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APM Project Management Qualification
for PRINCE2® Practitioners

Syllabus, learning outcomes and assessment criteria

aligned to the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition
 The syllabus is based upon the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition and provides an overview of the
coverage of the qualification. The expanded syllabus content is provided in the form of learning outcomes and
assessment criteria. These are structured to reflect teaching approaches in Project Management rather than
the sequential chapters of the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition.

Those areas that appear in orange, will not be examined in the 2 hour APM Project Management Qualification
examination, these areas are covered by the PRINCE2® Practitioners course.

Where standard brackets are employed (concept, definition …), these are used to indicate generic or specific
topic coverage.

Where curly brackets are employed {WBS}, these are used to indicate use of acronyms.

Where italics are used – these are for clarification of syllabus rather than specific content.

Where the syllabus cites the term ‘including’, the information in brackets is topic coverage. All the cited terms
are expected to be known by candidates taking the examination. For example ‘1.1 differentiate between types of
organisation structures highlighting advantages and disadvantages of each (including functional, matrix, project)’.

Where the syllabus cites the term ‘such as’, the information in brackets provides general topic coverage.
This means that the assessment criteria are expected to be understood by candidates and examined, but the
content in brackets is purely indicative of the range of areas that candidates may respond with. Therefore,
the candidate may answer more widely than these specified items in the examination. For example, ‘3.8
explain the importance of relevant legislation applicable to projects (such as health and safety, environmental,
employment, contract, data protection, freedom of information)’.

2 PRINCE2® is a registered trade mark of AXELOS Limited

 APM Project Management Qualification for PRINCE2® Practitioners
Syllabus, learning outcomes and assessment criteria aligned to the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition

Overview of syllabus coverage and Body of Knowledge 6th edition

references

Coverage of Learning outcomes Body of Knowledge reference

1 Structure of organisations and projects 1.1.4, 1.1.8, 3.1.4

 distinguish between different types of organisational
structure
 Responsibility Assignment Matrix
 roles and responsibilities of project sponsor, project
manager, team members, project steering group, users
 relationship between project sponsor and manager
 functions and benefits of project office
2 Project life cycle 1.1.6
 project life cycle phases
 difference between project life cycle and extended life
cycle
 sharing knowledge
 benefits of conducting reviews

3 Project contexts and environments 1.2.1, 1.2.2, 1.1.2, 1.1.3

 project context, environmental factors
 use of PESTLE, SWOT
 difference between project and business as usual
 characteristics of programme management
 challenges of programme management
 situations where portfolio management is used
 distinguish between project management and portfolio and
programme management
 health safety and environmental legislation

4 Governance and structured methodologies 1.1, 1.1.1

 principles of governance of project management
 methods and procedures to support governance
 advantages of using structured methodologies

5 Communication 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.6

 communication plan, barriers to communication
 importance of effective communication
 conflict management
 negotiation

6 Leadership and teamwork 2.1.5, 2.1.7

 impact of leadership
 situational leadership approach
 creation and management of teams
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 7 Planning for success 3.1.1, 3.1.3, 3.1.5, 3.1.6, 3.2.1,
 business case, ownership, authorship 3.4.3, 4.2, 4.4
 benefits management
 information management
 project management plan, authorship, approval
 project management plan contents
 estimating
 earned value management
 earned value calculations and interpret earned value data
 stakeholder management
 use of payback, internal rate of return and net present value
 project reporting cycle

8 Scope management 3.2, 3.2.2, 3.2.3, 3.2.5

 Product Breakdown Structure {PBS}, Work Breakdown
Structure {WBS}
 configuration
 requirements
 change control, links with configuration

9 Schedule and resource management 3.1.2, 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.4.1, 3.7.1,

 project scheduling 3.7.4
 categories and types of resources
 resource smoothing and levelling
 financial and cost management
 budget and cost control

10 Procurement 3.7.1, 3.7.3, 3.7.4

 supplier relationships
 contracts
 supplier selection

11 Project risk management and issue management 3.5, 3.5.1, 3.5.2, 2.1.3
 risk management process
 risk as threat and opportunity
 benefits of risk management
 distinguish between a risk and an issue
 escalation

12 Project quality management 3.6, 3.6.2

 describe quality management
 quality planning, assurance, control and continual
improvement

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 APM Project Management Qualification for PRINCE2® Practitioners
Syllabus, learning outcomes and assessment criteria aligned to the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition

Syllabus learning outcomes and assessment criteria

Learning outcomes Assessment criteria

When awarded credit for this unit, a Assessment of this learning outcome will require a learner to
learner will: demonstrate that they can:

1 Understand how organisations 1.1 differentiate between types of organisation structures

and projects are structured highlighting advantages and disadvantages of each
(including functional, matrix, project)
1.2 explain the way in which an organisational breakdown
structure is used to create a responsibility assignment matrix
1.3 explain the role and key responsibilities of the project manager
1.4 differentiate between the responsibilities of the project
manager and project sponsor throughout the project life cycle
1.5 describe other roles within project management including
users, project team members and the project steering
group/board
1.6 describe the functions and benefits of different types of
project office (including project support office {PSO},
enterprise project management office {EPMO}, project
services or centres of excellence)

2 Understand project life cycles 2.1 define a project life cycle and project life cycle phases
(including concept, definition, development, handover and
closure and benefits realisation)
2.2 explain why projects are structured as phases (including
the use of end of phase reviews, go/no-go decisions and
high level planning)
2.3 explain the differences between a project life cycle and an
extended life cycle
2.4 outline processes for sharing knowledge and lessons
learned throughout projects
2.5 explain the benefits of conducting reviews throughout the
project life cycle (including project evaluation reviews,
gate reviews, post project reviews, peer reviews, benefits
reviews and audits)

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 3 Understand contexts and 3.1 distinguish between projects and business as usual {BAU}
environments in which projects 3.2 differentiate between project management and portfolio
can be delivered and programme management
3.3 outline the characteristics of programme management and
its relationship with strategic change
3.4 explain the challenges a project manager may face working
within a programme
3.5 describe where the use of portfolio management may be
appropriate
3.6 describe how environmental factors affect projects
(including the sector, geography and regulation)
3.7 explain tools and techniques used to assess a project’s
context (including PESTLE, SWOT)
3.8 explain the importance of relevant legislation applicable
to projects (such as health and safety, environmental,
employment, contract, data protection, freedom of
information)

4 Understand governance of 4.1 describe the principles of governance of project

project management and the use management (such as policies, regulations, functions,
of structured methodologies processes, procedures and responsibilities)
4.2 explain how project management methodologies can be
used to support the governance structure
4.3 explain the advantages of using standard project
management methodologies across an organisation

5 Understand communication 5.1 describe the key contents of a project communication plan
within project management 5.2 explain the benefits of a project communication plan
5.3 explain the importance of effective communication in
managing different stakeholders
5.4 identify factors which can positively or negatively affect
communication
5.5 identify sources of conflict within the project life cycle
and ways in which it can be addressed (such as Blake and
Mouton, Thomas/Kilmann and Pruitt)
5.6 explain how to plan and conduct different negotiations
(including formal, informal, competitive and collaborative)

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 APM Project Management Qualification for PRINCE2® Practitioners
Syllabus, learning outcomes and assessment criteria aligned to the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition

6 Understand the principles of 6.1 describe typical leadership qualities

leadership and teamwork 6.2 explain the principles and importance of motivation
6.3 explain the impact of leadership on team performance and
motivation (using models such as Maslow, Herzberg and
McGregor)
6.4 explain the benefits of adapting styles of leadership within a
project (such as situational leadership, action centred leadership)
6.5 describe the characteristics and benefits of effective teams
and teamwork
6.6 explain factors involved in the creation, development and
management of teams (models such as Belbin, Margerison-
McCann, Myers-Briggs, Tuckman, Katzenbach and Smith)

7 Understand planning for success 7.1 explain the purpose of a business case and its importance
during the project life cycle
7.2 describe who has authorship and approval of the business case
7.3 explain benefits management (including success criteria
and key performance indicators and their uses in measuring
project success)
7.4 explain the use of payback, Internal Rate of Return and
Net Present Value as investment appraisal techniques. The
examination questions will not require calculations to be
performed
7.5 explain an information management system (including
collection, analysis, storage, dissemination, archiving,
destruction of information)
7.6 explain a typical project reporting cycle including the
gathering of data and dissemination of reports and the
principles of reporting by exception
7.7 explain the purpose of the project management plan and its
importance throughout the project life cycle
7.8 describe the typical contents of a project management plan
7.9 outline the authorship, approval and audience of a project
management plan
7.10 explain estimating techniques (including analytical,
comparative, parametric, three-point, PERT formulae)
7.11 explain the reasons for and benefits of re-estimating through
the project life cycle and the concept of the estimating funnel
7.12 describe stakeholder management processes
7.13 explain the importance of managing stakeholder
expectations
7.14 describe advantages and disadvantages of earned value
management
7.15 perform earned value calculations and interpret earned
value data

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 8 Understand project scope 8.1 define scope in terms of outputs, outcomes and benefits
management (including use of product breakdown and work breakdown
structures)
8.2 explain how to manage scope through
 requirements management processes (such as capture,
analysis, justifying requirements, baseline needs)
 configuration management processes (such as planning,
identification, control, status accounting, audit and
verification)
8.3 explain the different stages of change control (such as
request, review, assessment, decision, implementation)
8.4 explain the relationship between change control and
configuration management, and the concept of change freeze
8.5 explain the advantages and disadvantages of a change
control process

9 Understand schedule and 9.1 explain the process for creating and maintaining a schedule
resource management 9.2 describe different techniques used for depicting a schedule
(including network diagrams, critical path analysis, Gantt
chart, milestone chart)
9.3 state advantages and disadvantages of using software
scheduling tools
9.4 explain categories and types of resources (such as human
resources, consumable and re-usable equipment, materials,
space)
9.5 describe how resources are allocated to a schedule
9.6 differentiate between resource smoothing and resource
levelling
9.7 explain what is meant by budgeting and cost control

10 Understand project procurement 10.1 explain the purpose, typical content and importance of a
procurement strategy
10.2 distinguish between different methods of supplier
reimbursement (including fixed price, cost plus fee, per
unit quantity, target cost)
10.3 distinguish between different contractual relationships
10.4 explain a supplier selection process

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 APM Project Management Qualification for PRINCE2® Practitioners
Syllabus, learning outcomes and assessment criteria aligned to the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition

11 Understand risk management and 11.1 explain each stage in a risk management process (such as
issue management initiate, identify, assess, plan and implement responses)
11.2 compare the responses to risk in terms of risk as a threat or
opportunity (such as avoid, reduce, transfer or accept and
exploit, enhance, share or reject)
11.3 explain the benefits of project risk management
11.4 distinguish between risks and issues
11.5 explain the advantages and disadvantages of risk and issue
escalation

12 Understand project quality 12.1 define quality management

management 12.2 define quality planning, quality assurance, quality control
and continual improvement
12.3 describe the benefits of the quality management process

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 Notes

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 APM Project Management Qualification for PRINCE2® Practitioners
Syllabus, learning outcomes and assessment criteria aligned to the APM Body of Knowledge 6th edition

Notes

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Association for Project Management
Ibis House, Regent Park Telephone +44 (0) 845 458 1944
Summerleys Road Facsimile +44 (0) 845 458 8807
Princes Risborough Email qualifications@apm.org.uk
Buckinghamshire HP27 9LE Web apm.org.uk
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