Track AACE Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) practice status, review scheduling-route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
AACE Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) is the route for practitioners who develop, monitor, update, forecast, and analyze integrated project schedules.
PM Mastery does not have dedicated AACE PSP web practice yet. Use this page to compare PSP with PMI-SP, confirm whether the AACE scheduling lane fits your work, and request an update if PSP is your target.
For current eligibility, fees, delivery rules, and policy details, see the official AACE PSP detail page .
PSP-style decisions usually reward the answer that protects schedule logic, reveals the real driver of date movement, and turns updates into defensible control or recovery action.
| Official detail | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Time limit | 5 hours maximum |
| Question section | 119 simple multiple-choice and compound scenario questions |
| Main scored domains | Planning (36) and Scheduling (83) |
| Written component | 1 communication memo response based on a given scenario |
| Resource rule | Closed book |
| Passing standard | overall average of 70% or higher |
| Maintenance note | PSP is valid for 3 years and must be maintained through recertification or reexamination |
| Exam feature | Preparation implication |
|---|---|
| Planning and scheduling split | Study both the planning rationale and the schedule mechanics: scope breakdown, activities, logic, constraints, float, critical path, and updates. |
| Scheduling-heavy scenarios | Focus on what actually drives the finish date, whether logic is valid, and which recovery action preserves a credible schedule. |
| Communication memo task | Rehearse short schedule narratives: cause of movement, affected path, confidence level, assumptions, and recommended control action. |
| Closed-book format | Practice schedule logic and calculations until you can reason from the network and update data without reference lookup. |
| Choose PSP when… | Choose another route when… |
|---|---|
| you own planning, schedule development, updates, forecasting, and schedule analysis | you need technician-level scheduling foundations first, where CST is safer |
| your strongest exam need is schedule logic, critical path, progress updates, and recovery choices | your real need is earned value and integrated performance measurement, where EVP fits better |
| your market expects AACE project-controls scheduling recognition | your employer specifically expects PMI’s scheduling credential, where PMI-SP may be the better comparison |
| If you are deciding between… | Main distinction |
|---|---|
| PSP vs CST | PSP is the professional scheduling route; CST is technician-level scheduling foundation. |
| PSP vs EVP | PSP focuses on schedule logic and control; EVP integrates schedule with scope, cost, and earned value. |
| PSP vs PMI-SP | Both are scheduling-specialist lanes; PSP is the AACE project-controls route, while PMI-SP is the PMI route. |
| PSP vs PMP | PSP is scheduling depth; PMP is broad project leadership. |