PgMP® tests program management judgment: aligning a program to strategy, building and governing a roadmap of multiple projects/components, protecting benefits realization, and transitioning outcomes into operations.
For the latest official exam details and application requirements, see:
https://www.pmi.org/certifications/program-management-pgmp
Official exam snapshot (PMI)
Sources: PMI PgMP certification page + PgMP Exam Content Outline (ECO) — March 2024.
- Exam length: 170 questions
- Exam time: 240 minutes
- Format: multiple-choice
- Eligibility (summary): three pathways (Set A/B/C) based on education plus project management experience (or PMP) and program management experience within the past 15 years (see the official certification page for details).
Official domain weights (PgMP)
The ECO specifies the proportion of items by domain (they sum to 100%):
| Domain | Weight | Target items (out of 170) |
|---|
| Strategic Program Alignment | 15% | 26 |
| Program Life Cycle Management | 44% | 75 |
| Benefits Alignment | 11% | 19 |
| Stakeholder Engagement | 16% | 27 |
| Governance | 14% | 23 |
What questions tend to reward
- Strategy-to-execution coherence: how roadmap, scope, and decisions trace back to strategic objectives and benefits.
- Integration and sequencing: managing dependencies and coordination across multiple projects/components.
- Governance realism: stage gates, decision rights, escalation, and auditability.
- Benefits thinking: defining measures, tracking value, and ensuring sustainment beyond closure.
- Stakeholder craft: alignment, negotiation, communication, and maintaining support over time.
Common pitfalls
- Treating PgMP like “bigger PMP” (programs are about benefits and integration, not just a master schedule).
- Reporting activity completion instead of benefits progress (outputs ≠ outcomes).
- Weak governance: unclear decision rights, inconsistent reporting, late escalations.
- Transition as an afterthought (benefits decay if operational ownership and sustainment are not planned).
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 governance, benefits, and stakeholder scenarios.
Official references used for this syllabus
The learning objectives are derived from the PgMP Exam Content Outline plus PMI standards and practice guides (The Standard for Program Management, PMBOK®/Standard for Project Management, Benefits Realization guidance, and Risk Management guidance).