APMG International Project Planning and Control™ Foundation & Practitioner
The Project Planning and Control (PPC) Certification, developed in partnership with the Association for Project Management (APM), equips individuals with practical tools and best practices to plan effectively, monitor progress, and manage time, cost, and risk throughout the project lifecycle. Supporting APM’s comprehensive guide, Planning, Scheduling, Monitoring and Control, the qualification helps standardise delivery practices, reduce waste, and improve confidence in project outcomes across all industries and sectors.
Aimed at:
This course is designed for project managers, planners, coordinators, consultants, engineers, and project controls professionals responsible for planning, scheduling, monitoring, or setting project-control standards within their organisations.
Your study options
Parallel can deliver this course for you in whichever medium suits you best. Whether you would like your delegates to come together in a face-to-face session or bring colleagues together virtually from all over the world, we can discuss options to suit you.
Virtual delivery
Our online learning options are very popular and are particularly useful for those clients whose delegates might be spread across the country or the world. Virtual classroom training doesn’t just involve sitting and listening to the trainer talk – delegates will be encouraged to participate in discussions and understand theoretical concepts through real-world examples.
Face-to-face delivery
We have more than 15 years’ experience delivering training courses for corporate clients. We can provide dedicated face-to-face training for your team to help them enhance their project management skills. Our corporate clients value bespoke project management training approaches which will ultimately help to improve project delivery and efficiency.
Course overview
This five-day APMG Project Planning and Control (PPC) course develops the practical knowledge and skills needed to plan, schedule, monitor and control projects effectively. It combines the two certification levels, typically delivered as three days of Foundation training followed by two days at Practitioner level, progressing from an understanding of core principles to their application in realistic project scenarios.
The Foundation exam is a 40-minute, closed-book assessment comprising 50 multiple-choice questions; candidates must score at least 25 out of 50 (50%) to pass. The Practitioner exam is a three-hour, open-book, scenario-based objective assessment comprising eight questions worth ten marks each; candidates must score at least 40 out of 80 (50%) to pass and may use the official PPC guide and a simple calculator.
What topics are covered
Our standard course outline can be tailored to you. We can focus on key areas or remove topics that are not relevant to your organisation. You can find each of the topic areas listed below, but please contact us if you would like clarity on key areas or would like additional support in other areas. We use a range of exercises to help engage delegates and demonstrate project processes.
Planning techniques and approaches
We look at scope management, requirements management, statements of work, stakeholder management, breakdown structures and dependency management
Budgeting and cost control
We look at types of estimate, estimating methodologies, definition of budgetting, funding and budgetting, cost breakdown structures, cash flow, budget transfers
Scheduling practices
We look at steps in establishing a schedule and the different types of scheduling, project trackers, elements of a schedule, estimating durations, resource management, schedule interfacing and coding, and contingency and the use of buffers.
Communicating the schedule
We look at bar charts, line of balance and time chainage.
The supporting components of a schedule
We look at schedule narative including calendars, activity codes, calendars, shutdowns, possessions, permits and licences.
Schedule review
We look at the processes for approving and accepting schedules, Building Information Management (BIM) including the integration of the schedule with the design process, Agile including planning for the use of sprints, timeboxes and other agile processes
Monitoring and control
We look at baselines, re-planning, baselining, maintance and re-programming.
Performance reporting
We look at the drop line method, activity weeks, milestone monitoring, and cost value.
Cost control
We look at cost control process, performance management baseline, performance measurement.
Change control
We look at cost control process, adjusting the schedule to accommodate changes, communicating and reporting change.
Risk management
We look at risk management process, risk drawdown, quantitative schedule risk analysis (QSRA), Quantitative cost risk analysis (QCRA)
Forensic analysis, the purpose of forensic analysis, Methods including planned vs as built, impact method, record keeping, document management, handover and closeout and lessons learned.
Paul Naybour, CEng, MBA, BSc(Hons), MAPM, MIET, Business Development Director
The PPQ is a fascinating course to teach. We have had some excellent conversations about how we could apply project management to a case study. There is no right answer, and it’s very interesting to see the different approaches to the case study proposed by the different teams. It is especially useful for people to consider projects outside their day-to-day experience.
"
Google reviews
Great training and preparation for APM exams. Have used Parallel Project Training a couple of times, with each experience being extremely positive from the training material provided, feedback on mock questions, and availability from the training team for any questions. I would recommend Parallel Project Training for project management training
I recently completed the APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ) training, and I cannot recommend it highly enough! The course was incredibly well-structured, providing a comprehensive understanding of project management principles and practices. What truly made the experience outstanding was our instructor, Tyron. His expertise, engaging teaching style, and ability to break down complex concepts into digestible lessons were exceptional.
Tyron’s real-world examples and interactive exercises brought the material to life, making it not only easier to understand but also highly applicable to my professional role. He was patient, approachable, and always willing to answer questions, ensuring every participant felt confident in their learning journey. His dedication to our success was evident throughout the course, and his guidance played a significant role in helping me prepare for the PMQ exam.
Thanks to Tyron and the excellent training program, I feel more confident in my project management abilities and am excited to apply what I’ve learned in my career. If you’re considering APMQ training, this is the place to do it—and if you’re lucky enough to have Tyron as your instructor, you’re in for a fantastic experience!
Amazing training provided by Tyrone. He made the classes really engaging and fun. There are many resources provided by parallel for the PMQ which I found really beneficial. Would recommend anyone looking for a training company to check out parallel project training.
The online APM PMQ course with Tyrone Davids was excellent.
Recently took the APM PMQ training course and Exam, Tyrone was instrumental in helping me pass, managed to keep the large amount of content engaging every session. Engaged with everyone involved on my course (18 in group) and was effective in responding and adapting to everyone’s knowledge levels/understanding. Great trainer !
The training provided by Ruth Phillips from Parallel Project Training for the APM PMQ was exceptional. Ruth’s expertise, engaging delivery, and practical insights made the complex concepts accessible and manageable. Her ability to break down key topics and relate them to real-world scenarios was particularly helpful in building confidence for the exam. The course was well-structured, interactive, and thoroughly professional, making it an excellent choice for anyone preparing for the APM PMQ. Highly recommended!
Great course provider and great trainer Tyrone, have learnt so much in 5 weeks!
Highly recommended Parallel Project Training. Carmen is a fantastic trainer, she is able to guide you through the training in a friendly and welcome manner, she takes the qualification and puts it into bite size chunks to make it digestible over the 5 weeks. Thanks for all your help!
Would highly recommend using Parallel Project Training. They have supported me in my journey to achieving my APM PMQ.The presentations and podcasts that they provide are informative and easy to understand. Compared to other training providers they are also one of the cheapest around.
Excellent course and really well led by Tyrone. Great method of getting the key information across and really informative.
FAQs
There are no pre-requisites for any individuals who are looking to sit the Project Planning and Control foundation examination. However, those candidates who wish to take the PCC practitioner examination must first take and pass the PCC foundation exam.
There is one main publication that supports the qualification scheme for Project Planning and Control. This is published by the APM and is called “PLANNING, SCHEDULING, MONITORING AND CONTROL – The Practical Project Management of Time, Cost and Risk”
The book can be purchased direct from APMG Business Books via their website. However, if you are following the course through an Accredited Training Organisation (ATO) like Parallel Project Management then the book is included as part of the course fee.
Whilst training for the exam is not absolutely necessary, it is highly recommended. Those individuals who undergo training with an Accredited Training Organisation will not only receive lots of help and support with their study but will also be offered the option of self-study in preparation for the examination. Training will help you to consolidate those areas of the exam material that you are unclear on, offer you to ask any questions you might have on the course material and can give you the confidence that will hopefully help you to pass your examinations first time.
Most Project Planning and Control Accredited Training Organisations will include the examination as part of the training package that they offer for the course. They will give you details of this when you sign up for the course so you will know how long you will have to study in preparation for the examination. However, and this is mainly for those individuals who have self-studied, APMG also hold public exam sessions on a global scale. The UK has four such centres dedicated to public exams.
Most Project Planning and Control Accredited Training Organisations will include the examination as part of the training package that they offer for the course. They will give you details of this when you sign up for the course so you will know how long you will have to study in preparation for the examination. However, and this is mainly for those individuals who have self-studied, APMG also hold public exam sessions on a global scale. The UK has four such centres dedicated to public exams.
The Project Planning and Control examination is only available in English at the moment. Should there be a greater demand for it in other languages, this is something that the APMG will consider.
When you study for the examination with an accredited training organisation such as us the usual timeframe for delivering the foundation course is just 3 days. If you are studying for both the foundation and the practitioner course, then these are generally delivered over a period of just 5 days. You may want to spend some time studying the course material on your own as well over this time. Using an individual accredited training organisation for your studying of the course material is a good investment that is worth considering as this will allow you to look at things like tailored and blended learning solutions that may work better for your circumstances.
For those individuals who choose the self-study option, there is no set amount of time that is needed. It is down to the individual themselves and how much time they are prepared to put into studying. This means being disciplined enough to make the time to study on a regular basis and of course will vary from one individual to another. For those individuals who want help to study or would like to achieve their qualification in a timelier fashion this is probably not the best route to take.
If you are taking the foundation exam, then you will need to get 25/50 (50%) of the questions correct in order to achieve a foundation exam pass. If you are taking the practitioner examination then you must achieve 50%, that is 40/80 in order to pass.
If you have taken your Project and Control Foundation exam through an Accredited Training Organisation like Parallel then we will receive your exam results approximately 7-10 days after the date of your examinations, we will then inform you of the results. In some, rarer, cases and at the discretion of the exam invigilator who is presiding over the exam it may be possible for the exam to be marked immediately on the day; however this is not always an option.
The certification for this course has no defined period of time attached to it and does not expire. There will be no need to retake the examination again at any point.
Your results will be available 7-10 days after you take the examination, it will be a further two business days after this before you will be able to claim your certification. This certification takes the form of a digital badge and electronic certificate and is made available through the APMG Candidate Portal.
When you have been informed that you have passed your examination you will be given the option to go into your APMG Candidate Portal and create a digital badge.
This is done by logging into the portal, looking at your exam results and then choosing “Create Badge”. This will take you to an external website which hosts the digital badges. There will be clear instructions available to assist you in creating an account. Once this has been done you will be able to login, your badge will be pending and all you will need to do is accept it.
You can use a digital badge to show your achievements easily online. You will be able to do this by embedding it in your email signature, on a website, digital CV or social media. It will allow clients, employers and customers to easily check your skills and credentials.
Project Planning & Control™ is a trademark of APM Group Limited, and must not be used without prior permission or an appropriate license.”