Home › PMP › Free 42-hour PMP course

Free 42-hour PMP course with a certificate of completion

A complete, self-paced PMP exam preparation course in simple English: 114 units in 6 modules, about 42 hours of study, quizzes after every module, a 100-question final exam and a certificate of completion for 42 contact hours. It is free: create a PMCLEAR account and start.

✓ Covers the 35 contact hours of project management education you need to apply for the PMP exam. PMI accepts self-paced courses on the PMP application when the learning maps to the PMI Exam Content Outline, and every unit of this course lists the outline tasks it covers. Your certificate documents 42 hours. Keep your certificate in case your application is audited.

Start the free course → See the course outline

42 hoursstudy time, measured

114 units104 lessons, 4 workshops and case studies

5 quizzesone per module, pass mark 70%

Final exam100 questions, 120 minutes, pass mark 75%

Certificate42 contact hours, online verification

Freewith a PMCLEAR account

Who this course is for

Candidates preparing for the PMP® exam who need structured project management education and want to learn the way the exam thinks: predictive, agile and hybrid projects; people, process and business environment; and the decisions a project manager makes in exam scenarios. Every lesson has learning objectives, a real project story, explanations, pictures, a worked example, common traps, exam-style questions with a full decode, and a quick check.

How the course follows the exam outline

The course is organised around the three domains of the PMP Examination Content Outline: People, Process and Business Environment. Each lesson lists the outline tasks it covers. The final exam is weighted like the outline (about 33% People, 41% Process and 26% Business Environment) and mixes predictive, agile and hybrid situations.

Course outline

Module 1 Foundations · 11 units · about 3.4 h

Course introduction: the PMP exam outline and how to use this course (Lesson, 21 min)
The exam format and question types (Lesson, 20 min)
Strategy, portfolios, programs and operations (Lesson, 20 min)
Organisational structures and the PM's authority (Lesson, 19 min)
EEFs and OPAs: the environment and the organisation's assets (Lesson, 18 min)
The project charter: the official 'go' (Lesson, 19 min)
Choosing the delivery approach: predictive, agile or hybrid (Lesson, 17 min)
The predictive life cycle: phases and gates (Lesson, 17 min)
Hybrid delivery and tailoring (Lesson, 19 min)
Rolling wave planning and progressive elaboration (Lesson, 19 min)
Module 1 quiz: Foundations (Module quiz)

Module 2 People · 23 units · about 7.2 h

Identifying and analysing stakeholders (Lesson, 19 min)
Engaging stakeholders and handling resistance (Lesson, 19 min)
Planning communication: who, what, how and when (Lesson, 19 min)
The communication model, noise and channels (Lesson, 17 min)
Leadership styles and sources of power (Lesson, 17 min)
Motivation: what really drives people (Lesson, 18 min)
Conflict management: five techniques and when to use each (Lesson, 25 min)
Emotional intelligence: respond, don't react (Lesson, 18 min)
Negotiation: interests, BATNA and agreements that last (Lesson, 20 min)
Decision-making in teams: who decides and how (Lesson, 19 min)
Team development: the Tuckman stages (Lesson, 18 min)
Virtual and distributed teams (Lesson, 18 min)
Servant leadership (Lesson, 19 min)
Self-organising and cross-functional teams (Lesson, 20 min)
Team charter and working agreements (Lesson, 19 min)
Training, skills gaps and knowledge transfer (Lesson, 19 min)
Coaching and mentoring team members (Lesson, 18 min)
Team performance: feedback, recognition and underperformance (Lesson, 18 min)
Project roles and the RACI chart (Lesson, 19 min)
Lessons learned: capture, apply and share (Lesson, 16 min)
The four values: responsibility, respect, fairness, honesty (Lesson, 17 min)
Ethics in practice: gifts, conflicts of interest and reporting (Lesson, 18 min)
Module 2 quiz: People (Module quiz)

Module 3 Process – Predictive · 26 units · about 9.4 h

Business case and project selection: NPV, IRR, payback and benefit-cost ratio (Lesson, 30 min)
Assumptions, constraints and competing demands (Lesson, 18 min)
Kick-off, the project management plan and project documents (Lesson, 19 min)
Collecting requirements and the traceability matrix (Lesson, 18 min)
WBS and the scope baseline (Lesson, 16 min)
Validate scope vs control scope (and gold plating) (Lesson, 17 min)
Dependencies, leads and lags: the logic behind every schedule (Lesson, 28 min)
Critical path and float: forward pass, backward pass and what they mean (Lesson, 28 min)
Schedule compression: crashing, fast tracking and the time–cost trade-off (Lesson, 29 min)
Resource levelling vs resource smoothing (Lesson, 18 min)
Estimating techniques: analogous, parametric, three-point and bottom-up (Lesson, 27 min)
Cost baseline, budget and reserves (Lesson, 27 min)
Earned value basics: PV, EV, AC, variances and performance indexes (Lesson, 27 min)
Forecasting with earned value: EAC, ETC and VAC (Lesson, 27 min)
TCPI and reading performance reports (Lesson, 27 min)
Planning quality and the cost of quality (Lesson, 16 min)
Manage quality vs control quality (and control charts) (Lesson, 17 min)
The quality tools: which one, when? (Lesson, 17 min)
Contract types and who carries the risk (Lesson, 27 min)
Procurement: plan, conduct, control and claims (Lesson, 18 min)
Monitoring and controlling project work (Lesson, 19 min)
Closing a project or phase (including early termination) (Lesson, 17 min)
Transition to operations and benefits realisation (Lesson, 18 min)
Contract closure: settling claims and closing procurements (Lesson, 16 min)
Practice workshop: rescuing a predictive project (Workshop, 20 min)
Module 3 quiz: Process – Predictive (Module quiz)

Module 4 Process – Agile & Hybrid · 22 units · about 9.8 h

The agile mindset: values, principles and empiricism (Lesson, 27 min)
Agile roles: Product Owner, Scrum Master and Developers (Lesson, 28 min)
Iterations, increments and timeboxing (Lesson, 27 min)
Sprint planning: goal, capacity and commitment (Lesson, 26 min)
The Product Backlog and refinement (Lesson, 27 min)
User stories: INVEST, acceptance criteria and splitting (Lesson, 29 min)
Definition of Done and Definition of Ready (Lesson, 28 min)
Story points and relative estimation (Lesson, 27 min)
Velocity and capacity: measuring and forecasting team throughput (Lesson, 27 min)
Release planning: fixed date, variable scope (Lesson, 28 min)
Spikes and the risk-adjusted backlog (Lesson, 27 min)
MVP, increments and delivering value early (Lesson, 27 min)
Burndown and burn-up charts (Lesson, 27 min)
Kanban and WIP limits (Lesson, 27 min)
Flow metrics: lead time, cycle time, throughput and Little's Law (Lesson, 27 min)
The cumulative flow diagram: reading flow and spotting bottlenecks (Lesson, 27 min)
Information radiators and transparency (Lesson, 27 min)
The Daily Scrum (daily stand-up) (Lesson, 27 min)
The Sprint Review: inspecting the product with stakeholders (Lesson, 26 min)
The Sprint Retrospective: improving how the team works (Lesson, 26 min)
Integrating and reporting a hybrid project (Lesson, 28 min)
Module 4 quiz: Agile & Hybrid (Module quiz)

Module 5 Business Environment · 19 units · about 6.6 h

The PMO and project governance (Lesson, 18 min)
Governance frameworks: decision rights, phase gates and escalation paths (Lesson, 18 min)
Risk process and the risk register (Lesson, 20 min)
Risk analysis: probability, impact, EMV and decision trees (Lesson, 38 min)
Risk responses: threats, opportunities, escalation and contingency (Lesson, 28 min)
Integrated change control (Lesson, 20 min)
Configuration management: the right version everywhere (Lesson, 17 min)
Issues, impediments and when to escalate (Lesson, 18 min)
Compliance and safety: the non-negotiables (Lesson, 27 min)
Legal issues: IP, licences, confidentiality and data privacy (Lesson, 19 min)
The external environment: markets, economy, politics and weather (Lesson, 18 min)
Organisational change: helping people adopt what the project delivers (Lesson, 17 min)
Sustainability and social responsibility (Lesson, 16 min)
AI tools in projects: benefits, risks and governance (Lesson, 17 min)
Value delivery: outputs, outcomes and benefits (Lesson, 16 min)
Continuous improvement: PDCA, Kaizen and turning lessons into action (Lesson, 20 min)
Benefits management: the benefits register, KPIs, owners and tracking (Lesson, 18 min)
Practice workshop: governance, risk and change under pressure (Workshop, 26 min)
Module 5 quiz: Business Environment (Module quiz)

Module 6 Integration & exam strategy · 13 units · about 6.2 h

Integration: the project manager as integrator (Lesson, 20 min)
Case study 1: the robot cell project (predictive / hybrid) (Lesson, 24 min)
Case study 2: the MES software product (agile) (Lesson, 21 min)
Capstone case: a hybrid hospital project from start to close (Workshop, 26 min)
The PMI mindset, part 1: rules 1–4 (Lesson, 21 min)
The PMI mindset, part 2: rules 5–8 (Lesson, 21 min)
The PMI mindset, part 3: rules 9–12 and the full list (Lesson, 21 min)
Question words: FIRST, NEXT, BEST, EXCEPT and more (Lesson, 20 min)
Reading long scenario questions: decode before you answer (Lesson, 20 min)
Eliminating wrong answers: the 8 distractor types (Lesson, 19 min)
The final weeks and exam day (Lesson, 17 min)
Practice workshop: a full hybrid project, decision by decision (Workshop, 29 min)
Final exam: 40-hour PMP course (Final exam)

How you complete the course

Lessons and workshops: read every section (paragraphs turn green as you read them), mark each section as reviewed, answer the quick check, and study for at least 60% of the estimated time. The timer stops after 60 seconds without any mouse, keyboard, scroll or touch activity, so only real study time counts.
Module quizzes: score at least 70% in each of the 5 module quizzes. Retakes are allowed.
Final exam: opens when every other unit is complete. 100 questions, 120 minutes, pass mark 75%. Retakes are allowed.
Certificate: issued automatically when everything is complete. It shows your legal name, the course title, PMCLEAR as provider, the date of completion, 42 contact hours and a certificate ID that anyone can check on our verification page.

Questions

Is the course really free? Yes. You need a free PMCLEAR account so that your progress, quiz results and certificate are saved. The separate PMCLEAR PMP app with 2,000 practice questions has its own free trial and paid plans; you do not need it to complete the course.

Will PMI accept this course for my PMP application? PMI does not assess or approve outside exam prep courses (it only approves instructor-led training by its Authorized Training Partners). For self-paced courses, PMI currently has no restrictions on what is accepted on the PMP application, as long as the learning maps to the Exam Content Outline. Every unit of this course is mapped to the outline and the certificate documents 42 contact hours. PMCLEAR is independent and not a PMI Authorized Training Partner. Keep your certificate in case your application is selected for audit, and check PMI's handbook for the current rules.

Does the course guarantee that I pass the exam? No course can guarantee an exam result. The course gives you structured learning, practice and a realistic final exam to check your readiness.

How long do I have? The course is self-paced. Your progress is saved in your account and you can study on any device.

Start the free course → Verify a certificate

PMCLEAR is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by the Project Management Institute (PMI). PMP® and PMBOK® are registered marks of the Project Management Institute, Inc.