You have decided to earn the Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI)®, and now you are facing the new PMP exam application, an online form with five steps. Older guides describe a different form, so it is hard to know what to enter where. This guide walks through each section of the new PMP exam application using real screenshots, with the candidate’s personal details hidden.

What are the sections in the new PMP application?

The application has 5 sections, shown as numbered steps in a panel on the left of the screen.

The panel also has a “Check Eligibility Requirements” link below the steps, which is useful if you want to confirm the rules before you type anything. Your PMI ID and the date you opened the application sit at the top. The table below shows what each section asks for.

What goes in the Academic Education section?

You enter your highest level of education, the country where you studied, your start and end years and the name of the institution.

This section matters because your education level decides how many months of experience you need. PMI lists 5 years with a high school diploma or equivalent, 4 years with an associate degree, 3 years with a bachelor’s degree or higher and 2 years with a bachelor’s or post-graduate degree from a PMI Global Accreditation Center program. You can see the full rules on the PMI Project Management Professional page and in our guide to PMP certification eligibility requirements.

How do you fill in the Project Management Experience section?

You add each project you led as a separate entry until the progress bar shows all the required months, for example 36/36 with a bachelor’s degree.

Every field on the form is required. The page gives two warnings you should read before you start.

• All experience must be leading projects, not just participating in them.
• Each experience must be non-overlapping and completed within the past 10 years.

PMI’s own example is that leading two projects from January to March 2020 counts as 3 months, not 6. The form takes dates as month and year, such as 01/2020, and a “Currently in this project” checkbox covers work that is still running.

How do you write the project summary?

The summary box asks you to describe your role, the project objective, your contributions and the outcomes, in at least 100 words. The word counter shows a limit of 500 words. Write in the first person about what you led, name the deliverables and finish with a result you can prove, because PMI can ask for evidence if it audits your application. Our PMP project description example and format shows the wording, and what projects count as PMP experience helps you choose which projects to list.

What goes in the Project Professional Training section?

You list the project management training you have already completed, and the total must reach at least 35 hours.

Each entry shows the course name, the training provider and the number of hours. The 35 hours can come from an online on-demand course or from a live instructor-led class. From 1 December 2026, PMI states that live classes count only when a PMI Authorized Training Partner, a China Registered Education Provider or an eligible accredited academic program delivers them, and training completed before that date still counts. Read the PMI page on the new PMP exam for the exact wording.

Keep your course completion certificate, since you may need it if PMI audits your application. Our guide to the PMP exam application audit explains what to keep.

What is on the Application Review page?

The Application Review page shows every section you completed so you can check it and use the Edit button to fix anything before you submit.

The page says that providing accurate and complete information helps avoid delays in processing your certification. Treat it as your last proofreading pass: compare each date against your records, check that no project months overlap and confirm that the training hours match your certificate. The review page in the screenshot earlier in this guide is where you will see the Academic Education card with its Edit button, followed by the other sections below it. For the steps around the form, see our PMP application process guide.

What are the Certification Profile Details?

This is the last section, where you confirm where you will take the exam, your citizenship and your identification details exactly as they appear on your government-issued ID.

You make two separate selections: the country or region where you will take the exam, and your country of citizenship. They can differ. The identification section asks for your last name, first name, an optional middle name, your date of birth and your address. PMI states that this information is verified during the exam, so it must match your ID, and it must use English characters only because non-English characters are not currently supported by PMI exam delivery providers. If you need to update anything later, the page says PMI Customer Care can help.

Which mistakes should you avoid?

• Entering a name or address that differs from your government-issued ID.
• Claiming overlapping months across projects.
• Listing experience older than the 10-year window.
• Writing a project summary under 100 words.
• Entering training hours you have not finished yet.

Frequently asked questions

Where 3FOLD fits

3FOLD Training is licensed by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) in Dubai and is a PMI Authorized Training Partner. Our PMP certification training is delivered as Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) with 35 contact hours, one-year Learning Management System (LMS) access, HD recordings, full-length mock exams and exam application support, plus one year of free retraining on the same exam version. We prepare you; PMI reviews your application, sets the exam and awards the certification. Have a question about your application? Send it through the course inquiry form, or check the upcoming batches on the course page.