PMI · PMI-ACP
Validates expertise in agile principles, practices, tools, and techniques across agile methodologies including Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP, and test-driven development for project management.
Practice Questions
843
≈ 4 practice exams
Duration
180 minutes
Passing Score
Pass/Fail
Difficulty
ProfessionalLast Updated
Feb 2026
Prepare for the PMI Agile Certified Practitioner exam with PMI ACP practice exam questions covering agile principles, Scrum, Kanban, Lean, XP, team facilitation, value delivery, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive planning. The questions help you practice the mindset PMI expects from agile practitioners.
Review explanations for missed questions and look for patterns: servant leadership, empirical decision-making, prioritization, and continuous improvement often drive the best answer. Timed practice is useful once you understand the concepts and need to improve consistency.
The PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)® is PMI's industry-recognized, methodology-agnostic agile certification, accredited under ISO 17024. Unlike framework-specific credentials, it validates a practitioner's ability to apply agile principles and practices across multiple methodologies — including Scrum, Kanban, Lean, Extreme Programming (XP), and test-driven development — making it one of the broadest and most versatile agile credentials available. The certification demonstrates not only knowledge of agile tools and techniques but also the mindset required to thrive in adaptive, team-centric project environments.
As of November 8, 2024, PMI launched a significantly revised exam based on a new Exam Content Outline (ECO) published October 16, 2024. The updated exam consolidates the previous seven-domain structure into four streamlined domains — Mindset, Leadership, Product, and Delivery — reflecting the evolving priorities of agile practice in modern organizations. The exam also incorporates new item types beyond traditional multiple-choice questions, modernizing the assessment to better measure real-world agile competence.
The PMI-ACP is designed for project managers, team leads, Scrum Masters, agile coaches, product owners, and software developers who are actively working in or transitioning to agile environments. It is particularly valuable for professionals who work across multiple agile frameworks rather than a single methodology, and for those who want formal, internationally recognized validation of their agile experience and knowledge.
The certification suits mid-career professionals with hands-on agile project experience who want to differentiate themselves in the job market. It is also pursued by PMP holders seeking to complement their traditional project management credential with demonstrated agile expertise, since active PMP certification eliminates the work experience requirement for PMI-ACP eligibility.
Eligibility for the PMI-ACP requires a secondary education credential (high school diploma, GED, GCSE, or equivalent) and completion of 28 hours of formal training in agile practices, frameworks, and methodologies (the requirement was 21 hours prior to 2025). Candidates must also demonstrate two years of agile project experience within the last five years. If a candidate holds a qualifying third-party agile certification or has completed a PMI Global Accreditation Center (GAC) program, the experience requirement is reduced to one year. Candidates who hold an active PMP certification have no work experience requirement.
Beyond formal requirements, candidates are strongly advised to have practical, hands-on experience working in at least one agile framework such as Scrum or Kanban before sitting for the exam. Familiarity with the Agile Manifesto and its 12 principles, as well as exposure to agile planning tools, retrospectives, and iterative delivery, is essential preparation for success on the exam.
The PMI-ACP exam consists of 120 total items, of which 100 are scored and 20 are unscored pre-test items used for future exam development; candidates cannot distinguish between scored and unscored questions. The exam duration is 3 hours (180 minutes). The question format includes traditional multiple-choice items as well as new innovative item types introduced with the 2024 ECO update, designed to more authentically assess practical agile competence.
The exam is delivered through Pearson VUE, either at an authorized testing center or via online proctored delivery. PMI uses a psychometrically derived passing standard rather than a published numeric cutoff score; results are reported as Pass or Fail, accompanied by a performance report across the four exam domains. The certification is valid for three years and requires 30 Professional Development Units (PDUs) per cycle for renewal.
PMI-ACP holders are positioned for roles including Scrum Master, Agile Coach, Agile Project Manager, Product Owner, and senior project management positions in organizations that have adopted agile delivery models. According to aggregated salary data for 2024–2025, PMI-ACP certified professionals in the United States earn an average of approximately $120,000 annually, with PMI research indicating certified professionals earn roughly 28% more than their non-certified counterparts. Demand for agile practitioners continues to grow across industries beyond software, including finance, healthcare, and manufacturing.
Compared to framework-specific certifications such as the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) or SAFe Scrum Master, the PMI-ACP carries broader industry recognition due to its methodology-agnostic scope, experience-based eligibility, and ISO 17024 accreditation. For PMP holders, it serves as a natural complement that signals fluency in both predictive and adaptive delivery approaches — a combination increasingly sought by employers managing hybrid project environments.
5 sample questions with answers and explanations. The full bank has 843 questions, enough for 4 full-length practice exams.
Preview — answers shown1. A Product Owner wants to prioritize features using Weighted Shortest Job First. Feature A has User-Business Value of 8, Time Criticality of 5, Risk Reduction of 3, and Job Duration of 8. Feature B has User-Business Value of 5, Time Criticality of 8, Risk Reduction of 5, and Job Duration of 6. Which feature should be prioritized first based on WSJF calculation? (Select one!)
Explanation
WSJF (Weighted Shortest Job First) is calculated as Cost of Delay divided by Job Duration. Cost of Delay = User-Business Value + Time Criticality + Risk Reduction/Opportunity Enablement. For Feature A: (8 + 5 + 3) ÷ 8 = 16 ÷ 8 = 2.0. For Feature B: (5 + 8 + 5) ÷ 6 = 18 ÷ 6 = 3.0. Feature B should be prioritized first with the higher WSJF score of 3.0. This means Feature B delivers more economic value per unit of duration despite Feature A having higher absolute business value. WSJF helps teams maximize economic outcomes by balancing value delivery against the time investment required. This SAFe-originated technique is increasingly tested in PMI-ACP for value-based prioritization in Domain 3 (Product).
2. An agile coach observes that a Scrum Team's Daily Scrum has become a status reporting meeting where each Developer reports to the Scrum Master using the three questions format. What should the coach recommend? (Select one!)
Explanation
The Scrum Guide states that the structure and techniques of the Daily Scrum are set at the sole discretion of the Developers, and the three questions format is not prescribed. The purpose is for Developers to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog, not to report status to the Scrum Master. The Daily Scrum is for Developers only unless the Product Owner or Scrum Master are actively working on Sprint Backlog items. Enforcing rigid formats contradicts the Scrum Guide. The Daily Scrum is a required 15-minute event and cannot be canceled or replaced with asynchronous updates.
3. During Behavior-Driven Development, a team writes: Given a user has items in their cart, When they apply a valid 20% discount code, Then the total should reflect the discounted price. What format is being used? (Select one!)
Explanation
Given-When-Then is the standard format for Behavior-Driven Development scenarios, describing context (Given), action (When), and expected outcome (Then) in natural language that stakeholders can understand. User Story format follows As a-I want-So that structure. Acceptance Criteria checklists are typically bullet points without the Given-When-Then structure. Feature templates in Feature-Driven Development use Action-Result-Object format.
4. An organization wants to adopt Kanban and asks which change management principle should guide their initial implementation. Which Kanban principle should they follow? (Select one!)
Explanation
Starting with what you do now and pursuing incremental, evolutionary change is one of Kanban's four foundational change management principles. Kanban respects current processes, roles, responsibilities, and titles, making it easier to adopt without disruptive reorganization. Replacing existing processes immediately contradicts Kanban's evolutionary approach and risks resistance. Establishing new roles violates the principle of respecting current roles and responsibilities. Defining comprehensive policies before visualization delays implementation and contradicts starting with current state.
5. An agile team tracks their work using a Kanban board with columns: Backlog, Analysis, Development, Testing, and Done. The team has set WIP limits of 3 for Analysis, 5 for Development, and 2 for Testing. During a team meeting, members notice that Testing consistently has 2 items while Development often has only 2-3 items despite a limit of 5. What does this indicate? (Select one!)
Explanation
Testing at maximum WIP while Development is underutilized indicates Testing is a bottleneck according to Theory of Constraints and Kanban flow principles. Work accumulates before constraints, preventing upstream stages from pulling new work. Reducing the Development WIP limit would further restrict flow without addressing the root cause. The workflow is not optimal—healthy flow shows parallel bands in a Cumulative Flow Diagram, not accumulation at one stage. Increasing Testing's WIP limit would allow more queuing but not increase throughput, as the constraint is Testing's capacity, not its WIP limit.
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