IPMA Level D — Certified Project Management Associate
IPMA Level D certifies knowledge of project management competences against an international standard, and it is the entry rung of a four-level scheme that reaches up to certified project directors.
The part that surprises people: the certification is administered nationally, not centrally.
Exam facts
- Exam code
- IPMA Level D
- Level
- Foundational
- Field
- Project management
- Duration
- 180 minutes
- Questions
- two written exams of 90 minutes each, or one 90-minute exam plus a 25-page report; holders of the GPM Basiszertifikat sit one 90-minute exam
- Passing score
- set by PM-ZERT per exam part; not published as a percentage
- Languages
- German, EnglishPM-ZERT examines in German by default and offers English-language exams on request; the certificate itself is issued in English.
- Price
- 699 EUR (read 12 September 2026)
- Validity
- 5 years, renewable
- Exam delivery
- Written exams run by PM-ZERT (the GPM certification body) at exam dates in Germany or online; registration through its certification portal
Prerequisites: None — no project experience or vocational qualification is required to register.
Renewal: Recertification every five years with evidence of project work and continuing education (300 EUR standard / 270 EUR GPM members), or upgrading to Level C
Source: exam page at GPM / IPMA · Price: Initial certification, standard rate, net plus 7 % VAT (PM-ZERT fee list 2026, read 2026-09-12); GPM members 630 EUR; re-sit 200 EUR per exam part (students 100 EUR); recertification after five years 300 EUR (members 270 EUR)
How to prepare
Book the exam
Delivered by Written exams run by PM-ZERT (the GPM certification body) at exam dates in Germany or online; registration through its certification portal. Schedule with GPM / IPMA (opens in a new tab)
IPMA is a federation, and that is the whole point
| System | Who certifies you | Basis | Levels |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPMA | Your national member association | Competence against a shared standard | Four, D through A |
| PMI | One global body | Knowledge plus documented experience | Entry and professional |
| PRINCE2 | One examination body | Knowledge of a method | Foundation and Practitioner |
- The figures on this page come from the German member association, PM-ZERT, which is the body we were able to read directly.
- If you are not in Germany, your own country's IPMA association sets its own fees, its own assessment arrangements and its own timetable.
- We are not going to name another national body we have not verified. Find your country's association through IPMA rather than assuming the German arrangements apply.
- English-language examination is possible through the German body, which helps international candidates already in that market.
- Assessment is not only a written exam: the entry level uses two written papers, or one paper plus a written report.
What the German body asks and charges
PM-ZERT requires no project experience and no vocational qualification to register, which makes Level D unusually open for a credential of this kind. Assessment is either two written examinations of 90 minutes each, or one 90-minute examination plus a report of 25 pages, and holders of the GPM basic certificate sit a single 90-minute paper. The standard is the fourth edition of the IPMA Individual Competence Baseline, and the pass mark is set per exam part rather than published as a percentage. The initial certification fee and the recertification fee are itemised in the cost table below, both quoted net with VAT on top and both lower for GPM members; a failed part can be resat for a smaller fee, and lower again for students.
Five years, then a decision
Recertification every five years, or upgrade
The certificate is valid for five years. Recertification carries its own fee, again discounted for members, and needs evidence of project work and continuing education, or you upgrade to Level C, which requires demonstrated experience and replaces the renewal. Neither route is a fee alone: both ask what you have done with the five years.
The four-level scheme is the reason to consider this body at all. Level D certifies knowledge of the competences; Levels C, B and A certify practice as a project manager, a senior project manager and a director, each on the basis of assessed real projects rather than a further written paper. Somebody who expects to run projects for a career can climb inside one system whose standard is shared across the national associations, and that is a structural difference from a knowledge exam that simply renews on a cycle.
Examinations at the German body are in German by default with English available on request, and the certificate itself is issued in English, which matters for anyone whose employer or client reads it abroad. There is no practice-test partner for this exam and no English-language course in our directory that targets it, so preparation runs through the association's own material and the competence baseline, both of which describe what will be assessed rather than how to pass it.
What a question looks like
Written by us in the exam's style. It is not a real question from any question bank, and we do not publish those.
You are asked to describe how you would establish stakeholder engagement on a project with a divided steering group, and to justify your approach against the competence framework rather than against a named method.
IPMA assesses competences rather than a method, so answers that recite a process score badly. The expectation is that you reason about the situation and connect your reasoning to the competence being examined. Candidates trained on method-based qualifications find this unfamiliar, and candidates with real delivery experience and no certification often find it the most natural of the three systems.
What it costs to get and to keep
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| First certification, standard | 699 EUR | net, plus value-added tax, from the German association's published fee list. Other national associations set their own (read 12 September 2026) |
| First certification, association member | 630 EUR | the reduced rate for members of the German association, again net of tax (read 12 September 2026) |
| Recertification | 300 EUR | the standard rate net of tax, with a lower figure for members. Recertification falls due every five years (read 12 September 2026) |
| Validity | not published | five years, with recertification requiring evidence of project work and continuing development rather than a resit (read 12 September 2026) |
How much preparation, from where you are
- You work on projects in a German-speaking market
- The most natural fit for this certificate, and the market where it carries recognition. The study is the competence framework itself, which is broader and less prescriptive than a method.
- You hold a method-based qualification already
- Expect the assessment style to be the adjustment rather than the content. Reciting a process will not score; connecting your reasoning to a named competence will.
- You are outside the German-speaking markets
- Start by finding your own national association, because everything on this page except the standard itself may differ where you are, including the fee and the assessment format.
What passing this does not prove
- A specific method, deliberately, which is what distinguishes it and what makes it harder to revise for.
- Whether your projects delivered, at this level.
- Anything about the industry you work in.
- Recognition outside the countries where the federation has a strong member association.
Against the alternatives
- PMP — Project Management Professional (PMP)
- One global body and one global process, which travels considerably better if you may work internationally. IPMA suits a national market well and moves less easily between them.
- PRINCE2 Foundation (Version 7) — PRINCE2 7 Foundation
- A method rather than a competence framework, and cheaper at the entry tier. Recognised in a different set of markets again, chiefly public-sector procurement in Britain and parts of Europe.
- CAPM — Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
- The nearest entry-level equivalent from the American body, priced lower and assessed by a single multiple-choice exam rather than by written papers.
IPMA Level D — quick answers
Do I need project experience to register?
Not at the entry level, at least through the German association, which states that neither project experience nor a vocational qualification is required to register for the examination. That makes it unusually open for a credential of this kind, and the higher levels of the scheme do require demonstrated experience.
Why does this page describe the German body?
Because IPMA certifies through national member associations and the German one is the body whose published fees and assessment arrangements we could read directly. On an English-language site, stating that openly beats dressing one country's arrangements up as international ones.
Can I sit it in English?
Through the German association, yes, which helps international candidates working in that market. Whether that holds where you are depends on your own national association, and it is worth confirming before planning around it.
Exam or report: which route is better?
The report route replaces one of the two written papers with 25 pages of your own work against the competence baseline, and it suits candidates who have a real project to describe and write more comfortably than they sit exams. The two-paper route is quicker to schedule and easier to prepare from the standard alone. Neither is the soft option; the report is assessed.
What does membership of the German association change?
A lower initial fee and a lower recertification fee, both quoted net of VAT, against an annual membership cost of its own. Across a five-year cycle the saving is modest, so join for the network and the events if you want them, not for the discount alone.
What comes next
Concepts this exam draws on
Glossary entries with the reason each one matters for IPMA Level D.
- Project Charter
The competence baseline expects a candidate to secure and use a project mandate.
- Project Scope
Scope definition and control is a named competence element.
- Change Control
Change and configuration management: how scope is controlled in IPMA's model.
- Stakeholder Management
Stakeholders are a practice competence assessed at every level of the scheme.
- Risk Register
Risk and opportunity is a competence element, examined at Level D as knowledge.
- WBS
Structuring work into deliverables and packages sits in the scope competence.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 · Getting Digital