes are sent at one time.
Tip: If there is one supervisor who was your manager at many positions, they can fill-out the information and sign one of the position verification forms and initial the rest.
Tip: Make sure you put all your verification forms in one single big envelope and overnight it with signature required. This will ensure you have proof it has been received.
Send the information to PMI's Global Operations Center:
PMI Global Operations Center
Attn: Certification Audit
14 Campus Blvd.
Newtown Square, PA 19073-3299 USA
How Long Is The Audit Approval Process?
Although PMI’s official line is that it will take then 5-7 days to approve the application, we have seen that applications verifications sent overnight get approved within only a couple of days.
Approval & Eligibility Period
It generally takes PMI® 24 hours to review your application and respond. Once your application is approved you will receive an invitation to pay for and schedule the exam. You will schedule your exam with Prometric at prometric.com. You will have one year to take the exam after your application has been approved and may take the exam up to three (3) times during the eligibility period.
PMI-ACP Examination Process
Scheduling the Exam
Once you have been approved to take the PMI-ACP certification exam, you will need to schedule, take, and pass the test at a Prometric test center near you. You can find a complete list of testing locations on the Prometric website. You will need the testing code PMI has provided you to successfully schedule your exam. This code should be included in your application acceptance email as well as in your PMI.org account, if you do not receive your Prometric testing code contact PMI directly.
Taking the PMI-ACP Exam
The PMI-ACP Exam is taken at your nearest Prometric test center. The exam is only administered in English; however, there are 14 languages (listed below) supported via language aids. Keep in mind that these language aids are for the test only and not the pre-exam tutorial session.
PMI-ACP Language Aids
There are currently no language aids provided for the PMI-ACP exam. This exam is only offered in English.
PMI-ACP Exam Format
The exam is 120 questions with a 3 hour time limit. 100 questions are scored while 20 questions are pretest questions. Pretest questions are questions that are used by PMI to test the validity of future exam questions. The table below breaks down the question pool by chapter in the PMI-ACP® Examination Content Outline.
Question Breakdown by PMI-ACP® Examination Content Outline Domain
Domain Number
Chapter Title
Percentage of Questions
Domain I
Agile Principles and Mindset
16%
Domain II
Value-driven Delivery
20%
Domain III
Stakeholder Engagement
17%
Domain IV
Team Performance
16%
Domain V
Adaptive Planning
12%
Domain VI
Problem Detection and Resolution
10%
Domain VII
Continuous Improvement (Product, Process, People)
9%
One of the advantages of the computer based exam is that you will receive your score immediately!
If your test results show that you received a passing score, congratulations! You are now a PMI-ACP! You may use the PMI-ACP credential immediately for the next 3 years! After this period you must re-take the PMI-ACP certification exam to maintain your PMI-ACP certification.