The MSP® Practitioner Exam

Note: The MSP Practitioner Certificate is the same as the old MSP Intermediate Certificate. This change was made by the APMG-UK in September 2007.

The MSP Practitioner Certificate is awarded for the comprehensive understanding of the principles and theory of Managing Successful Programmes, the programme management methodology developed by the Office of Government Commerce and used throughout the public and private sector. The methodology is outlined in the MSP manual, and is taught by Accredited Training Organisations (ATOs) in preparation for the MSP Practitioner exam.

The awarding-body for the MSP qualifications is the APM Group, which is also responsible for the PRINCE2 Project Management qualifications. According to the APMG, the MSP Practitioner exam has pass rate of 78%.

Who should take the Practitioner exam?

The MSP Practitioner exam is intended for people working within, or intending to work within programme management. This may, but does not necessarily, include project managers. While MSP, according to the AMPG, demands more of the practitioner than PRINCE2, it is not a replacement for the project management qualification, as PRINCE2 is concerned with a closer level of detail in the management of individual projects.

Anybody who wishes to gain the MSP Practitioner qualification must first obtain the MSP Foundation certificate. MSP Practitioner is itself a prerequisite for the MSP Advanced Practitioner. It provides vital CV points for anybody seeking to progress within or enter Programme Management.

MSP Practitioner is essential for anybody wishing to work within an MSP programme environment.

The Exam Structure

• Multiple choice
• 2.5 hours duration
• 9 sections, each worth 20 marks
• 180 marks available
• 50% (90/180) required to pass
• Open-book (annotated copy of official MSP manual allowed only)

The Content

A programme scenario will be provided at the start of the examination. Additional materials, such as project reports, may be provided with some specific questions. Each of the nine sections will cover one syllabus unit (see below). Not every syllabus unit will appear in an examination.

The MSP™ Practitioner exam tests comprehensive understanding of the MSP methodology, and is intended as a stepping-stone from the more basic knowledge of the Foundation-level to the analytical challenges of Advanced Practitioner. The nine sections of the Practitioner exam each correspond to one of the following syllabus units:

1. Overview and Programme Management Principles
2. Governance Themes Overview
3. Organisation
4. Vision
5. Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement
6. Benefits Realisation Management
7. Blueprint Design and Delivery
8. Planning and Control
9. The Business Case
10. Risk Management and Issue Resolution
11. Quality Management (including Configuration Management and Issue Management)
12. The Transformational How
13. Programme Office

Revision Strategies

1. Mock-exam preparation: don’t let the exam format take you by surprise. Read practice project scenarios and become familiar with the style of the questions set. Your MSP Practitioner course trainer should provide you with at least one practice paper.


2. Explain, explain, explain: at Practitioner level it is no good simply knowing that X is the correct answer. You must read your MSP manual closely to understand how and why X is the correct answer.

Exam Strategy

The most important exam strategy is good timing. There are 9 sections and 150 minutes, which allows 16 minutes per section. Remember that each section will usually be composed of more than one question, and that there are 180 marks available overall – that is a total of 50 seconds per mark.

Don’t spend too long weighing up the difference between Aggregated Risk and Risk Appetite, or a Tranche and a Trance. If in doubt, guess and move on.

Which leads me to my final point: leave no question unanswered. There is no negative marking, so you lose nothing by an intelligent guess – and if you have read your MSP manual thoroughly then the chances are your guess will be correct.

MSP® is a Trade Mark of the Office of Government Commerce