APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ)

As well as possessing the recommended two to five years' project management experience, PMQ candidates should be prepared for up to 40 hours of private study in addition to your training course. This will consist of exam preparation activities and the following pre-course learning:

Pre-Course Learning:

To get ready for your course, you’ll complete a comprehensive list of activities that:

• Support you in the creation of a personal study plan – complemented with study guidance and tips
• Develop early awareness of each course topic so that learning, knowledge retention, and course participation is maximised
• Ensure that your IT complies with APM's online exam requirements

The pre-course activities may take up to 32 hours to complete and are an essential component of your PMQ study programme. They will establish a solid foundation for learning, helping you to relate each topic to your own role. Learners who fully complete all activities will also be much better prepared for the PMQ exam.

By attending this course, you will:

• Understand how organisations and projects are structured
• Understand project lifecycles
• Understand the situational context of projects
• Understand communication within project management
• Understand the principles of leadership and teamwork
• Understand planning for success
• Understand project scope management
• Understand schedule and resource optimisation
• Understand project procurement
• Understand risk and issue management in the context of project management
• Understand quality in the context of a project

This course provides comprehensive coverage of the PMQ syllabus aligned to the Body of Knowledge 7. The PMQ syllabus contains:

• 11 learning outcomes (above)
• 67 assessment criteria – the specific topics you are required to know

The PMQ syllabus showing full topic coverage is available on the APM website.

Rather than follow the PMQ syllabus, the course will adopt the same logical structure as your official PMQ Study Guide. Specific content will include:

• Initiating a project – How organisations can use projects in order to enhance performance, bring about change, and enable the organisation to grow. Topics covered include environmental factors such as organisational structure, roles, and life cycles. You will also look at the importance of the project’s business case and how to engage stakeholders.

• Project planning – Consider how the ‘project need’ is likely to be delivered through a detailed statement of work. This content will look at building solid foundations for the project by nature of a robust plan that details the scope, schedule, resources, and quality requirements whilst factoring in any associated risks. You will also investigate how a project manager’s communication and leadership skills can support the team and maintain stakeholder commitment.

• Project delivery - Successful delivery involves controlling deployment and ensuring that there is good information about progress and performance. This final section addresses the ongoing planning activity within any project as well as controlling the various project performance parameters. Interpersonal skills are also crucial during project delivery in order to manage conflict effectively and negotiate with various internal and external stakeholders.

PMQ Examination

You will sit your PMQ examination in the afternoon of day 5. Some details about the PMQ examination:

• 3 hours 15 minutes duration
• Short essay-style questions
• Choose 10 questions from 16
• Each question is worth 50 marks, so 500 marks in total
• Pass mark is 275 (55%)
• Closed-book

Your course includes preparation for your examination. This includes undertaking mock examination questions, and answer reviews. Questions will also be set to be completed in the evening, and you can expect to spend approximately 1-2 hours per evening on this additional work. Please ensure you can dedicate time to this evening work.