New pathway to Chartered Project Professional status on the horizon

A new pathway towards gaining Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) status is set to be introduced this September as Association for Project Management (APM), the only chartered membership organisation for the project profession in the world, continues to ensure the profession has a standard that is accessible and recognised globally as the required benchmark for project professionals to achieve.  

The new pathway will recognise validated professional practice built globally through qualifications and experiences in organisations across the profession, making chartered status accessible to more project practitioners. 

Outlining the benefits of the new pathway’s introduction, APM Chief Executive, Professor Adam Boddison OBE, said: “There are many organisations within the project profession, but we all represent one profession, so we should collaborate where it makes sense to do so. One way of doing this is through recognised assessment, as it allows for greater strategic alignment globally and across organisations. 

“Chartered status is widely sought after and valued. It is right that we provide organisations who share our aims to support the profession with the opportunity to make their qualifications a stepping stone towards becoming chartered for those who wish to achieve it. We’ve already heard that the Project Management Institute (PMI) intend to apply for this new pathway and no doubt others will follow.” 

In addition, APM will restructure the naming of its current routes for individuals to become a Chartered Project Professional through the introduction of clear pathways that accurately reflect the journey each applicant can take towards ChPP:   

• Experiential Pathway
  - No recognition of prior validated professional practice and assessed technical knowledge. 
  - (Previously Route 3) 
• Technical Knowledge and Professional Practice Pathway 
  - Recognition of prior validated professional practice and assessed technical knowledge. 
  - (Previously Route 2)
• Technical Knowledge Pathway 
  - Recognition of assessed technical knowledge. 
  - (Previously Route 1) 
• Professional Practice Pathway 
  - Recognition of prior validated professional practice. 
  - (New)  

The new pathway provides a greater diversity of starting points, reflecting the breadth and complexity of the profession. All qualifications that are eligible to be recognised on the new pathway will continue to be externally verified to maintain the rigour and requirements of the ChPP application process.  

This answers the demand from the profession and industry to see a more inclusive ChPP standard at an enhanced pace, to underpin the growing requirement for competent project professionals to deliver societal benefit and ever-more complex change across the world. This new pathway will support that by enabling more professionals to attain this highly regarded standard and will give APM itself the opportunity to apply for recognised assessment of its flagship qualification, the APM Project Management Qualification.  

Pierre Le Manh, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Project Management Institute, said: “As the demand for project professionals continues to increase, PMI remains committed to make it easy for our community to operate across the globe. Our partnership with APM on simplifying the pathway to the APM Chartered Project Professional status for all PMP credential holders further unifies the profession and allows both organisations to create greater impact around the world.”  

Details of the process and requirements for organisations wishing to apply for recognised assessment will be published shortly. 

Express your interest to be the first to know about when our new Professional Practice Pathway is open for applications later this year. 

Submit your expression of interest here.