Practice questions · Project Management
CAPM (PMI): Practice Questions
Around 80 original concept-check questions on core CAPM ideas across the four exam domains: project management fundamentals, predictive plan-based methodologies, agile frameworks, and business analysis. Choose an answer to reveal the explanation, including why the other options are wrong. These are concept checks, not real exam questions.
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CAPM eligibility requires:
Correct answer: D. CAPM has no work-experience requirement - only 23 hours of project management education, which PMI's free course provides. -
A project is best defined as:
Correct answer: C. Projects are temporary (defined start and end) and create something unique, unlike ongoing operations. -
A predictive (waterfall) approach is most suitable when:
Correct answer: C. Predictive approaches plan scope, schedule and cost up front and suit stable, well-understood requirements. -
A Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) is:
Correct answer: C. The WBS breaks the total scope into progressively smaller, manageable deliverables and work packages. -
A milestone in a project schedule is:
Correct answer: B. A milestone marks a significant point or event (such as a phase completion) and has no duration itself. -
Agile approaches deliver value by:
Correct answer: C. Agile delivers incrementally in short iterations, inspecting and adapting based on feedback. -
A stakeholder is:
Correct answer: D. Stakeholders include anyone affected by or able to influence the project, not just sponsors or the team. -
A project baseline is:
Correct answer: B. A baseline is the approved version of a plan used as the reference point to measure and control performance. -
The difference between iterative and incremental delivery is that incremental delivery:
Correct answer: B. Incremental delivery ships working pieces of the product over time; iterative delivery repeats cycles to refine it. Agile often combines both. -
Tailoring a project approach means:
Correct answer: B. Tailoring adapts the method and processes to fit the specific project rather than applying everything by default. -
A program (programme) is best defined as:
Correct answer: A. Programs coordinate related projects for shared benefits. A task, budget line or risk is not a program. -
The classic 'triple constraint' balances:
Correct answer: C. The triangle is scope, time and cost (with quality affected). The other groupings are not the triple constraint. -
A project charter primarily:
Correct answer: A. The charter authorises the project and empowers the PM. It is not a task list, final report or salary document. -
A stakeholder register records:
Correct answer: A. It documents stakeholders and their attributes. Budget, schedule and risks are tracked in other artifacts. -
Lessons learned should be captured:
Correct answer: A. Capturing lessons continuously lets the team improve during delivery, not just in hindsight. -
A project is considered closed when:
Correct answer: C. Closure requires accepted deliverables and formal administrative completion, not just starting events. -
The critical path of a schedule is:
Correct answer: A. The critical path is the longest dependent sequence and determines the shortest possible duration. The other descriptions are wrong. -
A Gantt chart is used to:
Correct answer: C. A Gantt chart is a bar chart of activities over time. Risks, costs and scope are managed with other tools. -
The 'float' (slack) of an activity is:
Correct answer: A. Float is permissible delay without affecting the end date. Cost, risk and quality are separate attributes. -
Scope creep refers to:
Correct answer: D. Scope creep is uncontrolled additions or changes to project scope. A planned reduction in scope is the opposite (and is controlled), while a type of contract or a scheduling tool is unrelated to scope growth. -
Quality assurance differs from quality control in that assurance focuses on:
Correct answer: C. Quality assurance focuses on the processes that prevent defects, while quality control inspects the deliverables. 'Only inspecting finished products' actually describes quality control, and 'the budget' or 'firing staff' describe neither QA nor QC. -
A change control board (CCB) is responsible for:
Correct answer: C. The CCB decides on change requests. Coding, hiring and marketing are not its role. -
A project assumption is:
Correct answer: D. Assumptions are accepted-as-true planning factors; constraints limit options. They are not guaranteed facts, occurred risks or deliverables. -
In Scrum, a sprint is:
Correct answer: D. A sprint is a time-box delivering an increment. It is not a meeting, document or role. -
The product backlog is:
Correct answer: B. The backlog is the ordered list of product work. It is not a report, risk log or budget. -
A burndown chart shows:
Correct answer: C. A burndown chart shows remaining work over time. Cost over time, risk severity and the stakeholder list are tracked with other tools such as cost reports, risk registers and the stakeholder register. -
A user story is:
Correct answer: C. User stories express needs from the user's viewpoint. They are not bug reports, contracts or test scripts. -
A sprint retrospective is held to:
Correct answer: B. The retrospective improves the team's process. Demos happen in the review; budgeting and hiring are separate. -
Requirements elicitation means:
Correct answer: A. Elicitation collects stakeholder needs. Coding, testing and budget approval are different activities. -
An iterative-and-incremental approach is most useful when:
Correct answer: B. Iterative/incremental suits evolving requirements and feedback. Fully fixed requirements favour predictive delivery. -
Operations differ from projects in that operations are:
Correct answer: A. Operations are ongoing and repetitive work that keeps the business running, with no defined end. A defined, temporary end describes a project, not operations; cost and planning vary and are not what distinguishes the two. -
A portfolio is best described as:
Correct answer: C. A portfolio groups projects, programs and operations so they can be managed together to meet strategic objectives. A single project or a task list is far narrower, and a contract is a procurement document, not a portfolio. -
Progressive elaboration means that:
Correct answer: B. Progressive elaboration develops plans in increasing detail as more becomes known. It is the opposite of a fixed plan, is done by the team rather than the sponsor alone, and does not mean scope is reduced. -
Which document formally authorizes the existence of a project and gives the project manager authority?
Correct answer: D. The project charter formally authorizes the project and gives the project manager authority to apply resources. The risk register, lessons-learned report and Gantt chart are produced later and do not authorize the project. -
In a functional organization, the project manager typically has:
Correct answer: A. In a functional structure, functional managers control resources, so the project manager has little formal authority. Full budget and team authority is closer to a projectized structure; the other options misstate the project manager's role. -
The primary purpose of a kickoff meeting is to:
Correct answer: C. A kickoff meeting aligns the team and stakeholders on goals, roles and how the project will run. It happens near the start, so it neither closes the project nor approves the final deliverable, and it is not about salaries. -
Which is an example of an organizational process asset?
Correct answer: B. Organizational process assets are the organization's own plans, processes, templates and knowledge bases, such as a lessons-learned database. A government regulation and the stock market are enterprise environmental factors, and the weather is an external condition, not an internal asset. -
Enterprise environmental factors include:
Correct answer: D. Enterprise environmental factors are conditions, internal or external, such as culture, laws and market conditions, that influence the project. The schedule, budget and charter are project documents the team creates, not environmental factors. -
The main role of a project sponsor is to:
Correct answer: A. The sponsor provides resources, support and high-level championing, and removes organizational obstacles. Writing code, running standups and testing are execution tasks done by the team, not the sponsor. -
A deliverable is best defined as:
Correct answer: C. A deliverable is a unique and verifiable product, result or capability that must be produced to complete the work. A meeting, an occurred risk and an opinion are not verifiable outputs of the project. -
Configuration management is mainly concerned with:
Correct answer: B. Configuration management controls and tracks the characteristics and versions of products and deliverables so changes are recorded. Budget control, hiring and marketing are separate concerns. -
The phrase 'cost of quality' refers to:
Correct answer: D. Cost of quality is the total of conformance costs (prevention and appraisal) and non-conformance costs (failures). It is not just the product price, one person's salary, or the cost of a single document. -
A responsibility assignment matrix such as a RACI chart is used to:
Correct answer: A. A RACI chart clarifies who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each activity. Cost estimating, risk tracking and critical-path scheduling are handled by other tools. -
The project management plan is best described as:
Correct answer: C. The project management plan integrates the subsidiary plans and baselines describing how the project will be executed, monitored, controlled and closed. A bar chart, a contract and a stakeholder list are each only one element or a separate document. -
Which best illustrates the difference between an output and an outcome?
Correct answer: B. An output is the tangible deliverable the project produces, while an outcome is the resulting benefit or change it enables for stakeholders. They are not identical, are not defined by being financial or technical, and the output comes before the outcome. -
In a predictive life cycle, the project scope, time and cost are generally:
Correct answer: D. Predictive life cycles define scope, time and cost early and change them only through formal change control. Leaving them undefined or deciding them iteratively each week describes adaptive approaches, not predictive ones. -
A work package in a WBS is:
Correct answer: A. A work package is the lowest-level WBS component, small enough that cost and duration can be estimated and the work managed. It is not the whole project, a risk or a stakeholder group. -
A finish-to-start (FS) dependency means that:
Correct answer: C. Finish-to-start means the successor cannot start until the predecessor finishes, which is the most common dependency. Finishing together is finish-to-finish, any order means no dependency, and the last option reverses the logic. -
Which estimating technique uses values from a similar past project to estimate the current one?
Correct answer: B. Analogous estimating uses data from a similar past project, so it is fast but less accurate. Bottom-up sums detailed estimates, Monte Carlo models uncertainty, and the critical path method schedules activities rather than estimating from history. -
A management reserve in a budget is intended for:
Correct answer: D. A management reserve covers unforeseen, unknown-unknown work and is controlled by management, not the project manager directly. Known risks are covered by contingency reserve, and it is not meant for routine expenses or faster supplier payment. -
Fast-tracking a schedule means:
Correct answer: A. Fast-tracking overlaps activities normally done in sequence to shorten the schedule, which adds risk. Adding resources is crashing, removing scope is descoping, and extending the deadline is the opposite of compressing the schedule. -
A risk register is used to:
Correct answer: C. The risk register records identified risks along with their analysis, owners and planned responses. Deliverables, the timeline and salaries are tracked in other documents. -
The scope baseline consists of the:
Correct answer: B. The scope baseline is the approved scope statement, WBS and WBS dictionary, used to control scope. The schedule and budget are separate baselines, and the risk register, stakeholder register and charter are different documents. -
Decomposition, as used in scope planning, is the technique of:
Correct answer: D. Decomposition breaks deliverables and work into smaller, more manageable components, such as building a WBS. It is not combining tasks, deleting work, or ranking risks. -
Which schedule compression technique typically increases cost without adding schedule risk?
Correct answer: A. Crashing adds resources to critical activities to shorten the schedule, raising cost but not adding the rework risk that overlapping does. Fast-tracking shortens the schedule but adds risk, descoping changes scope, and doing nothing does not compress the schedule. -
When validating scope, the project obtains:
Correct answer: C. Validate Scope formalizes acceptance of completed deliverables by the customer or sponsor. A risk register, charter and vendor contract are inputs or other documents, not the output of validating scope. -
The Agile Manifesto values 'working software over':
Correct answer: B. The Manifesto values working software over comprehensive documentation. Customer collaboration, responding to change, and individuals and interactions are the left-hand (valued more) sides of the other three statements, not what is valued less here. -
In Scrum, who is accountable for managing the product backlog?
Correct answer: D. The Product Owner is accountable for managing and ordering the product backlog to maximize value. The Scrum Master serves the process, the Developers build the increment, and the sponsor sits outside the Scrum team. -
A timebox in agile is:
Correct answer: A. A timebox is a fixed maximum duration set for an activity or event, such as a sprint or a standup. It is not a risk, a budget category, or a literal container. -
Story points estimate a backlog item's:
Correct answer: C. Story points express the relative size or effort of an item compared with others, not absolute time. They are deliberately not exact hours, a dollar cost, or a calendar deadline. -
A Kanban board primarily helps a team to:
Correct answer: B. A Kanban board visualizes the flow of work across stages and supports limiting work in progress. It is not for setting salaries, writing the business case, or replacing team communication. -
The product owner accepts a backlog item as complete by checking it against the:
Correct answer: D. An item is accepted when it meets the Definition of Done and its acceptance criteria. The charter, a contract and a calendar are unrelated to whether a backlog item is functionally complete. -
Backlog refinement (grooming) is the ongoing activity of:
Correct answer: A. Backlog refinement adds detail, estimates and order to items so they are ready for future sprints. It does not delete the backlog, assign blame, or close the project. -
An information radiator (such as a task board on a wall) is used to:
Correct answer: C. An information radiator makes key information, such as progress or impediments, highly visible to anyone passing by. It is the opposite of hiding progress, is not a heating device, and does not replace the backlog. -
In agile, a 'spike' is:
Correct answer: B. A spike is a time-boxed investigation or prototype used to gain knowledge and reduce uncertainty before committing. It is not a cost increase, a production defect, or a contract. -
Pair programming, an XP practice, involves:
Correct answer: D. Pair programming has two developers working together at one workstation, giving continuous review and shared knowledge. It is not two competing teams, a contract-signing pair, or a way to avoid review. -
The main reason agile teams deliver in small increments is to:
Correct answer: A. Small, frequent increments let the team get feedback early and reduce the risk of building the wrong thing. They are not meant to avoid finishing, increase documentation, or remove the customer. -
Business analysis on a project is primarily concerned with:
Correct answer: B. Business analysis focuses on eliciting, defining and managing requirements so the solution delivers value. Scheduling, hiring and salary negotiation belong to other disciplines. -
A functional requirement describes:
Correct answer: D. A functional requirement states what the system must do, such as a specific behavior or function. How well it performs is a non-functional requirement, and budget and working hours are not requirements of the solution's behavior. -
A non-functional requirement typically specifies:
Correct answer: A. Non-functional requirements specify quality attributes such as performance, security and usability, the 'how well' of the solution. A specific clickable feature is functional, and a stakeholder list or address is not a requirement. -
Requirements traceability is the practice of:
Correct answer: B. Traceability links each requirement back to its source and forward to the design, deliverables and tests that satisfy it. It is not deleting requirements, estimating costs, or scheduling holidays. -
A use case is best described as:
Correct answer: D. A use case describes how an actor (a user or system) interacts with the system to achieve a goal. It is not a budget summary, a contract, or a risk list. -
The purpose of a stakeholder analysis in business analysis is to:
Correct answer: B. Stakeholder analysis identifies stakeholders and clarifies their interests, influence and needs so their requirements can be addressed. Writing code, setting the critical path and approving the budget are different activities. -
Acceptance criteria for a requirement define:
Correct answer: D. Acceptance criteria state the conditions that must be met for a requirement or item to be accepted as done. They do not address who pays, the critical-path order, or seating arrangements. -
Which elicitation technique gathers requirements by watching users perform their actual work?
Correct answer: A. Observation, or job shadowing, elicits requirements by watching users do their real work, revealing needs they may not articulate. A contract, a burndown chart and a Gantt chart are not elicitation techniques. -
Prototyping is useful in requirements work because it:
Correct answer: B. A prototype gives stakeholders something concrete to react to, surfacing and clarifying requirements early. It does not remove stakeholders, set the budget, or finalize a contract. -
A requirement is considered well written when it is, among other things:
Correct answer: D. Good requirements are clear, testable and unambiguous so they can be verified. Being vague, known to only one person, or written after delivery all undermine a requirement's usefulness. -
Prioritizing requirements (for example with MoSCoW) helps the team to:
Correct answer: A. Prioritization, such as MoSCoW (Must, Should, Could, Won't), decides which requirements to deliver first based on importance. It is the opposite of treating all as equal, and it neither avoids stakeholders nor removes testing. -
The main goal of validating requirements with stakeholders is to:
Correct answer: D. Validating requirements confirms they reflect the real stakeholder need before the team builds, avoiding costly rework. It is not about inflating the requirement count, skipping design, or reducing stakeholder involvement. -
A business requirements document (BRD) primarily captures:
Correct answer: D. A BRD captures the high-level business needs and objectives the solution must meet. Passwords, standup notes and lunch orders are not business requirements.
Practice questions FAQ
- Are these real CAPM exam questions?
- No. These are original study questions written to test understanding. They are not real exam questions, exam dumps, or copied from any provider.
- How should I use these practice questions?
- Answer each one, read the explanation (including why the wrong options are wrong), and use the per-domain score below to focus your revision on weak areas. Revisit before exam day.
- How many questions should I do before the exam?
- Enough to score consistently across every domain, alongside full-length practice from official or reputable providers. Understanding why each answer is right matters more than raw volume.
- What score means I am ready?
- A good signal is consistently scoring around 80% or higher across all domains on questions you have not seen before, and being able to explain why the wrong options are wrong.
- Should I use exam dumps?
- No. Dumps (real or leaked questions) breach provider policy, can void your certification, and do not build the understanding the exam actually tests.