Flying in the face of criticism and downright aggression from the Project Management Institute, the United Kingdom Association for Project Management has launched its new project management qualification – the APM Registered Project Professional.

“It may not have the treasured ‘chartered’ badge yet, but APM Registered Project Professional (RPP) is our chartered standard in all but name.

It means that anyone achieving RPP will automatically be re-designated chartered project professional when the time comes.

“APM’s commitment to gaining chartered status remains absolute. In addition, the support we have received, and continue to receive, for the campaign suggests very strongly that raising the standards of the profession is paramount.

“So it is entirely appropriate that APM should launch RPP for the good of the profession, even while the application process for chartered continues.” – posted by Julie Legge, membership secretary for the APM, on 18 January 2011.

The RPP draws upon the APM’s 5 Dimensions of Professionalism (see end of article), but has not been designed for APM members of those taking previous APM qualifications. It is designed to be applicable across all sectors and does not require the individual to take a particular course of study.

Assessment is in two stages:

• Portfolio assessment – A portfolio of evidence must be compiled by the applicant who demonstrates capability in 29 core competencies and knowledge of 18 complementary competencies.
• Professional review – Having successfully completed the portfolio assessment, candidates are invited to a professional review with two assessors.

For the first time ever, we may have a genuinely recognised chartered project manager qualification – a big step in gaining recognition of project management as a profession.

There is an interesting definition of what it means to be a professional, on the Professions Australia website, www.professions.com.au: “A profession is a disciplined group of individuals who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are accepted by the public, as possessing special knowledge and skills in a widely recognised body of learning derived from research, education and training at a high level, and who are prepared to apply this knowledge and exercise these skills in the interest of others.

“It is inherent in the definition of a profession that a code of ethics governs the activities of each profession. Such codes require behaviour and practice beyond the personal moral obligations of an individual. They define and demand high standards of behaviour in respect to the services provided to the public and in dealing with professional colleagues.

Further, these codes are enforced by the profession and are acknowledged and accepted by the community.”

It is worth noting here the emphasis on ethical standards, the exercise of skills in the interest of others and high standards of behaviour in dealings with the public and professional colleagues. This is what being a professional really means; and the more widely such professional ‘standards’ are adopted in project management, the more project management will truly become a respected profession.

The APM’s RPP is one of an increasingly large number of project management qualifications available across the world. The choice for project managers is bewildering; and in an attempt to clarify and explain the relationship between the qualifications, CITI in the UK provides a briefing report on international qualifications. 

An overview of the report is provided on the previous page. For access to the full report, e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Many thanks to Dr Tom Docker and Chris Hobson from CITI, who have kindly given us permission to provide the extracts from this report.

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