PMP Exam Schedule – When Is The Next PMP Exam Date?

Are you a working professional who is not very satisfied with current designation and professional growth? Are you planning to advance your career? If yes then you must appear for the PMP exam as it will increase your promotion chances within the organization. Therefore, you must be wondering about the PMP exam schedule. It is a must to know the schedule of any exam while you are studying or preparing for it. So, here in this article, we will talk about the PMP exam schedule as well as PMP exam changes in terms of dates. First, let us understand the significance of the PMP certification.

What is the PMP Certification?

PMP stands for Project Management Professional certification. It is a globally recognized professional certification for project managers. Project Management Institute (PMI), a US non-profit organization offers PMP certification. A well recognized and respected credential, PMP certification is considered essential for the project managers. Mainly for those who wish to take the next step or advance their career.

Besides, PMP certification is truly global. In other words, once you become PMP certified, you can work virtually in any industry, any location, using any methodology irrespective of any geography or domain. It is acknowledged worldwide.

Nevertheless, this certification is the most acclaimed across the globe. Moreover, it is considered as the gold standard of project management.

Remember that attaining a PMP credential is valuable in your career because you can reach out to potential employers across the globe.

Further, you can be in contact with PMP certified professionals and aspiring PMPs through project management discussion boards and forums. Therefore, PMP certification increases your expertise with knowledge sharing. PMP certification helps in improved project performance.

Moreover, PMP certification attests to your expertise in project management. Regardless of the title of the project manager you are holding or not, you are considered someone who can bring the project to completion.

Additionally, PMP certification benefits employees as well as employers. Regarding employers, in the organizations having more than 1/3 of PMP certified project managers; more of the projects get completed on time, on budget, and meeting original goals.

And, about employee salary, PMP certified individuals earn higher salaries (on average 25% more) than non-certified individuals.

On top of the above, PMP certification signifies that PMP certified individuals speak and understand the global language of project management.

To summarize, to move forward in your project management career, you need a resume that makes an impression on recruiters with the right skills and knowledge. These days’ companies look for professionals who can perform the work required to successfully manage the projects. Hence, many employers typically prefer candidates with PMP certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI). Most importantly, in industries like manufacturing, financial services, and construction, PMP certification is a must-have to even be considered for a position.

Last but not the least, Technology and IT magazine named CIO magazine ranked PMP as the top project management certification.

What is the PMP Exam?

Before giving the details about the PMP exam schedule, let’s look more closely at the PMP exam itself. Project Management Institute (PMI) conducts the PMP certification exam. The PMP exam consists of 180 questions. There are 230 minutes to complete the exam.

The PMP Exam Questions will be a combination of multiple-choice, multiple responses, matching, hotspot, and limited fill-in-the-blank types of questions. The duration of the PMP Exam is ~4 hours (230 minutes).

The main points to remember for PMP Exam are:

1. This exam is not a test of the information in the main reference book i.e. PMBOK Guide
2. You cannot pass the exam by just focusing on real-world experience.
3. PMP Training in project management which is aligned to the PMBOK Guide plays a vital role in passing the PMP Exam.

PMP Exam plays a vital role as it reflects the practices of the project management practitioner accurately. Moreover, this exam has been designed to objectively assess and measure project management knowledge.

Qualified PMP experts write and review all the questions on the exam. Further, these questions are mapped with the PMP Exam Content Outline to ensure that an appropriate number of questions are placed in the PMP Exam.

What is the PMP Exam Passing Score?

In earlier times, PMI published 61% as the passing score for the PMP exam. To achieve it, the PMP aspirant needed to correctly answer 106 or more out of 175 exam questions. Besides, PMI did not declare about PMP Exam official score. Recently, PMI has adopted a more scientific approach by giving proficiency level (Proficient, Moderately Proficient, and Below Proficient) or Target level (Above Target, Target, Below Target). Furthermore, they determine the score through sound psychometric analysis.

PMP Exam Schedule

Generally, exams have scheduled dates to appear for. Regarding the PMP exam schedule, there is no defined schedule or PMP exam date. You can schedule the exam based on your schedule and testing center’s availability. PMP exam is conducted by Pearson VUE test centers. Due to pandemic Covid-19, PMI started to offer PMP online proctor testing since mid-April 2020.

Likewise, many people think that there is a fixed PMP exam schedule and you must sit for the exam on the scheduled dates. However, it is not like that in the case of the PMP exam schedule, there are certain steps you need to follow:

1. You need to check about the eligibility of PMP exam

As per the above table, you need to meet the education and experience requirements. Further, you must have attended project management training (PMP Training) for approx 4 days and earned 35 Contact hours or PDU’s.

2. Fill the application form at www.pmi.org. There are 2 modes to fill the application form i.e. Online and Paper-based. PMI recommends filling the application form in online mode.  The reason is that it is a faster way to process the PMP application.

3. Once you have completed the application form and submit to PMI then it takes approx 5 days to process the application.

4. Then you need to pay the PMP exam fee.

5. Now PMI will either approve your application or it will go under the audit process to verify your eligibility details with evidence supported by your senior manager or reporting manager.

6. Once the application clears the audit process, then you fix your PMP exam schedule from the Pearson VUE website as per your schedule and availability. You just need to make a note that once the application is approved then you have 1 year as eligibility period to choose your PMP exam schedule and appear on the PMP exam date.

When is the next PMP exam date?

This is one of the popular questions asked by aspirants who are planning to go for PMP Certification.

Individuals who are preparing for PMP certification often wonder that we are studying for the PMP exam but when is the next PMP exam date?

Hence, the answer is that the PMP exam schedule is whenever you want to schedule it. The only prerequisite is that your PMP application must be approved. Then, you will be able to make your PMP exam schedule with an available slot from Pearson VUE test centers.

Pearson VUE test centers conduct a lot of different examinations. So, there might be busy dates or often slots are not available as per your convenience for the PMP exam schedule. Therefore, we recommend you to fix your PMP schedule at least one month before the PMP exam date you are planning to take the exam.

Changes in PMP Exam Schedule

In the past, the last PMP exam date to take the current version of the PMP exam was 30^th June 2020. Now due to the Covid-19 pandemic, PMI has decided to extend the current PMP exam date from 30^th June 2020 to 31^st Dec 2020.

PMI conducts research on regular intervals for change in industry trends, professional progress, and implications across the industry. It results in the evolution of the new PMP exam content outline to keep up with the current changes. Therefore, the new content outline for the PMP exam got published on 30^th June 2019. Now, a new exam with a new content outline will be starting from 2^nd Jan 2021.

What are the changes in the PMP exam new content outline?

PMP exam content outline determines what will be the content in the PMP exam.

The current PMP exam is based on 5 performance domains as per current PMP content outline i.e. Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, and Closing.

And the new PMP exam content outline will be based on 3 performance domains i.e. People, Process, and Business Environment. It was published on 30^th June 2019.

Hence, if you choose a PMP exam date from 2^nd Jan 2021 it will be based on a new PMP exam content outline i.e. 3 domains.

Thus, if you choose a PMP exam date after the change and with the new content outline, it will require you to have experience in and answer questions from 3 domains along with percentages mentioned below:

• People (42%)
• Process (50%)
• Business Environment (8%)

To date, PMP exams were based on predictive project management approaches. Now, the new PMP exam will be a combination of the predictive project management approach and agile or hybrid approach.

Important dates to remember for the PMP Exam Schedule:

30^th June 2019: PMI published new PMP Exam Content Outline

31^st Dec 2020: Last PMP exam date to take the current version of the exam

2^nd Jan 2021: First PMP exam date to take the new version of the exam

What is the way to reschedule or cancel your examination?

For rescheduling the PMP exam date or canceling the PMP examination, you need to login to PMI’s site. And, click the links onscreen to cancel or change the time of your PMP exam schedule.

You need to make a note that PMI doesn’t accept email as an acceptable form of communication to cancel or change the time of your PMP exam schedule.

Another way to cancel or change the time of your PMP exam schedule is to call the test vendor directly to cancel or reschedule your PMP exam date. But you can adopt this way to cancel the PMP exam schedule you fixed if you are facing any issue due to some issues such as internet connectivity etc.

Cancellation & Refund of PMP Exam

At any point in time, you can cancel or change the time of your PMP exam schedule. Owing to limited seat capacity at test centers, if you change or cancel the PMP exam schedule at a late-stage then fees will be charged.

Therefore, to avoid a rescheduling fee, you must cancel or reschedule the exam more than 48 hours before the fixed PMP exam schedule. Or before 30 days period starts off the fixed PMP exam schedule.

Scenario 1: If you cancel or change the PMP exam schedule within 48 hours or 2 calendar days of the scheduled PMP exam date, all fees and the ability to reschedule are forfeits.

In other words, if you plan to wait until you are within 2 days of your fixed PMP exam schedule, you will be able to cancel the exam but PMI will forfeit the exam fee. Therefore, you will not be able to change the PMP exam schedule at this point. Hence, you need to pay re-examination fees to fix a new PMP exam schedule.

For Instance:

In a nutshell, please make sure that cancellation or changing the PMP exam schedule must happen before you are within 2 calendar days of your PMP exam date.

Scenario 2: If you cancel or change the PMP exam schedule within 30 days of your scheduled PMP exam date then PMI will charge a fee of USD 70.

Points to remember

That 30 day period doesn’t include the day of the exam appointment. Therefore to save the fee, you must cancel or change the PMP exam schedule before a 30 day period starts. For instance, if your scheduled PMP exam date is 6^th July then you must cancel or change the PMP exam schedule on or before 5^th June to avoid the fee.

For Instance:

If you want to get a refund of the PMP exam fee, then you need to make sure that you have not scheduled or have taken the PMP exam within the time frame. Hence in this scenario, you can request a refund within 30 days from the date of purchase.

But you have to pay the rescheduling fee if you have canceled the PMP exam or changed the PMP exam schedule outside 30 days from the date of purchase and up to 48 hours before the scheduled PMP exam date.

Once PMI has processed the refund, then the PMP application will get closed. Therefore, the eligibility period will no longer be valid. Besides, another way to request to refund the PMP exam fee is to send the email to [email protected].

PMI will not give you any refund under the following circumstances:

Case 1: Let’s suppose that your eligibility period of 1 year expires and you haven’t fixed a PMP exam schedule yet. In such a scenario, you will not receive a refund. Therefore, the entire amount of PMP exam fee will be forfeited. Besides, if you still wish to obtain the certification then you have to reapply and submit the fees of certification again.

Case 2: Let’s suppose that you have fixed the PMP exam schedule but couldn’t appear for it. Or you have neither canceled the exam nor provided rescheduling notification to PMI’s testing partner then you will not receive the refund. Therefore, the entire amount of PMP Exam fee will be forfeited.

Scenario 3: If you are unable to change the PMP Exam schedule before 30 days within the fixed PMP exam date then extenuating circumstances policy may apply. 

Here, extenuating circumstances refer to a medical emergency, illness, or death in the immediate family, natural disaster, a pandemic like COVID-19, or military deployment. 

Hence, in such scenarios, it will be under the discretion of PMI to evaluate these situations on case to case basis and to determine whether a refund of the rescheduling fee is appropriate or not. If PMI doesn’t approve the extenuating circumstances then you will be required to pay the full re-examination fee to sit for the exam.

You can contact PMI customer care within 72 hours following the missed PMP exam schedule. Depending upon the circumstances, you will be asked to explain along with supporting documents such as medical documents, accident reports, etc. If PMI approves it, then you can change the PMP exam Schedule or cancel your exam without penalty.

Summary: PMP Exam Schedule

PMP certification is the most acclaimed project management certification across the globe.

PMP exam is conducted by Pearson VUE test centers. PMI has no fixed PMP exam schedule. Once the aspirant is ready to appear for the PMP exam, he or she needs to fix the PMP exam schedule and slot at Pearson VUE test centers as per the availability.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, PMI has postponed the new exam with a new PMP content outline from 30^th June 2020 to 31^st Dec 2020. The new PMP content outline was published on 30^th June 2019.

To save the rescheduling fee of USD 70, you must cancel or change the PMP exam schedule more than 48 hours before the fixed PMP exam schedule or before 30 days period starts off the scheduled PMP exam date.