How long is the PMP exam, and how many questions?
The PMP exam gives you 240 minutes (4 hours) for 180 questions. Only 170 are scored; the other 10 are unscored pretest questions that look like the rest. You get two 10-minute breaks: one after the case-study section and one about halfway through the remaining questions. This format came with the new PMP exam in July 2026, which replaced the 230-minute version.
PMI's July 2026 exam content outline splits the content into three domains: People 33%, Process 41% and Business Environment 26%. Business Environment grew the most, from 8% in the previous outline. About 40% of the questions use predictive project management, and the other 60% are split between agile and hybrid approaches.
Two question types are new. Case or scenario questions give you a detailed situation to work through, and graphic-based questions ask you to read a chart, graph, diagram or image. The rest are multiple choice with one or more answers, drag-and-drop and hands-on items with tools and data. Once you review your answers and start a break, you cannot go back to the earlier section.
That leaves about 80 seconds per question. The optional tutorial and survey do not count toward the 240 minutes, and neither do the breaks, so plan for well over four hours at the test center.
| Detail | New exam (July 2026) | Previous exam (2021 outline) |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 180 (170 scored, 10 pretest) | 180 |
| Time | 240 minutes | 230 minutes |
| Breaks | 2 x 10 min: after the case study and midway through the rest | 2 x 10 min: after questions 60 and 120 |
| People | 33% | 42% |
| Process | 41% | 50% |
| Business Environment | 26% | 8% |
| New question types | Case or scenario, graphic-based | - |
- 1Download the July 2026 exam content outline from pmi.org and use study materials written for the new exam.
- 2Split your study time by domain: about a third on People, two fifths on Process and a quarter on Business Environment.
- 3Practice reading charts, dashboards and diagrams, because graphic-based questions are new.
- 4Take full timed practice exams of 180 questions in 240 minutes, with breaks at the same points as the real exam.
- 5Review every miss and note whether the scenario was predictive, agile or hybrid.