MSP® 4th Edition Practitioner Certification

The purpose of the MSP^® Practitioner certification is to confirm whether you understand the MSP guidance well enough to apply it to your own work and are able to act as an informed member of a programme management team. That is, someone who is responsible for managing, leading, supporting or advising on work within an MSP environment. You should also be capable of applying the MSP guidance in a relatively uncomplicated programme within an environment that uses MSP.

This level is also a pre-requisite for the MSP Advanced Practitioner certification.

To find out more about the current version of this certification, see our MSP 5th Edition Practitioner page.

Project managers, business change managers (BCMs), experts and advisers working within a programme office as well as other specialist/governance roles involved in supporting programmes following the MSP guidance. This level is also suitable for senior responsible owners (SROs) and those wishing to pursue higher level certifications (e.g. programme managers) and those aspiring to become programme management professionals in the future.

To take the MSP Practitioner examination, individuals must hold a current MSP Foundation certificate.

Please ensure that before you book an exam where a prerequisite is required, that you hold verified proof of completion of that prerequisite (i.e. certificate, or letter from AXELOS or former Examination Institute confirming you hold a current certification). Your examination results will be withheld until the correct prerequisite is provided to PeopleCert. If you are unable to provide the required prerequisite, then you will need to successfully complete the prerequisite before the higher-level exam result is released.

• Objective testing
• Eight questions per paper, 80 marks available in total
• 40 marks required to pass - 50%
• Two-and-a-half hours’ duration
• Open book exam. Candidates may use the official printed hard copy of the Managing Successful Programmes Guide. The manual may be annotated and tabulated but no sticky notes and loose leaf papers containing additional notes will be allowed.

Due to the impact of the coronavirus, from 13 April 2020 to 31 December 2021 individuals are now permitted to print PDFs for exams and use PDFs or official e-books on a second e-device (portable digital devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops) during open book exams.

The MSP Practitioner certification will expire after 5 years. In order to maintain your qualification and ensure there are no gaps in your Practitioner status, you can either retake the MSP Practitioner Exam before the expiry date or maintain your certification through CPD points and a digital badge. If you choose to follow the CPD route you will need to purchase a subscription to My MSP which costs £50 + VAT per year.