PMI is changing the PMP exam to a new exam content outline. The new exam reflecting this, is slated to be out in July 2026.
DELAYS – We have been involved in 6 other PMP exam changes since 2001. The exam release dates average 6 months delays with some delays 3 months and some delays up to 19 months.
IMPACT
- The reality is, PMI continually refines the PMP exam questions and passing criteria. Because of this, Cheetah continually updates their program so Cheetah students have the best chance to pass the most current version of their PMP exam within a day or two of the end of their Cheetah class. We track students’ performance in every section of the PMP exam content outline monthly and refine the program accordingly.
- The main reason we see to take the PMP exam now before the change has more to do with system glitches than preparedness for the new version. In the past there have been issues with a cut over to a new exam where no one passed the exam. Then a couple months later their exams were rescored and they retroactively passed. If you don’t want to deal with this potential stressor or give them three months to work out the bugs, it makes more sense to get PMP certified before July 2026.
- Cheetah students maintain their advantage with achieving better results faster with less effort, because the accelerated Cheetah method trains them to think like project leaders—making fast, situational judgments under pressure rather than relying on rote knowledge.
INCREMENTAL CHANGES
- The new PMP exam in an incremental shift as the current exam has been morphing since the last release in 2021 to emphasize real-world decision-making, value delivery, and adaptability over memorizing formulas and processes – even though the latest PMBOK release 8 is a fall back to the formulas and processes of the PMBOK 6.
- We don’t expect to see a shift back to requiring deep knowledge on the former PMBOK processes for another several years., This shift also will be gradual as we have seen over the past 25 years, the PMP exam is in a continual upgrade process.
- It appears with this exam change and the deliberation they are taking, that PMI is catching up their courseware to how their exam has already morphed to require more critical thinking, business alignment, and practical application. Something that is business as usual for Cheetah’s program.