APMP Exam Hints and Tips

APMP Exam Hints and Tips

What is the APMP qualification?

The APMP qualification is a foundation level project management qualification from the UK Association for Project Management. It is ideal for work package managers and those who are new to project management. The syllabus is based on the Association for Project Management Body of Knowledge, however not all the topics are covered as part of the qualification. The APMP exam only covers 37 of the key topics from the AMP Body of Knowledge.

1. 1.       PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN CONTEXT
   1. a.       Project Management
   2. b.      Programme Management
   3. c.       Portfolio Management
   4. d.      Project Context
   5. e.      Project Sponsorship
   6. f.        Project Office
2. 2.       ORGANISATION AND GOVERNANCE
   1. a.       Project Life Cycles
   2. b.      Handover and Closeout
   3. c.       Project Reviews
   4. d.      Organisation Structure
   5. e.      Organisational Roles
   6. f.        Methods and Procedures
   7. g.       Governance of Project Management
3. 3.       TECHNIQUES
   1. a.       Requirements Management
   2. b.      Estimating
   3. c.       Technology Management
   4. d.      Modelling and Testing
   5. e.      Configuration Management
4. 4.       BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL
   1. a.       Business Case
   2. b.      Procurement
5. 5.       PLANNING THE STRATEGY
   1. a.       Project Success and Benefits Management
   2. b.      Stakeholder Management
   3. c.       Project Management Plan
   4. d.      Project Risk Management
   5. e.      Project Quality Management
   6. f.        Health Safety and Environmental Management
6. 6.       EXECUTING THE STRATEGY
   1. a.       Scope Management
   2. b.      Scheduling
   3. c.       Resource Management
   4. d.      Budgeting and Cost Management
   5. e.      Change Control
   6. f.        Earned Value Management
   7. g.       Information Management and Reporting
   8. h.      Issue Management
7. 7.       PEOPLE AND PROFESSION
   1. a.       Communication
   2. b.      Teamwork
   3. c.       Leadership
   4. d.      Conflict Management
   5. e.      Negotiation

The Structure of the APMP Exam

The APMP exam requires candidates to complete ten questions from a paper of 16 questions in three hours. The result is that for each question candidates have approximately 15 minutes per question. This allows 10 minutes for prep time and ten minutes to review the answers at the end.  Each question has equally weighting with the overall pass mark being 56%. Notionally each question is assigned 50 marks. To pass mark is a simple average of the score across the ten questions or 280 marks out to a total possible of 500.  So a candidate may pass nine individual questions but fail the exam if one question is very poorly answered.

Structure of the Exam Questions

The APM exam guidance includes advice on the use of certain ‘keywords' in the questions you will encounter. Note these well as they will be significant and have very different connotations in the context of the exam.

• List: A simple list of terms or phrases with no description or explanation of what each term or phrase is or means. Candidates are not required to give a structured sentence.
• State: A coherent single sentence that summarises, for each point, what something is or means.
• Describe: A clear description of what is understood by a term or phrase. Each point requires a short paragraph made up of more than one sentence.
• §  Explain: An explanation making clear the meaning and relevance of an idea or concept. Each point requires a paragraph made up of two or more sentences. It may be appropriate to provide examples or use diagrams to clarify your explanation. However, if there are specific marks for examples or diagrams, this will be explicitly stated in the question.

The most common question is an explain format which requires five parts in the answer. With this structure each of the five parts will be worth 10 marks out of the 50 available for the whole question. To get the full 50 marks for each point has to include three complete sentences that explain the point. So for example we recommend using the first sentence to state the point, the second to explain why it's important and the third to give an example.

Q. Explain the benefits of risk management?

The benefits of risk management include

1)      A clearer understanding of the overall project risk. A detailed analysis of the individual project risks can give a clear understanding to the overall risk in a project. This can be important in deciding if a project should proceed or a bid should be submitted

2)      The identifications of better risk management actions for the high probability and high impact risks. Risk analysis can filter out high probability and high impact risks which need effective risk measures. This can avoid a knee jerk reaction to the evaluation of risk.

3)      An improved understanding of the overall project within the team. Discussing the risks within the group can improved the overall understanding of the barriers the project might face in implementation and how these can be overcome.

4)      A good evaluation of risks can help the team to identify specific risks that can be better managed by other organisation such a the client,  sub-contractors or insurance companies. This means the risk is managed by the people most able to manage each specific risk. The management of risk by the wrong person is a significant cause of project failure

5)      A structured approach which supports corporate governance. Formal risk management provides a structured approach which can be integrated with organisation internal governance systems. This is important because risk is often one of the key elements that organisations seek to manage.

As you can see this answer use the what, why and example structure to ensure the examiner can see that you understand the topic.