PMI-ACP® tests whether you can apply agile thinking in real situations: learning fast, collaborating well, making trade-offs transparent, and delivering value through small increments and continuous improvement.
For the latest official exam details and requirements, see:
https://www.pmi.org/certifications/agile-acp
Official exam snapshot (PMI)
Source: PMI-ACP Examination Content Outline — October 2024 (published November 2024).
- Items: 120 total
- Scored vs pretest: 100 scored + 20 unscored pretest items (randomly distributed throughout the exam)
- Exam time: 3 hours
- Breaks: 1× 10-minute break after items 1–60 (after review; you can’t return to the first section after starting the break)
- Question types: multiple-choice, multiple response, drag-and-drop style items, and exhibits
Official domain weights (PMI-ACP)
The ECO specifies the proportion of scored content by domain (they sum to 100%):
| Domain | Weight | Target scored items (out of 100) |
|---|
| Mindset | 28% | 28 |
| Leadership | 25% | 25 |
| Product | 19% | 19 |
| Delivery | 28% | 28 |
What questions tend to reward
- Principles over rituals: the “best answer” often protects feedback, transparency, and flow rather than enforcing ceremony.
- Right-sized planning: enough planning to reduce risk, not so much that learning is delayed.
- Small slices: the ability to break work into increments that can be validated quickly.
- Evidence-first decisions: using metrics and feedback to decide, not opinion or status theatre.
- Team-enabling leadership: coaching, facilitation, conflict handling, and psychological safety.
Common pitfalls
- Treating agile as “Scrum trivia” instead of a decision model for uncertainty.
- Confusing output metrics (velocity) with flow metrics (cycle time/throughput) and outcomes (value).
- Hiding uncertainty by over-committing or skipping discovery/validation.
- Adding governance or reporting that increases friction but doesn’t improve decisions.
A practical prep loop
- Use the Syllabus as your checklist.
- After each task set, review the matching part of the Cheatsheet and write a short miss log.
- Do focused drills in Practice, then re-drill the objectives behind every miss.
- Finish with mixed sets that blend mindset + leadership + product + delivery scenarios.