APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ) Programme

Project fundamentals

We set out what a project is and the differences between projects and business-as-usual.

Life cycles

We will explore the different types of project life cycle and their suitability for different types of project. We will also understand how to select the appropriate life cycle for our project.

Transition management

We will understand the benefits of a smooth transition from project outputs into business-as-usual and consider the importance of change impact analysis and knowledge transfer.

Assurance

This topic covers the importance of assurance on a project and its relationship with risk and governance in providing confidence in the project.

Reviews

We will explain the importance of carrying out regular reviews and how they can help projects to identify problems, as well as considering the importance of re-planning after a review.

Leadership

This topic outlines the key leadership traits of a project manager and the different leadership approaches that a project manager can use.

Governance arrangements

Governance is a critical element of a project, setting out those processes that will guide our project. This topic will cover the different types of organisation and the various roles and responsibilities that we need on a project.

The business case

We will consider the purpose of a business case and its typical contents. We will cover who writes and owns the business case and consider the tools that we can use to understand the context of our project, such as PESTLE, SWOT and VUCA.

Benefits management

This topic covers the importance of benefits to our project and how we manage them throughout a project. We will use the benefits management cycle to help us better understand how to do this.

Stakeholder engagement and communication management

We will understand how to identify, analyse and engage stakeholders and how this relates to the management of our project communications. We will also learn how to prepare a communications plan.

Requirements management

We will understand how to manage project requirements and how this affects the project scope. We will consider function analysis, function cost analysis and using the MoSCoW technique to prioritise requirements.

Solutions development

This topic covers the process of developing a solution which will satisfy project requirements and explains how we can adapt this to the chosen project life cycle.

Procurement

This topic covers the procurement strategy and its contents and explains when we might choose to procure goods or services for our project. It covers contractual relationships and negotiation, which are both essential elements of the procurement strategy.

Integrated planning

We will learn about the typical contents of a project management plan, who writes and owns it and its role as the complete guide to our project.

Schedule management

This topic will cover defining scope using different breakdown structures, schedule optimisation and the purpose and benefits of re-estimating throughout the project life cycle.

Resource management

This topic will cover the types of resources that we might require on our projects, how we determine the required resources and availability and how we can create a responsibility assignment matrix to ensure our project is appropriately resourced.

Budgeting and cost control

We will learn how to create a budget, including how to forecast and refine it, monitor and report on financial performance and close down the finances at the end of the project.

Risk and issue management

This topic will cover the stages in the risk and issue management processes, the benefits of risk and issue management and how we respond to risks.

Quality management

We will learn about the different elements of quality management, including planning, assurance and control.

Team management

We will learn about the stages of team development and explore different models that can be used to understand team development. We will also look at why different leadership approaches are needed to support virtual and hybrid teams.

Conflict resolution

This section will cover the sources of conflict within projects and help us to understand the positive and negative influences of conflict and how it can be addressed.

Change control

We will explain the stages of the change control process, from request through to implementation, understanding how we assess change requests and justify the recommendations that we make.

Sustainability

This section will cover the importance of sustainability in project management and how we can consider sustainability principles within our projects.

Diversity and inclusion

This section will cover how to build and maintain an inclusive project environment that embraces a diverse culture for higher performance.

Ethics, compliance and professionalism

This session covers continuing professional development (CPD) for project professionals and how to work consistently in a moral, legal and socially responsible way.

Revision and mock exam guidance

The course tutor will provide advice and guidance on revision and completing the mock exam paper, for which feedback will be given.

Exam preparation and revision

This session will focus on preparing for the exam.

Online exam

The APM PMQ exam is a 2-hour-30-minute exam made up of 4 different question types. These are:

• Multiple response
• Select from list
• Short response
• Long response

The APM PMQ exam is taken online via a proctoring service, where you will be observed by an invigilator whilst completing your exam. Your exam registration will be organised by Parallel, however it is the APM who will contact you directly with the login information and a test link for the exam.