The PMP Exam, Explained
The Project Management Professional (PMP) is PMI’s flagship certification for project leaders. It certifies that you can lead projects across predictive, agile, and hybrid delivery approaches — and the current exam, launched July 9, 2026, is built on the 2026 Examination Content Outline (ECO). If your study materials were written for the 2021 ECO, they were written for the old exam.
Format and timing
The exam has 180 questions: 170 scored and 10 unidentified pretest questions that do not affect your result. You have 240 minutes, with two 10-minute breaks. The exam opens with a case-study section built around project scenarios before moving into the main question set. You sit it at a Pearson VUE test center or online with a remote proctor. Alongside single-answer and multiple-response multiple choice, the exam uses interactive formats — matching, hotspot, pull-down lists, and graphic-based items.
The three domains
| Domain | Share of the exam | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| People | 33% — 660 of our 2,000 practice questions | Leading the team: conflict, support, empowerment, training, virtual teams, team agreements, a shared understanding of the work, and stakeholder engagement — 8 ECO tasks. |
| Process | 41% — 820 of our 2,000 practice questions | Running the work: delivery, communication, risk, business value, change, methodology, governance, issues, knowledge transfer, and closure — 10 ECO tasks. |
| Business Environment | 26% — 520 of our 2,000 practice questions | Context and value: project alignment, compliance, benefits realization, organizational change, and the external business environment — 8 ECO tasks. |
Across all three domains, roughly 40% of the exam is predictive in approach, about 30% agile, and about 30% hybrid. Most questions are scenarios: a short project situation, then a judgment about what the project manager should do.
Scoring: there is no published passing score
PMI does not publish a passing score for the PMP — no percentage, no cut score, no pass rate you can aim at. Your result is reported as a performance band — Above Target, Target, Below Target, or Needs Improvement — overall and separately for each of the three domains. That is why honest preparation targets the band, domain by domain, rather than a magic number: web pages quoting a specific percentage needed to pass are guessing. In our practice course, 70% is a practice benchmark only — our study target, not a PMI standard.
Eligibility
PMI requires project leadership experience gained within the last 10 years, scaled by education: 60 months with a secondary school diploma, 48 months with an associate or vocational degree, 36 months with a bachelor’s degree, or 24 months with a degree from a PMI GAC-accredited program. You also need 35 hours of project-management training — an active CAPM certification satisfies the training requirement.
Fees
PMI’s published exam fee is $405 for PMI members and $655 for non-members (PMI’s certification fee schedule, checked November 2026). Membership is optional; many candidates find the member fee plus the membership cost still totals less than the non-member fee.
How to prepare
Work domain by domain first: the band report you will eventually receive is per domain, so a weak domain found early is fixable. Then take full 180-question sittings at real timing — 240 minutes with the two scheduled breaks — to build pacing. Read every scenario for its delivery approach before judging the options: the same situation has different right answers in predictive and agile settings, and the exam tests exactly that discrimination. Our PMP course is built around that plan: drills for each domain, full exams drawn at the published weights, and a written explanation with every question.
Frequently asked questions
What score do I need to pass the PMP?
PMI does not publish one. Results come as performance bands (Above Target / Target / Below Target / Needs Improvement), overall and per domain. Our 70% figure is a practice benchmark only.
Is this the current exam?
Yes. The current exam launched July 9, 2026 on the 2026 ECO. Materials keyed to the 2021 ECO describe the previous exam.
How long is the exam?
180 questions in 240 minutes, with two 10-minute breaks, opening with a case-study section.
How many questions should I practice?
Enough to cover all 26 ECO tasks in all three domains, in both single-answer and multiple-response formats, across predictive, agile, and hybrid scenarios. This bank holds 2,000.
PMP and PMI are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc. PassProfessor is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by PMI.