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All project management experience counted toward PMP eligibility must fall within the eight consecutive years before the application is submitted.
“accrued within the last eight consecutive years prior to your application submission”
With a secondary degree (high school diploma, associate's degree, or global equivalent), the experience requirement is a minimum of five years / 60 months of unique, non-overlapping professional project management experience.
“Minimum five years/60 months unique non-overlapping professional project management experience”
With a four-year degree (bachelor's or global equivalent), the experience requirement is a minimum of three years / 36 months of unique, non-overlapping professional project management experience.
“Minimum three years/36 months unique non-overlapping professional project management experience”
With a bachelor's or post-graduate degree from a GAC-accredited program, the stated experience requirement is a minimum of two years / 24 months of unique, non-overlapping professional project management experience.
“Minimum two years/24 months unique non-overlapping professional project management experience”
Applicants must document at least 35 contact hours of formal project management education, unless they hold an active CAPM certification, in which case the education requirement is waived.
“at least 35 contact hours of formal project management education unless they are an active CAPM holder”
Experience is counted in months of tenure, not number of projects; months in which multiple projects overlap count only once toward the eligibility requirement.
“Tenure is tracked in months, not number projects”
Qualifying experience recorded on the application need not be paid work, but must be in a professional setting; school projects and personal-event planning do not qualify.
“does not necessarily have to be paid work, but it does need to be in a professional setting”
PMI's stated processing time for online applications is 5 calendar days, unless the application is selected for audit.
“processing time for applications submitted online is 5 calendar days”
PMI membership is not required for the PMP; fees vary by membership status and region, and the initial exam fee is paid after application approval, before scheduling.
“Membership is NOT required to obtain the PMP.”
Under the January 2021 ECO (in effect for exams before the July 2026 update — see PMP-F15), the PMP exam contained 180 questions, 5 of them unscored pretest questions (175 scored); the document states that all questions are randomly placed throughout the examination.
“comprised of 180 questions. Of the 180 questions, 5 are considered pretest questions”
Under the January 2021 ECO (see PMP-F15), the allotted time to complete the center-based examination was 230 minutes; the document does not state an allotment for other delivery modes.
“the center-based examination is 230 minutes”
A candidate may take the exam up to three times within the one-year eligibility period; after three attempts, they must wait one year from the last exam date before reapplying for PMP (other PMI certifications remain open meanwhile).
“up to three times within your one-year eligibility period”
If the one-year eligibility period expires without a passing result, the candidate must reapply for the certification.
“eligibility period expires without you passing the examination, you must reapply”
If the original test was administered on paper rather than computer, a manual hand rescore may be requested for a fee of $45 USD.
“The fee for a hand rescore is $45 USD.”
PMI has published an updated PMP Examination Content Outline that takes effect for all PMP exams from July 2026, replacing the January 2021 version.
“will come into effect for all PMP® exam tests from July 2026”
Graduates of a GAC-accredited degree program receive a 12-month credit toward the experience requirement and may apply GAC coursework toward the 35-hour education requirement.
“you will receive a 12 month credit towards the work experience requirement”
Qualifying project management experience must include leading and directing projects.
“Experience must include leading and directing projects.”
Under the January 2021 ECO (see PMP-F15), the PMP exam included two 10-minute breaks — the first after completing and reviewing questions 1–60, the second after question 120 — and after starting a break you could not return to the previous section's questions.
“there are now two 10-minute breaks in the exam”
As of 2026-08-08 (UTC), PMI's canonical PMP handbook URL served the document self-identified as the Examination Content Outline – January 2021 (whole-file SHA-256 3a840ea9bc8afa0c360362fa03b6879003cfe680ba9f018b6d4760fc9f98b63e), i.e. the pre-July-2026 version remained the one PMI distributed at that address.
“Examination Content Outline – January 2021”