The CaPM (Certified Associate Of Project Management) certification exam was introduced by PMI in 2003. The main purpose of this certification is to test the knowledge of individual based on the PMBOK guidelines. This is an entry level certification and is normally to target those individuals who are not yet qualified to take on the PMP exam certification.

The CaPM certification can also be considered as a stepping stone towards general project management and specially for the PMP certification. In this blog post, we will look at the capm exam format i.e: exam questions, duration, result and the knowledge that you will be tested on in the exam.

CaMP Exam Format

150 Questions:

There are 150 questions on the exam, but not every question score is counted towards the last result. 15 of the questions are considered as pre test questions. Hence your final score result will be based on the 135 correct answers.

3 Hours:

There are 3 hours to complete the exam, but before the clock ticking starts, there are 15 minutes prior of the 3 hours given to you and I stress that those 15 minutes, which are not counted in the 3 hours should be very well utilized.

Pass/Fail:

The result will be either pass or fail, and you will not be notified of the actual answers that you score either right or wrong. Rather you will be given a printed sheet but in this sheet besides pass/fail, you will be given a domain score that you have achieved in each of the domains.

Domains and Score:

The CaPM Exam is heavily based on the PMBOK guide, So it is necessary to understand the pmbok thoroughly and know all the nine knowledge areas i.e: Project Integration Management, Project Scope Management, Project Time Management, Project Cost Management, Project Quality Management, Project HR Management, Project Communication Management, Project Risk Management and Project Procurement Management  and Five process groups i.e: Initiation, Planning, Executing, Monitoring & controlling and Closing.

Your score will be judged, based on the nine knowledge areas and five process group, which combine makes 12 chapters of the PMBOK guide. The domain scores are basically your strongest and weakest areas in the shape of Proficient, moderately proficient and below proficient.

I hope the CaPM exam format would have clear to you by now. If there’s something that is not clear, please feel free to comment or ask in the Discussion Forum. Update: Forum has been closed but will be open soon.