PMI's cross-methodology agile certification for practitioners applying Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and enterprise agility across teams and organizations.
Who it's for
Product owners, scrum masters, agile project managers, and other practitioners who work on or facilitate agile teams and want a vendor-neutral credential that spans multiple agile frameworks rather than certifying in just one — PMI-ACP is aimed at people who already have some hands-on agile experience and want formal recognition of it, not complete beginners.
What's covered
- Mindset (28%) — agile values and principles, complexity theory, psychological safety, collaborative team environments, and shortening feedback loops
- Delivery (28%) — managing increments, work visualization, value delivery, and end-to-end flow across teams
- Leadership (25%) — empowering teams, facilitating problem resolution and conflict management, promoting knowledge sharing, and building shared vision
- Product (19%) — backlog refinement, increment management, work visualization, and value delivery aligned to business priorities
What to expect
The exam mixes multiple-choice, multiple-response, and drag-and-drop-style items — 120 total, 100 scored and 20 unscored pretest questions distributed randomly, so there's no way to identify which ones don't count. Expect scenario-driven questions that test judgment across Scrum, Kanban, Lean, and enterprise-agility contexts rather than isolated definitions from any single framework.
How to prepare
PMI requires 21 hours of formal agile training from a quality-aligned source before you can even apply, so budget for that alongside self-study. PMI's own prep options include the PMI-ACP Exam Prep course (on-demand or instructor-led), official practice exams, PMI Study Hall, and the Agile Practice Guide; because the exam draws from multiple agile frameworks rather than one, candidates who've only worked in a single methodology (e.g., pure Scrum) often need deliberate study time on frameworks they haven't used day-to-day.
Certification details
- Certifying body: Project Management Institute (PMI).
- Eligibility: Secondary diploma (high school, GED, or global equivalent), plus 21 hours of formal agile training, plus one of: 2 years of agile experience in the past 5 years, OR 1 year of agile experience with a degree from PMI's Global Accreditation Center (GAC) program, OR 1 year of agile experience with an active third-party agile certification held more than 1 year, OR an active PMP certification.
- Exam format: 120 questions (100 scored, 20 unscored pretest), 3-hour time limit with one 10-minute break after item 60, computer-based testing in person or online-proctored via Pearson VUE.
- Content outline: Mindset (28%), Leadership (25%), Product (19%), and Delivery (28%).
- Fee: $435 (PMI member) / $495 (non-member).
- Recertification: Every 3 years, via 30 PDUs under PMI's Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) program.
