What is the APM ChPP?

How to achieve APM Chartered status with 20/20

The Association for Project Management (APM) received its Royal Charter from Her Majesty the Queen in 2016 and transitioned to a full Chartered body in April 2017, marking a significant milestone in the development of the project management profession. The Charter provides recognition for the profession and opportunity for those who practice its disciplines.

The APM is the only chartered body for the project profession with over 30,000 individual members and over 500 Corporate Partners. Chartered status led to the development of a Chartered Project Professional Standard which is now the professional benchmark that demonstrates attainment of a defined level of technical knowledge, professional practice and ethical behaviour. It [PJ1] forms the basis of the assessment that applicants must pass to gain Chartered Project Professional (ChPP) status and inclusion on the Register of Chartered Professionals.

Broad Criteria

To apply for ChPP applicants need to meeting the following criteria:

Having a proven track record delivering projects, programmes, portfolios or a key control or enabling function and;
having up-to-date knowledge of current practices and methods and;
being actively involved in the project profession.

A significant element of these criteria is that it also applies to specialist roles. For example, Project Controls professionals and Project Management Office (PMO) roles are now included under the definition ‘key control or enabling function’.

Why is it an important recognition for individuals?

ChPP status allows individuals to gain personal and external recognition of a high standard that is common in many other professions and put project management, as their profession, on a par with other Charters Status occupations, from Chartered Engineers to Chartered Surveyors.

Chartered Status is therefore an important addition to the CV of any project professional. For the first time in the history of the profession, there is a clear benchmark that allows individuals to demonstrate a high level of knowledge and experience in their discipline. For those who have selected project management or project controls as a career path this has become an important way of validating them to current or future employers.

Significantly, the APM’s Salary and Market Trends Survey (2019) found that ChPPs typically earn 74% more than the average project management salary.

Why is it an important recognition for organisations?

The ChPP standard is key to developing an organisation’s project community to its full potential and the highest standards of professionalism , ethical conduct, knowledge and technical competence.

Having ChPPs gives a competitive edge and ensures that organisations can attract the best talent through demonstrating the highest stands of practice. ChPP also motivates any Project Management community by giving an accomplishment and accolade to aspire to. It is the benchmark that all organisations should be seeking to achieve to demonstrate their professional capability.

The 3 Routes to Chartered Status

The ChPP status is also inclusive of other professional standards or individual experience, offering 3 potential ‘routes’ to follow to become a ChPP.

Route 1 is for those who have a recognised assessment for technical knowledge which now includes:

APM Project Professional Qualification (PPQ) (1st or 2nd edition)
APM Practitioner Qualification (PQ) (now effectively replaced by the PPQ)
Certain MSc programmes from UK Universities

Route 2 is for those who have a recognised assessment for technical knowledge and professional practice. These include:

APM Registered Project Professional (RPP) (now effectively replaced with the ChPP)
Australian Institute of Project Management - RegPM Certified Practising Project Director (CPPD) or RegPM Certified Practising Portfolio Executive (CPPE)
Siemens - Senior Project Management Certification
Royal Dutch Shell Level 2 and 3 project professional roles via the Shell Project Academy's Assessment and Accreditation Process.
Cobham - Cobham Senior P3M Certification Academy
PM Group – Praxis Framework Professional

Route 3 is an experiential route for those who do not have a recognised assessment but do meet the eligibility criteria described earlier.

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