Certification Candidate Training –

IPMA Level A,B,C

Let’s get you ready for the robust IPMA individual competence certification in the field of project management.

Evaluate your Certification eligibility

Certification Process. IPMA Level A,B,C 

For All Domains

Project Management
Programme Management
Portfolio Management

For All Levels:

IPMA Level A
IPMA Level B
IPMA Level C
IPMA Level D

Certification process

 

No. Topic Domain Levels
1 Individual competence Baseline All All
2 Evidence-Based Assessment All All
3 Experience Check All All
4 Application All All
5 Self-assessment All All
6 Experience Summary All All
7 Management Complexity Ratings All All
8 Exam All B, C
9 Report All A, B
10 Interview All All
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1. Structure of the ICB

Twenty-nine Competence

  • Perspective
  • Peolple
  • Practice

Three Domains

  • Project Management
  • Programme Management
  • Portfolio Management

2. Evidence-Based Assessment

Results Are Based on Evidence.

  • Written evidence – To prove that you did what you were supposed to do
  • Oral evidence – to show that you knew what you were doing and why

Sources of Evidence.

Written evidence:
  • Project, program, or portfolio report (Levels A and B)
  • Experience summary
  • Resume
  • Exam (Levels B and C)
Oral evidence:
  • Interview
Evidence must be clear and convincing:
  • Substantially more likely to be true than not
  • So clear as to leave no substantial doubt
  • Sufficiently strong to command the belief of a reasonable mind

3. Experience Check

Purpose

Here, you evaluate your experience prior to submitting an application.

Download your experience check here, and

Enter the requested information about the experience you plan to use in your application.

Complete the Management Complexity Ratings (MCR) form for this work and enter those values as well.

Review the worksheet for the domain you plan to apply for
to see if you have sufficient experience.

4. Application

Applies to all Domains and Levels and includes the following sections:

  1. General information
  2. Assurances and releases
  3. Personal information
  4. Exam and interview dates
  5. Required supporting information
  6. Pre-submittal checklist and payment.

Download your Application form here.

5. Self-assessment

Applies to all Domains and Levels

Structure— competence elements by group
Purpose— get you familiar with the ICB
Why you should care — self-assessment should alert you to possible weaknesses before:
  • You take your exam (Levels B and C)
  • Prepare for your interview (all advanced levels)
  • Develop your report (Levels A and B)

Download your Self-assessment form here.

6. Experience Summary

Applies to all Domains and Levels and includes the following sections:

Overview
Instructions
Work environment (3 occurrences)
Experience items (8 occurrences):
  • Context
  • Outputs or results
  • Responsibilities.

Download your Experience Summary form here.

  • Use the Management Complexity Ratings form to verify the eligibility of your experience
  • Include only those projects, programs, and portfolios that you will use to satisfy your experience requirements

  • Enter the characteristics of the work environment(s), where you obtained your experience.

  • If your experience extends over more than four employers, enter information for the four most recent.

  • Complete one worksheet (A, B, C, etc.) for each experience item. Numbers and dates can be approximate.

  • Enter detail information for up to eight (8) items that you will use to meet your experience requirements. Entries should be no more than three paragraphs.

7. Management Complexity Ratings

Applies to all Domains and Levels and includes the following sections:

  • Instructions
  • Candidate ratings
  • Assessor ratings
  • Rating summary

Download your Experience Summary form here.

Enter your information in the
Assessment Details worksheet.

Do not enter information into the Assessor fields!

  • Complete the appropriate Detail Ratings worksheet(s) based on how you plan to satisfy your experience requirements.
  • Candidates for Level C will always provide only project details.
  • Candidates for Levels A and B will need to use multiple
  • Detail Ratings worksheets if they are using experience from multiple domains.

  • Columns (A, B, C, etc.) correspond to the Experience Items in your Experience Summary.
  • You must provide ratings for each of the sub-indicators.

 

  • The average of your detail ratings are always rounded down.
  • You can override this default by entering a value in the appropriate Rater override cell.

  • The Ratings Summary worksheet displays your ratings for review.

8. Exam

Applies to all Domains and Levels B, C and includes the following Parts:

 

  • Level B: one part
  • Level C: two parts

 

Level B: one part

 

  • Oral exam
  • 90 minutes
  • Responses must describe projects, programs, or portfolios that satisfy the minimum complexity requirements for Level B

Typical Level B Questions:

  • Describe what you did on a recent project to ensure ethical behaviour from your suppliers.
  • Describe how you interfaced with the finance function of your parent organization. Describe how those interfaces affected your project.
  • Explain how you ensure that the justification for your project remains valid.

 

Level C: two parts:

 

  • 8 short-essay questions in 90 minutes
  • 6 short-essay questions in 70 minutes
  • Questions can address any competence element in the Project Management Domain

 

Typical Level C Questions

 

  • Explain how you ensure that your project is aligned with the mission and vision of your employer.
  • Describe how you evaluated risks on your last project.
  • Describe how you would deal with a conflict between two team members.

 

Passing Scores

  • The Level B and Level C exams are used by your assessors as evidence of your skills and abilities
  • You are not given a pass/fail score

Download your Sample Exam here

9. Report

Applies to all Domains and Levels A, B and includes the following sections:

  • Experience requirements
  • Technical requirements
  • Content requirements
  • Structural options

Everything in your report must come from the projects, programs, or portfolios that you used to satisfy your experience requirements

Technical requirements are pretty basic …but you still have to comply with them!

Your report should describe what you personally did to address the challenges you faced.

Choose the option that is easiest for you, or the one that gives you the best chance to shine!

Download your Report template here

10. Interview

Applies to all Domains and Levels A, B, C

Interview Durations

  • Level A — 120 minutes
  • Level B — 120 minutes
  • Level C — 90 minutes

If you select a video assessment, one of your assessors will work with you to test your configuration in advance of the interview.

Assessors will choose questions that help them:

  • validate your written evidence and
  • obtain additional evidence where the written evidence is weak.

Download Sample questions here

“
My entire team was prototyping by the end of the first day!

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John Smith, Divi Design Initiative