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What's changed in the revised APM syllabuses?

What's changed in the revised APM syllabuses?

21 Mar 2014

APM qual logoThe new revised APM syllabuses for the IC and APMP will be adopted for all our training courses held after Easter 2014. Re-sits based on the current syllabus will be available until December 2014.

APM have announced revised syllabuses  for their most popular qualifications - the Introductory Certificate and the APMP.  These will be adopted for all our training courses held after Easter 2014.  

Delegates will notice a more detailed explanation for APMP of what the examiners wish to see in candidates' answers and a general tidying up and reclassification of some of the topics.

Some of the definitions have changed.  The third phase of the project life cycle is renamed as 'Development' and the fourth phase as 'Handover and Closure'.  The extended life cycle is redefined.  Issues are no longer defined as being a threat to the project objectives that cannot be resolved by the project manager with the issue being reported to the sponsor.  Instead they concern an escalation of an issue from one level of management to the next in order to seek a solution.  So the new definition embraces the old definition.  'Context' is re-defined.

The Introductory Certificate is now built around 10 learning outcomes of varying size which contain 61 assessment criteria.  What is new is that the one previous keyword - define - has been replaced by six -  define, identify, state, list, explain, outline - all to be examined in 60 multiple-choice questions - as before.  The questions in the new sample paper look similar to those encountered previously.

APMP contains 73 assessment criteria linked to 12 learning outcomes:

1. Understand how organisations and projects are structured (6 a.c.).

2. Understand project life cycles (5 a.c.).

3. Understand contexts and environments (8 a.c.)

4. Understand governance of project management and the use of structured methodologies (3 a.c.).

5. Understand communication within project management (6 a.c.)

6. Understand the principles of leadership and teamwork (6 a.c.).

7. Understand planning for success ((15 a.c.)

8. Understand project scope management (5 a.c.)

9. Understand schedule and resource management (7 a.c.)

10. Understand project procurement (4 a.c.)

11. Understand risk management and issue management (5 a.c.).

12. Understand project quality management (3 a.c.)

The learning outcomes are of unequal size and therefore our 16 teaching sessions are constructed from complementary topics.  Discussing structure of organisations (a.c. 1.1) is not a suitable way to start the course.  It is placed much later when its significance becomes more apparent. We do not keep to the order of the syllabus.

This is the latest step in a review of the entire APM qualifications suite, keeping them up to date and relevant, supporting project management professionals throughout their career.  To this end, new logos and course titles have been introduced and the syllabuses have been refreshed from the APM Body of Knowledge (6th edition).