CertPath
Browse Certs
PMIPMI-ACP

PMI-ACP in London

PMI's agile certification covering Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP, and SAFe — ideal for PMs transitioning to agile delivery.

Salary uplift
+$15k
Exam cost
$495
Duration
180 min
Passing score
70
Difficulty
intermediate
View recommended courses
◆ 01 / About

What is PMI-ACP?

The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) is PMI's flagship credential for agile practitioners, covering frameworks including Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP, and SAFe. Unlike narrower certifications, it validates broad agile fluency across methodologies — something London employers increasingly demand as hybrid delivery models become the norm. With London's tech, finance, and consultancy sectors all scaling agile transformation programmes, the PMI-ACP signals to hiring managers that you can operate across teams, tools, and frameworks. It sits at the intermediate level, meaning it rewards practitioners who already have real project hours behind them and want formal recognition of that hands-on expertise.

At $495 for the exam and an average salary uplift of $15,000 per year, the PMI-ACP pays for itself within weeks of landing your next role or securing a promotion. With London's average IT salary sitting around $85,000, certified agile practitioners are regularly breaking into the $95,000–$105,000 band at banks, consultancies, and scale-up tech firms across the city. London's demand for agile leadership is structural, not a trend — major employers including financial institutions in Canary Wharf and tech firms in Shoreditch list PMI-ACP as a preferred or required credential. The three-year renewal cycle keeps your skills current and your profile competitive in one of Europe's most active hiring markets.

◆ 02 / Exam details

Exam details

Exam cost
$495 USD
Duration
180 min
Passing score
70
Renewal
Every 3 yrs

Prerequisites: 2,000 hours general project experience + 1,500 hours agile experience + 21 hours agile education

◆ 03 / Study plan

12-week study plan

1
Foundations and Eligibility PrepWeeks 1–4
Audit your project hours and agile experience hours against PMI's eligibility requirements — document everything before applyingRead the PMI-ACP Exam Content Outline (ECO) and map your existing knowledge against each domainComplete or source your 21 hours of agile education; prioritise courses that cover multiple frameworks, not just Scrum
2
Core Domain StudyWeeks 5–8
Study all seven ECO domains systematically: Agile Principles, Value-Driven Delivery, Stakeholder Engagement, Team Performance, Adaptive Planning, Problem Detection, and Continuous ImprovementRead Mike Griffiths' PMI-ACP Exam Prep and the Agile Practice Guide (free for PMI members) as your two primary referencesRun timed 20-question mini-quizzes after each domain to identify weak areas early
3
Practice Exams and Final RefinementWeeks 9–12
Complete at least three full 120-question practice exams under timed conditions, targeting 75%+ before booking your real exam dateReview every wrong answer by referencing back to the ECO and source material — understand the reasoning, not just the correct optionBook your Pearson VUE exam slot (available at test centres across London) and do one final pass of your weakest domain two days before sitting
◆ 04 / Exam tips

Exam tips

The PMI-ACP exam tests agile mindset over process steps — when two answers both seem correct, choose the one that best reflects collaboration, transparency, and delivering customer value rather than the one that follows a prescribed procedure.

Know the Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles cold. Several questions are rooted directly in these principles, and knowing them precisely prevents you from falling for plausible-sounding distractors.

Don't over-index on Scrum. The exam draws from Kanban, XP, Lean, and SAFe, so gaps in those frameworks will cost you marks. Spend proportional study time on all frameworks covered in the ECO.

Pay close attention to stakeholder and team dynamics questions — the PMI-ACP ECO places heavy emphasis on servant leadership, team empowerment, and conflict resolution, and these questions trip up candidates who focus only on delivery mechanics.

When reviewing practice exam answers, always identify which ECO domain and which agile framework the question is testing. This turns every wrong answer into a targeted revision prompt rather than just a missed mark.

◆ 05 / FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The PMI-ACP is rated intermediate difficulty and is genuinely challenging if you approach it as a memorisation test. Questions are scenario-based and test applied judgement across multiple agile frameworks, not just Scrum. Most candidates with solid agile experience report needing 6–10 weeks of structured study. Those without recent hands-on agile practice tend to struggle more regardless of study time.
◆ 06 / Other certifications in London