Association for Project Management Reviews 77

I encourage you to seek an alternative provider of project management training and examination.

I did the APMP (now PMQ) over 10 years ago. I found it an immensely valuable way to start my project management journey. I learnt a lot and the exam was taken in person at the end of the course and the pass rate was reasonable for a course like this. There was a very large emphasis on the content rather than the exam.

Cut to today, the PMQ exam has been made artificially difficult. And as a result a lot of the trainers have resorted to trying to teach people to pass the exam rather than follow the content. This is the feedback from a lot of my colleagues who've taken it recently.

As well as my colleagues doing the PMQ, I have given the PPQ a go. I have two engineering degrees, the APMP certification and over 10 years managing multi-million pound projects. So I like to think I know how to pass an exam but I found the format of exam for PPQ so obscure. I wouldn't be surprised if I failed one of the sections (which means failure of everything). A lot of my colleagues who are similarly qualified also found the exam difficult and the content of the course of low value. I didn't learn a single thing about project management in the PPQ training other than what the format of the exam was going to be.

I don't have my results yet so don't know if I've passed or not, but the feedback remains the same regardless of result. It's an awful experience with very little learning on offer.

On top of this I've had a disaster with the IT system used for the written exam. I tried for over an hour to get the system to work (having already done over an hour and a half of oral exams) and it just wouldn't work. I tried the help chat bot that apm says to use in their email and it was all "please turn this bit off and on, now turn your phone off and on".
I eventually had to give up and emailed APM. They said I should have contacted APM directly although their exam email specifically says contact the chat bot and gives no contact details for APM representative to help.

They've now charged me about £100 for a resit because my internet latency was 5ms slower (30ms rather than the recommended 25ms) than recommended (can't see how this caused the system to stop working completely). They say this will have been to blame for it not working.

I will take the resit needed because of the IT failure but if this doesn't work then I think I'm better off giving up until the system is improved.

Like many others I have qualifications of a higher standard than the APM PMQ (two degree level qualifications) yet it seems I am unable to pass the PMQ exam.

I have experienced THE LOT; technical problems (the question counter on their remote invigilated exam platform told me I’d done 10 questions when I’d only done 9) yet APM refused to budge on marking the 9 out of 450 marks instead of 10/500 despite the fact the exam was recorded and screen shared so they could see what happened.

I’ve been asked to present my ID on three occasions after the exam and they have tried to tell me I’m the only one who has ever complained …. Yet I see that many of you have had issues.

I am at my wits end with the APM and having failed now for the fourth time I am told that I can only appeal if I pay £500 … enough to put anyone off when I’m sure it won’t be anyone independent looking into this …. I see they are not regulated by OFQUAL either.

The whole thing is a money making SCAM taking the exam is a lottery with the odds stacked against you and no clear rules or transparency!

No wonder why the APM has got a 100% low score reviews!
The APM PMQ exam is not inclusive at all. The exam has been setup in such a way that it tends to support/help those candidates whose first language in English.
I have already conveyed to my family, friends and colleagues circle to go for other project management qualifications such as PMP but do not come to APM.
The reason why APM PMQ's exam procedure is broken because it's a theory based exam and how a theoretical answer is marked is subjective/opinion based.
Same theoretical answer shared with different subject matter experts will yield different results!
And how can I forget the amount of money they are earning from these examinations!
Hence APM not recommended!!!

Summary - Would I recommend the APM and the PMQ exam/qualification? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Context : I am a IT professional with >25 years experience working-in and leading projects. I have a good degree and also many professional courses and qualifications. Like many others, I have never failed an exam (until now!)
I spent >40hours pre-reading, ~35-40 hours on-line tutor led training and then a further ~60 hours ‘revision’.
So did most of the people on the course.
I believe we ALL failed the mock exam - which we were all sadly expecting! (at the time of writing, still waiting for the results of the real one)
I have worked with many very good and experienced PMs and Programme Managers through my career, and I would challenge them all to pass this exam.
Whilst the pass mark of 55% looks “easy”, the amount of content you need to cover and write to get any marks is completely unachievable.
The exam is 10 questions from 16 in 3h 15m - each is worth 50 points, so you need to get 275/500 to pass.
It works out about 15 mins per question (to get 50 marks, so >3 marks per minute for 3ish hours) and the amount you need to recall and write is crazy. I copied a model answer from the book and couldn’t even type it word for word in 15 mins with it in front of me! (The answer was 1.5 pages long!)
The exam is not testing your knowledge or comprehension of the topics, just your memory and ability to type at crazy speeds. Complete nonsense.
APM really need to review this exam and qualification inc. content. At the moment it’s not credible. Why are there topics such as Maslow, Hertzberg, Belbin even in there? This isn’t preparing anyone for the real world (the last time I looked at these theories was at uni). I was ‘out the business for 3 weeks ‘ and now very much resent doing this course and exam, the course and material were verbose, and the exam filled us all with unnecessary levels of anxiety. I would not recommend anyone to do this.

** UPDATE JUNE 2024 **
It seems that the penny has finally dropped and APM have changed the exam format. It’ll be interesting to see how this works out, and I hope that the new candidates don’t suffer the same issues and anxieties that we had to endure. Annoyingly, the time for me to even begin thinking of doing this again has passed - even though I think most capable candidates would now have at least a fighting chance of passing.
(I also think more course content has been added. I sincerely hope they have replaced some of the irrelevant content with useful content and not just stuck more word salad in there)

Wouldn't recommend. APM is unwilling to provide any useful feedback and will just direct you to the learning provider. When I asked my learning provider couldn't explain to me how the APM's feedback was graded or what any of the grades meant but both were quick to offer resits at great expense. The APM states that their marking process is designed for fairness but wont give any information on pass rates, examiner or exam moderation, their quality assurance policy or the criteria for a pass grade answer, all of which are part of the governing principles for the SCQF. Potentially start directing your complaints their way and maybe the APM will have to have a look in the mirror.

Awful, impossible to learn from the book that doesn’t provide enough information or context, and is set out horrifically. My cohort of apprentices include many experienced project managers who are completing the exam as part of the apprenticeship to validate their experience and knowledge, most are prince 2 qualified. Over half failed the exam after a year of workshops. As they are a charity they are not required to divulge the pass rate, they also give terrible feedback. My exam was online and I had a technical problem, but on enquiring how to appeal was told they cannot let me resit etc for technical problems.
I would find it impossible to apply almost anything I have learned in this course. Waste of time and money and has totally demoralised me

I am glad to see many people speak about the APM PMQ. It's purely a money making scam. I, like all the others who have given reviews here have multiple qualification and have been in the field for many years. With a month of studying I barely scored 53% I then had to pay £100 for a remark which they scored me the same again.
No clear guidance on what answers they expect. and later on I discovered that they have a sample mark scheme which they keep hidden and share with a selected number of people.

Sadly, the same experience as many others on here as I have just wasted 18 months studying for this qualification. Exam pass rate is very low and it seems to be all about making money for the APM. They managed to get money for a few books out of me and the company I work for (who funded my qualification) seem to have been ripped off as it was a case of “Close, but no cigar! Fancy paying £300 for a resit!?”. They would pay it but no way do I want to be associated with the APM after my experiences. Basically, pay for an APM exam and you’re funding jobs for the boys and girls to have their nice dinners out… That’s all you see in the newsletters!

By far one of the worst material content I've read and the exam was a test of how quickly can you type.
The material given by APM is aload of jargon, nothing within the BOK describes the reasons why you do things, advantages or disadvantages of methodologies or techniques. It's just alot of words not alot of it makes sense. On top on buying the course they promote you purchase their study guide on how to pass the exam (why isn't this included as part of the BOK or even in addition to the BOK)
The volume of the syllabus and the exam criteria of answering "10 questions in 3 hours" when it's 20 questions as each question has a part A and a part B. Up to 50 marks equating to roughly 15 mins per question. They sheer amount of detail they want you to include to add more mark there meerly isn't enough time to do so.
I think this has be set up as a money making scheme. It doesn't teach you anything relevant to my job and it hasn't made me any more experienced or skilled than prior to taking this exam. I have been on the course with 30 people and 2 passed scrapping 55% this seriously needs to be reviewed by the APM body and they need to better their material and the objective to help people pass the exam.

Attempted and failed the exam Twice.
Had long covid and requested extra time. First exam it was agreed, 2nd Exam 17th March the APM Quality lead would not accept Long COVID issues and extra time allocation request. Even though another APM member of staff granted it. 3 days before the Exam and 30mins before the exam i was still unsure if i had the extra time or not? I failed on 48% 2nd time round. I received a very poor score sheet that did not offer any relevant feedback. just a score for each question. How is anyone able to gain constructive feedback from that? They did not provide information if it was a failure on part A question or the part B question. I have no way of feeding back to the course tutor what area was an issue. In essence i fail by 35 marks which equated to 1.75 marks per Part A or Part B question. Yet they will not re-evaluate unless you reach between 52-54%. Feel so disillusioned with this organisation. Poor feedback, Very poor support with long Covid! Not happy with this organisation. Just feels like a money making scheme.

I would not give even one star. Not worth money, totally waste of time. Exam has totally different formulated question then questions which they given on the course, even one question from the course wasn't given on the final exam.

It is a money making rip off. An elite club they don't want you to know the language for. Only 2 out of 12 scrapped a pass 55% (& one of these people were on their 4th attempt). All professionals (including with degrees/MAs) who put many hours study in and attended training. Something extremely wrong with this exam. APM need to set up their own project to improve their own exam!

Absolutely awful experience. Don't waste your money. Completed the course on a facilitated face to face over 4 days. Each day was 8 hours intense then spent 5 hours every evening for 4 days studying before the exam and only achieved 50%. I've numerous other qualifications and this is the only exam I've ever failed in my life. Out of 15 candidates in the class not one passed. It's a complete money making scheme and don't waste your time. I'm PRINCE2 and Agile qualified plus multiple H&S qualifications. The exam is a test of how fast you can type in 3 hours. Nonsense.

Just wanted to do a reply to the response I received. I was told by one of the agents that to resit the exam it would cost around £300.00 as the expensive part of the course is the exam. I paid £288.00 for the course so found that ludicrous. I still haven't had a response on the emails I sent either.

Awful experience, avoid if doing a project management course