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Qualification Scheme

The Qualification Scheme is developed by the APM Group Ltd in partnership with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) and The Stationery Office (TSO).

The MSP qualifications consist of three levels:

Foundation - the examination has not changed in style or format. The paper remains a simple multiple choice style, closed book examination consisting of 50 questions to be completed within 40 minutes. Candidates need to achieve a mark of 30+ to pass the paper. 
 
Practitioner (previously known as Intermediate) - is an objective marking style, open book paper. The paper consists of 8 questions with a total of 80 marks available to be completed within 2 1/2 hours. Candidates need to achieve a mark of 40+ to pass the paper, and may only take the MSP Guide into the exam room for reference during the exam. A pre-requisite for this exam is a score of 60% at Foundation level for candidates that have taken the Foundation exam on or after 1 March 2008. Candidates that have taken their Foundation exam prior to 1 March 2008 are exempt from this rule.

Advanced Practitioner (previously known as Practitioner) - is an essay based, open book paper. The paper consists of up to 3 questions with a total of 75 marks available to be completed within 3 hours. Candidates need to achieve a mark of 38+ to pass the paper.

Re-Registration

All MSP Practitioners and/or Advanced Practitioners should be re-registered within 3-5 years of their original certification. Find out more about the Re-Registration Examination.

Route to Certification

Candidates have to pass the Foundation exam (with a pass at 60% or more if taken on or after 1st March 2008) before attempting the Practitioner exam. Once candidates have passed the Foundation exam they may take their Practitioner examination. If a candidate wishes to sit the Advanced Practitioner examination before they have their results from the Practitioner exam, they may do so. However, MSP candidates who pass the Advanced Practitioner exam yet fail the Practitioner exam, must re-sit the Practitioner exam within 24 months to validate their Registered Advanced Practitioner Status. If the candidate does not complete within the 24 months, the candidate will be required to re-sit the Advanced Practitioner exam as well.

If a candidate chooses to sit the Foundation Examination only, and passes, they will receive a "Foundation Examination" certificate stating that they have passed. However, if a candidate sits the Foundation Examination, Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner Examination on the same day, and passes all three, they will receive an "Advanced Practitioner Examination" certificate, but not any other certificate.