What’s New in the PMI-ACP® Certification? Updates Starting 8 November 2024

The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® certification continues to be a hallmark of agile expertise, demonstrating mastery in principles and practices across frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, and Lean. It is the only ISO-accredited agile credential, combining theoretical knowledge with practical application.

With agile methods becoming increasingly vital in today’s fast-paced business environment, the PMI-ACP credential offers professionals a critical competitive advantage. Earning the PMI-ACP certification will help you:

  • Demonstrate your ability to adapt agile principles to diverse scenarios.
  • Showcase leadership skills that drive team-centric excellence.

Stay ahead in an evolving landscape where agility is critical.

Starting 8 November 2024, the PMI-ACP exam is undergoing significant updates, reflecting the latest trends and advancements in agile practices. If you’re preparing for the certification or looking to renew it, here’s everything you need to know about the upcoming changes.

Key Changes to the Examination Domains

The PMI-ACP certification is transitioning from seven examination domains to four, streamlining its structure to focus on key areas of agile practice.

Previous Domains:

New Domains:
  1. Agile Principles and Mindset
  2. Value-Driven Delivery
  3. Stakeholder Engagement
  4. Team Performance
  5. Adaptive Planning
  6. Problem Detection and Resolution
  7. Continuous Improvement
  1. Mindset – Emphasising the agile philosophy and adaptability.
  2. Leadership – Highlighting the skills to guide and empower teams effectively.
  3. Product – Focusing on delivering customer value through iterative development.
  4. Delivery – Centering on efficient execution and achieving outcomes.

The shift isn’t significant, but it reflects a more integrated approach to agile, ensuring certification holders possess a robust understanding of the philosophy, leadership dynamics, and practical execution strategies. The new exam covers a good balance of both process and people agile knowledge.

For more details, refer to the updated PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss your Quality Assurance and Testing needs for your next project.

Eligibility Requirements

The eligibility criteria have been updated to reflect higher standards of agile knowledge and experience:

Training Requirement:

Old Requirement: New Requirement:
  • 21 contact hours of agile training.
  • 28 contact hours of formal project management education in agile practices, frameworks, and methodologies.

Millpond’s 4-day PMI-ACP preparation course fully meets this requirement.

Experience Requirement:

Old Requirement: New Requirement:
  • 12 months of general project experience within the last 5 years.
  • 8 months of agile project experience within the last 3 years.

 

  • 2 years of agile project experience within the last 5 years.
    If you have an active Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification, this is recognised as the equivalent of two years of agile experience.

These updates reflect the growing importance of practical, hands-on agile expertise in achieving certification.

Exam Duration and Format

The exam duration and format remain unchanged, at 3 hours and 120 multiple-choice questions.

Professional Development Units

To maintain your PMI-ACP certification, you’ll still need to earn 30 PDUs every three years, with no changes to the renewal requirements.

Certification Fees

The cost for the PMI-ACP certification exam remains unchanged:

  • PMI Members: USD $435
  • Non-Members: USD $495

Start Your PMI-ACP Journey with Millpond

With updates to the exam and eligibility requirements, now is the perfect time to embrace this agile credential. Partner with Millpond to receive world-class training and join the ranks of globally recognised agile professionals.

Millpond’s 4-day PMI-ACP exam preparation course continues to deliver high-quality, actionable training aligned with the updated exam structure.

What’s New in Our Course?

  • Updated content to reflect the new examination domains.
  • Enhanced exercises and examples focusing on mindset, leadership, product development, and delivery.
  • Practical examples and insights to navigate real-world agile challenges.

By completing our course, you’ll not only meet the increased training hours requirement but also gain the confidence to excel in the updated PMI-ACP exam.

Explore our course offerings: Millpond’s PMI-ACP Exam Preparation Course.

Together, let’s make agile excellence your competitive advantage.

Get in touch

We welcome the opportunity to discuss the PMI-ACP certification and whether it is right for you.

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