The AACE Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP) certification exam assesses an individual’s knowledge and skills in project planning and scheduling. The exam is structured around three main domains:

1. Basic Planning & Scheduling Knowledge (approximately 56 questions): This domain covers fundamental concepts and principles essential for effective planning and scheduling. Topics include:

• Understanding the importance of planning and scheduling.
• Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and its application.
• Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling basics.
• Different types of schedule activities and their relationships.
• Identifying project stakeholders involved in planning and scheduling.
• Forward and backward pass calculations.
• Types of schedule logic and constraints.
• Distinction between Activity-on-Node (AON) and Activity-on-Arrow (AOA) diagrams (also known as Precedence Diagramming Method (PDM) and Arrow Diagramming Method (ADM)).
• Schedule levels and their purposes.
• Factors contributing to successful plans and schedules.
• Reasons for plan and schedule failures.
• Basic steps in CPM schedule development.
• The value of modeling resource utilization.
• Defining and utilizing schedule calendars.
• Processes for updating schedules with progress.
• Incorporating changes and delays into a schedule model.
• Understanding material unit price versus total material price.
• Techniques for shortening or compressing a schedule.
• Analyzing elements when developing a schedule recovery plan.
• The importance of documenting the plan and schedule basis.
• Planning and scheduling deliverables throughout the project lifecycle.

2. Practical Exercise (approximately 29 questions): This section involves answering multiple-choice questions based on one or more scenario-based problems. It evaluates the candidate’s ability to apply planning and scheduling knowledge to real-world situations.

3. Planning & Scheduling Applications (approximately 34 questions): This domain focuses on the practical application of planning and scheduling principles and techniques. Topics include:

• Defining the scope of work and project goals.
• Developing project plans and phase definitions.
• Establishing the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS), and Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS).
• The process of stakeholder review in planning.
• Cost estimate development in relation to scheduling.
• Developing the baseline plan and periodic forecasts.
• Integrating risk and recovery planning into schedules.
• Defining the schedule scope and specifications.
• Incorporating feedback from stakeholders into the schedule.
• Creating the schedule, including defining activities, durations, relationships, constraints, and calendars.
• Resource and cost loading within the schedule.
• Documenting the schedule basis.
• Conducting schedule quality analysis and compliance reviews.
• Maintaining and controlling the schedule, including tracking progress and managing changes.
• Developing schedule outputs and deliverables, such as control-level schedules, variance and trend analysis, schedule forecasts, recovery schedules, management summaries, and progress reports.
• Understanding the importance of constructability reviews in scheduling.

4. Communication (Memo Writing Task): Although sometimes listed separately, communication is a critical aspect evaluated through a memo-writing exercise. Candidates are presented with a scenario and must write a professional memorandum to a project manager or other stakeholder, explaining issues and proposing solutions related to planning and scheduling analysis. This assesses the candidate’s ability to communicate effectively in a professional context.

To pass the AACE PSP exam, candidates need to achieve an overall average score of 70% or higher across all domains.

This means that you do not need to pass each individual domain with a score of 70% or higher. A stronger performance in one domain can compensate for a weaker performance in another, as long as the average of all domain scores meets or exceeds the 70% threshold.

For example, as illustrated by AACE:

• Domain 1: 69% (Fail)
• Domain 2: 70% (Pass)
• Domain 3: 65% (Fail)
• Domain 4: 76% (Pass)

In this scenario, the average score is $(69+70+65+76)/4=280/4=70\%$. Therefore, the candidate would pass the exam despite failing two individual domains.

This scoring method emphasizes a holistic understanding of planning and scheduling principles and their application, rather than requiring competency in every single sub-area at a specific level. However, it is still advisable to aim for a good score in each domain to ensure a comfortable overall average.