What the exam actually tests, who can sit it, and how to practise for it.
PMP is the Project Management Institute's certification for people who lead projects. The exam is built on the Examination Content Outline rather than on a single book. PMI released a new ECO in July 2026 following a fresh job task analysis, and it moves the centre of gravity of the exam significantly.
| Domain | Was | Now |
|---|---|---|
| Business Environment | 8% | 26% |
| Process | 50% | 41% |
| People | 42% | 33% |
Business Environment more than tripled. It is now roughly a quarter of the paper, and it is the area most existing study material under-serves.
Note: from late Q4 2026 PMI is tightening what counts as live training — it will need to come from an Authorized Training Partner, a China REP or an accredited academic programme. Self-paced courses are unaffected, and training completed before the change stays valid.
Ten topics, situational questions in the style of the real paper, with an explanation on every one that names the principle separating the right answer from the plausible ones.
Start PMP mock testDrydockings, retrofits, newbuild supervision and offshore campaigns are projects, with a critical path, a fixed window and a contract behind them. A chief engineer running a docking is doing project management under another name. About half the questions here are set in that world; the rest are general business projects, so the bank works whether you are moving ashore or already there.
When every option is an action, the right one is usually the one that gathers information or assesses impact first. Escalating, informing the sponsor and changing the plan all come after understanding.
If a documented process covers the situation — change control, the risk register, the communications plan — following it beats improvising, and beats asking someone more senior what to do.
No change to a baseline is approved by the project manager alone, however small and however urgent. An option that quietly absorbs a change is wrong even when it sounds efficient.
In People questions, the servant-leader answer is usually to remove the impediment, coach, or let the team self-organise — not to direct, reassign or discipline.