· Harwinder Singh · PMI-ACP · 5 min read
PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) Exam Study Material [Updated]
List of study material I used to prepare for and pass PMI-ACP certification, including 21 contact hours training, study guides, PMI-ACP exam questions.

Updated for PMI-ACP Exam in 2017: I wrote this blog post in Oct 2013 when I was preparing for the PMI-ACP exam. As I was going through process, I was collecting and documenting the list of study resources that I was using or came across during the course of my preparation. I passed PMI-ACP exam on Oct 28, 2013, about 2 weeks ahead of schedule. I shared my PMI-ACP lessons learned after the exam. The PMI-ACP exam changed in 2015. I have updated this page to reflect the changes and updated all the links. Hope you find this page useful.
Here are study resources that I used for my PMI-ACP and found useful.
Training Courses to earn Educational Credits (PDUs)
- The Agile Prepcast (37 PDUs) - Cornelius Fichtner ($199): I posted a comprehensive review of the Agile Prepcast after completing the course.
Study Guides
- PMI-ACP Exam Prep - by RMC Project (about $90)
This book is written by Mike Griffiths, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner and original member of the PMI-ACP Steering Committee. The book contains about 125 sample questions. You can read Book Review - PMI-ACP Exam Prep by Mike Griffiths for my full review of the book. - The PMI-ACP Exam: How To Pass On Your First Try - by Andy Crowe (about $60)
Free Study Guides
Useful Resources
Reference Material (12 core books) - v2 (UPDATED)
Direct link to the full list: 12 core PMI-ACP books
- Agile Estimating and Planning
Mike Cohn
- Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products – 2nd Ed
Jim Highsmith
- Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great
Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, Ken Schwaber
- Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game – 2nd Ed
Alistair Cockburn
- Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition
Lyssa Adkins
- Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme
Robert K. Wysocki
- Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals
Dan Rawsthorne with Doug Shimp
- Kanban In Action
Marcus Hammarberg, Joakim Sunden
- Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for your Technology Business
David J. Anderson
- Lean-Agile Software Development: Achieving Enterprise Agility
Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, James R. Trott
- The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility
Michele Sliger, Stacia Broderick
- User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development
Mike Cohn
Sample Questions and Exams (Paid)
- 1000+ PMI-ACP Practice Questions with Detailed Solutions
You can read my full review of this book. - Velociteach
- Agile Exams
Sample Questions and Exams (Free)
- 20 Questions - Leading Answers
- 92 Questions - iZenBridge
- 100 Questions - Pro Profs
The format of the questions doesn't match that of the real exam. Some questions have multiple answers and some have 5 answer choices. - 360 PMO (list of more sources of sample exams)
- List of more free sample questions
Official PMI Documents
Useful Blogs
Useful Forums
- PMI Agile Certified Practitioner PMI-ACP Exam Prep Study Group (LinkedIn)
- PMI-ACP Support Group (LinkedIn)
PMI-ACP Exam Lessons Learned Posts
- My PMI-ACP Exam lessons learned
- Lessons learned by Deniz Iren
- Lesson learned by Sridhar Peddisetty
- Lesson learned by Israel Sanchez Ramos
Other Resources
If you are aware of other good study resources, or have any tips to share, please post them as comments below.
Image credit: Flickr / vfsdigitaldesign
20 Comments
Moderated — submissions appear after approval.
- Saket Bansal imported
at http://www.iZenBridge.com you can get 60 Questions for free not 25 :-) and you may also checkout our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/izenbridge
- Harwinder Singh imported
Hello Saket, Thanks for pointing that out. I've made the correction. Sorry for the oversight. Best regards.
- Ramesh imported
excellent work Harwinder. It would be great if you post the price along with training in the topic itself. Thanks Ramesh
- Harwinder Singh imported
Thanks for the suggestion, Ramesh. I have put the prices for Agile Prepcast and the main prep guides. Generally, the book prices on Amazon vary a lot, and it's better to refer to the current prices on Amazon.
- Ramesh imported
Thanks Harwinder
- ScrumDan imported
Hi Harwinder: Thank you for mentioning my study guide above, but it is password protected. To get the password they can register on my site at: http://bit.ly/1dxYaAs
- Harwinder Singh imported
Hello ScrumDan, Thank you for your comments and for your wonderful study guide for PMI-ACP. I'm posting a hyperlink to your site so that people can easily click through: http://bit.ly/1dxYaAs Best regards.
- ScrumDan imported
HI Harwinder: I have updated the study guide to reflect PMI's recent content changes. More information can be found on my LinkedIn blog https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/did-you-know-pmi-acp-exam-changing-july-15-2015-dan
- Rajesh imported
Hi Harwinder, I see that the Reference Materials (Core Books) has changed now as mentioned in the PMI website ( https://www.deepfriedbrainproject.com/pmi-acp-books ) Here is the list of revised reference materials (Core Books): 1) Agile Estimating and Planning Author: Mike Cohn Publisher: Pearson Education/Addison Wesley 2) Professional Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products Author: Jim Highsmith Publisher: Pearson Education/Addison Wesley 3) Professional Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great Author: Esther Derby, Diana Larsen, Ken Schwaber Publisher: Pragmatic Bookshelf 4) Agile Software Development: The Cooperative Game Author: Alistair Cockburn Publisher: Pearson Education 5) Coaching Agile Teams: A Companion for ScrumMasters, Agile Coaches, and Project Managers in Transition Author: Lyssa Adkins Publisher: Pearson Education/Addison Wesley 6) Effective Project Management: Traditional, Agile, Extreme Author: Robert K. Wysocki Publisher: Wiley 7) Exploring Scrum: The Fundamentals Author: Dan Rawsthorne with Doug Shimp Publisher: CreateSpace Publishing 8) Kanban In Action Author: Marcus Hammarberg, Joakim Sunden Publisher: Manning Publications 9) Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for your Technology Business Author: David J. Anderson Publisher: Blue Hole Press 10) Lean-Agile Software Development Author: Alan Shalloway, Guy Beaver, James R. Trott Publisher: Pearson Education 11) The Software Project Manager's Bridge to Agility Author: Michele Sliger, Stacia Broderick Publisher: Pearson Education 12) User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development Author: Mike Cohn Publisher: Pearson Education Kindly update the same in this blog. Regards, Rajesh
- Harwinder Singh imported
Thanks, Rajesh. I'll update the post soon.
- Harwinder Singh imported
It took a long time coming, but I've finally updated this page thoroughly for PMI-ACP Exam 2015. The PMI's official reference list now contains 12 core books. All have been updated. My apologies for the delay.
- Rajesh imported
Thanks Harwinder. No issues for the delay and Yes this page has been very helpful for me. Keep up the good work that you have been doing since last 7 years or so :) Regards, Rajesh
- Joaquim Filipe Soares imported
Hello_ I want to make the PMI-ACP exam this year. are all there courseware, still valid to that exam?
- Harwinder Singh imported
Hi Joaquim, Yes, as I mentioned in the previous comment on Feb 14, 2016, this page is 100% updated for the current PMI-ACP exam. If you find any issue or if you come across other useful information during the course of your preparation, do let me know so that I can keep the information updated and relevant. Good luck!
- Sankaran S imported
Hi are there any digital copies of Mike Griffith or any cowe available???
- Harwinder Singh imported
Hi Sankaran, I'm not aware of it but if you do find a soft copy, make sure you acquire them legally i.e. purchase your own copy.
- Chandrasekhar Yechuri
I am reading through so many comments on your blog that I feel like its nice to have like button. Moderate Facebook addict here :-)
- Harwinder Singh
Hello Chandra, I used to have all those gadgets before the last refresh (July 2017). But then I purposely went for a minimalistic look and optimized the site for page loading speed. Anything that hampered the loading speed was taken off. I'll keep your comment in mind and reconsider the decisions made. Thanks for bringing this up.
- Nischita
Hi Harwinder, Thanks a ton for your valuable insight into the PMI-ACP. I'm looking to do that and heard of PMTraining offering 21h of course material online to complete the eligibility criteria to qualify for the certification. Do you have any info on PMTraining and it's course offered for PMI-ACP preparation? I'm deciding between that and AgilePrepCast. Also is Mike Griffith's book a must after all those hours of video trainings? Any help would be deeply appreciated! .
- Harwinder Singh
Hello Nischita, I'm not familiar with that training. No matter what training you take, I think Mike Griffith's book is a must have since he helped develop the real PMI-ACP program and was also the chair of the team that developed the Agile Practice Guide. Good luck!



