How a certification candidate acquires the necessary knowledge is irrelevant to the IAPM. There are different ways to prepare for certification, e.g. independent learning, attendance of a vocational school or university, professional experience or, naturally, attendance of one of the voluntary pre-certification courses provided by the IAPM’s certified training partners. What matters to the IAPM is not how candidates acquire their knowledge, but the depth and extent of their knowledge. Experienced project managers particularly appreciate the opportunity to have their knowledge certified without having to attend a preparatory course. Candidates can check their knowledge level at any time with the self-test. They get an assessment of their results plus recommendations onareas where knowledge deficits exist.
The IAPM’s certified training partners offer preparatory courses for all certification levels. You can find a trainer near you on the IAPM website at https://www.iapm.net/en/the-iapm/training-partners/

The IAPM makes random checks of the project history details provided by candidates when they register for the certification examination. If your project is randomly selected for Senior Project Manager (IAPM) competence validation, the person whose contact details you provided will be called by the IAPM and requested for his or her appraisal of the project processes and management.

IAPMIC stands for IAPM Identification Code. Every person who is IAPM certified receives a unique identification code that can be used to check the certificate's validity on the IAPM website.

The IAPM’s certifications always reflect the candidate’s level of knowledge and – at some certification levels – project experience at the time of the examination. So the IAPM’s certificates are confirmation of this knowledge and experience at the time of certification. Any diploma or certificate can only confirm a person’s knowledge at a specific point in time. It is up to the certificate holder to keep their knowledge up to date. The IAPM has no influence over this. All project managers are responsible for their continued education in project management and for broadening their experience horizon. They also have to address new trends and developments at their own initiative. The IAPM therefore takes the same approach as schools, colleges and universities that issue degree and diploma certificates with lifelong validity.
Interested project managers can find out about new trends and current topics in the “News & Projects” section of the IAPM’s website. The IAPM’s guides, which are available online free of charge, also contain the latest project management knowledge. Certification candidates and certificate holders can therefore obtain information about project management news and developments at any time.
Reflecting the IAPM‘scommitment to transparency, anyone can obtain information about when a person obtained his or her certificate by entering their name and certification level.

You will get your IAPM identification code if you sign up for an certification or test at the IAPM website.

A Certified Senior Project Manager (IAPM) has to have at least five years of experience in project management, three of which in a senior position or a position with major responsibilities. Certified Project Managers only have to demonstrate a knowledge of project management. However, experience is always an advantage in the certification examination.

The IAPM offers "Certified Agile Project Manager" certification to candidates who demonstrate competence in agile project management. The examination questions for "Certified Agile Project Manager" certification cover all the three main scrum roles; Product Owner, Scrum Master and Team. In its Agile PM Guide 2.0, the IAPM presents all three roles and explains the basic terms and definitions in scrum management so that anyone planning on getting involved in agile project management can gain knowledge of the distribution of roles in the team and the tasks performed by other people in the scrum environment. Only project managers with a grasp of agile project management can understand the scrum concept and function effectively in the roles that are allocated to them. That’s why the IAPM has decided against offering certification for specific scrum management roles.

The candidate can specify a maximum of five projects. Points are awarded for these projects on the basis of project data and the candidate’s project experience during the last five years. The total points score is calculated using a mathematical formula. Candidates for Certified Senior (Agile) Project Manager (IAPM) certification must achieve a minimum score of 40 points. Otherwise, they can only be approved for Certified (Agile) Project Manager (IAPM) certification.

The IAPM developed the online examination on the basis of extensive feedback from project managers who want to test their knowledge in a simple and uncomplicated procedure at a time of their choice. In order to meet this requirement, the IAPM developed the online certification system along the lines of the systems that are already used by many universities for their seminar and examinations.
To gain an idea of the type and content of questions in the online examination you can take a self-test. Candidates only have a limited time to complete the online examination. They have to be able to answer the questions confidently and specifically, which necessitates a sound knowledge of the subjects covered by the examination. It is not possible to go back to previous questions and change the answers or to initially leave out a question and return to it later.

The online examination has the advantage of objectivity because the computer and not a person assesses the candidate’s performance, which is not the case in an oral examination. Since the candidates’ answers are assessed by a system, they can be confident that their knowledge is being assessed in a neutral and unbiased way.

• 20 questions in the self test.
• 120 questions in the Certified Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.
• 120 questions in the Certified Senior Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.
• 20 questions in the Agile Project Manager self test.
• 120 questions in the Certified Agile Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.
• 120 questions in the Certified Senior Agile Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.
  

• 20 minutes in the self test.
• 80 minutes in the Certified Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.
• 80 minutes in the Certified Senior Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.
• 20 minutes in the Agile Project Manager self test.
• 80 minutes in the Certified Agile Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.
• 80 minutes in the Certified Senior Agile Project Manager (IAPM) certification test.

By signing the affidavit, the certification candidate confirms that the examination is taken by him or her in person and without any aids (except a dictionary). An affidavit is like the oath that witnesses are required to give in court. If the IAPM ascertains that a certificate holder has not acted in accordance with the affidavit, it reserves the right to take legal action.

A dictionary is accepted for the computer based tests.

65% of the questions have to be answered correctly for Certified Project Manager (IAPM) certification. The average percentage of questions answered correctly is currently around 76,2%.

65% of the questions have to be answered correctly for Certified Senior Project Manager (IAPM) certification. The average percentage of questions answered correctly is currently around 77,2%.

65% of the questions have to be answered correctly for Certified Agile Project Manager (IAPM) certification.

65% of the questions have to be answered correctly for Certified Senior Agile Project Manager (IAPM) certification.

You can take the self-test on the IAPM’s website. To take the test you have to register. It helps you to ascertain any gaps in your knowledge. Then you can decide whether to take a certification examination without any further preparation or whether you want to take part in a preparatory course with one of our certified training partners. These courses optimally prepare you for the certification tests.