What is the best project management certification in 2026?

To gain your AgilePM Foundation certification, the typical learning path is AgilePM Foundation training which takes 3 days, or 20 hours if studying online.

PMI CAPM

The Project Management Institute offers the  Certified Associate in Project Management  (CAPM)® certification. This certificate tests your knowledge of the fundamentals of project management and common project terminology.

Eligibility for this certification requires that you already possess a secondary degree and requires that you attain at least 23 hours of project management education completed before the exam. This certificate needs to be renewed every 5 years.

It should be noted that the CAPM certification is mostly popular in the USA, Canada, Africa, and Asia, rather than the UK.

To gain your CAPM certificate, a typical learning path is CAPM training which takes 35 hours of online study.

Intermediate project management certifications

Intermediate project certifications usually have some entry requirements. We’ll start with the easiest and make our way up to the hardest.

Intermediate certifications require that you have a more detailed understanding of what project management is all about. These certifications test you on your ability to apply project management principles, practices, and techniques to life-like project scenarios.

APM PMQ

The Association for Project Management offers the  Project Management Qualification  which tests whether you have a deeper understanding of project management. The  APM PMQ  certification is usually taken by students having a few years’ experience of project management.

There is no prerequisite for this certification, so you do not need to hold the APM PFQ certificate already.

To gain your APM PMQ certificate, the typical learning path is APM PMQ training which takes 5 days, or 35 hours if studying online.

PRINCE2 Practitioner

A  PRINCE2 Practitioner  certification requires that you first hold the PRINCE2 Foundation certificate. The Practitioner certification tests you on your ability to apply PRINCE2 to life-like project scenarios. More particularly, it tests whether you can apply the PRINCE2 principles, practices, and processes to a fictional project scenario.

After PRINCE2 Foundation, the PRINCE2 Practitioner certification is probably the top project management certification in the UK.

To gain your PRINCE2 Practitioner certificate, the typical learning path is PRINCE2 Practitioner training which takes 2 days, or 15 hours if studying online. Training can also be combined with the Foundation certification. In this case, training takes 4 days, or 35 hours if studying online.

It should be noted that since the release of PRINCE2 7 ^th edition , the prerequisites for the Practitioner certification have changed. You must now hold one of the following certificates:

• PRINCE2 Foundation or PRINCE2 Practitioner (6 ^th edition)
• APM Project Management Qualification (PMQ)
• APM Project Professional Qualification (PPQ)
• PMI ^® Certified Associate in Project Management
• PMI ^® Project Management Professional (PMP) ^®
• IPMA ^® Levels A, B, C or D.

IPMA ^® is a registered trademark of IPMA in Switzerland and other countries.

PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner

PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner certification requires that you first hold either a PRINCE2 Foundation or PRINCE2 Agile Foundation certificate. It is only suitable if you work in an agile environment and want to apply the PRINCE2 framework. The exam tests you on your ability to apply PRINCE2 appropriately in an agile context.

To gain your PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner certification, the typical learning path is PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner training which takes 2 days, or 21 hours if studying online. Training can also be combined with the PRINCE2 Agile Foundation. In this case, training takes 4 days, or 33 hours if studying online.

AgilePM Practitioner

AgilePM Practitioner certification requires that you hold an AgilePM Foundation certificate. It is suitable if you want to apply the agile project framework on projects. AgilePM Practitioner is a popular choice for project managers working in an agile context.

To gain your AgilePM Practitioner certification, the typical learning path is AgilePM Practitioner training which takes 1 day, or 15 hours if studying online. Training can also be combined with the AgilePM Foundation in which case, it takes 4 days, or 35 hours if studying online.

CompTIA Project+

Expert project management certifications

There aren’t a lot of certifications more difficult than those already mentioned. If you want to work as a project manager or are already employed in a project manager, an intermediate certificate will be all you’ll ever need.

The following certification tests your in-depth knowledge of project management but is really only valuable if you are already an expert with many years’ experience.

APM ChPP

The APM’s own Project Management Chartered Standard (ChPP) examination similarly takes place over 3 days. In the first 2 days you’ll be given coaching by a ChPP professional and get your paperwork in order. On the final day, interviewed a board and will have to provide comprehensive documentation of your work over the past several years.

The board will be looking to see that you’ve not only encountered several setbacks in your project management career, but that you’ve also overcome these challenges with a little ingenuity and out-the-box thinking.

Conclusion

This list of the top project management certifications is by no means complete. There are other project management accreditations out there, these just happen to be the most widely recognized certifications in the UK and EU.

No matter how much experience you have, or what you’re looking for a project management certification, there’s likely a certificate out there.

If you you’d like to gain any of the certifications listed in this article, why not look at some of the project management certification courses offered by Knowledge Train.