Why do people fail the PMP Exam?

Why do people fail the PMP Exam? This is one of the most frequently asked questions by PMP aspirants. According to popular guesstimates, the failure rate on the PMP Exam is as high as 40%. If this figure is to be believed, what’s the reason behind such a high failure rate on this exam? I don’t have an answer, but I do have an opinion.

In my opinion, most people who fail the exam don’t have real Project Management experience. Either they lie on their application or they think what they do on their job is Project Management, when it actually isn’t. In my view, not having real Project Management experience is the no. 1 reason why people fail the exam.

What is your opinion? I’ve listed 10 distinct reasons why people fail the PMP exam. Scroll to the survey section at bottom of this page and answer the survey question. If you have other thoughts or opinion on this matter, feel free to share them.

Here’s the survey question and the response options:

What’s the no. 1 reason people fail the PMP Exam?

• They don't have real Project Management experience
• Their real-world Project Management is different from the PMI-way
• They don't get proper Project Management training
• They don't use the right study material
• They don't read the PMBOK Guide properly
• They don't attempt enough good quality sample exams
• They don't prepare well enough
• They are not smart enough
• The exam is too difficult
• Sheer bad luck on the exam
• Other reasons

The survey is now CLOSED. Please see the Top 5 reasons that people fail the PMP exam for the result.

Image credit: Flickr / legitphotography