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Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Practise Certified Associate in Project Management CAPM Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts practice questions — original exam-style scenarios with answer choices, explanations, and analysis of common mistakes.

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What to know about Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts

Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.

How the topic appears in realistic exam-style scenarios.

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How to connect the question back to the wider exam objective.

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  • Answering from memory before reading the full scenario.
  • Missing a constraint such as cost, availability, security, scope or command context.
  • Choosing a broad answer when the question asks for the most specific fix.
  • Ignoring why the wrong options are tempting.

Question index

All Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts questions (115)

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1

Match each project role to its responsibility.

Medium
2

A project manager wants to ensure that all project documents are properly managed and approved. Which process group focuses on controlling changes to project documents?

Medium
3

During project execution, a key stakeholder requests a change that would add a new feature. The project manager assesses the impact and finds that it will increase the project cost by 15% and extend the schedule by three weeks. The sponsor is concerned about the budget but sees the value. What should the project manager do next?

Hard
4

Refer to the exhibit. Based on the probability and impact values, which risk has the highest risk score?

Hard
5

A project manager is leading a software development project. The team has completed the first iteration and is reviewing the lessons learned. Which output of the Manage Project Knowledge process should the project manager update with the lessons learned from this iteration?

Easy
6

Which of the following best describes a project versus ongoing operations?

Easy
7

In earned value management, if the Cost Performance Index (CPI) is 0.8 and the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) is 1.2, what does this indicate?

Hard
8

Which TWO are types of organizational structures commonly used in project management?

Medium
9

A project is behind schedule. Which schedule compression technique involves adding additional resources to critical path activities?

Medium
10

During a project, two team members have a conflict that is affecting progress. The project manager attempts to resolve it but fails. What is the next best action?

Hard
11

During project planning, the team identifies that the project requires a specific vendor for a critical component. Which process group is being executed?

Easy
12

A project manager is assigned to a new product development project. The project charter has been approved, and the team is preparing the project management plan. During the planning process, the project manager wants to ensure that all project work is aligned with the business objectives. Which document should the project manager review to confirm the alignment of the project with organizational strategy?

Medium
13

A project manager is estimating the duration of an activity. The optimistic estimate is 4 days, the pessimistic is 12 days, and the most likely is 6 days. Using the PERT three-point estimate, what is the expected duration?

Easy
14

A project manager is assigned to a project in a matrix organization. Who typically has authority over resource assignment and prioritization?

Easy
15

Which THREE are common project constraints that must be balanced?

Hard
16

Which of the following is a characteristic of the project life cycle?

Easy
17

What is the main advantage of a projectized organization structure?

Hard
18

Which document formally authorizes the project and provides the project manager with authority to apply organizational resources?

Easy
19

During the initiation phase of a project, the project manager needs to identify stakeholders. What is the primary purpose of stakeholder identification at this stage?

Easy
20

Which THREE of the following are characteristics of a matrix organizational structure that impact project management?

Hard
21

Which TWO of the following are outputs of the Identify Stakeholders process?

Medium
22

Refer to the exhibit. A project administrator applies an organizational policy that requires a project charter signed by the sponsor and the functional manager before project work can commence. A project manager has not yet obtained these signatures. What is the effect on the project team's ability to start work?

Medium
23

Refer to the exhibit. What is the cost performance index (CPI)?

Easy
24

A project manager is managing a complex IT project with many inter-dependencies. During execution, a key stakeholder requests a feature that will require rework of several completed deliverables. The project manager wants to minimize disruption to the project. What is the best course of action?

Hard
25

During project planning, the team identifies that a key component must be custom-built by a vendor with a long lead time. The project manager wants to avoid the risk of the vendor failing to deliver. Which risk response strategy is most appropriate?

Hard
26

A medium-sized software company is developing a new mobile application. The project manager, Alex, has a team of 10 developers and 2 testers. The organization uses a hybrid approach combining waterfall planning for the overall phases and agile for individual iterations. In the first iteration, the team committed to completing 20 user stories. During the sprint, two developers left the company, and the remaining team members had to pick up their tasks. The product owner is concerned about the delivery date. Alex needs to communicate the impact to stakeholders. What should Alex do first?

Hard
27

Which TWO of the following are outputs of the Identify Risks process?

Hard
28

Which TWO of the following are generally true about projects versus operations? (Choose two)

Easy
29

During a project, the team identifies a risk that could cause a 20% increase in cost. The project manager decides to accept the risk because the probability is low. What risk response strategy is being used?

Hard
30

A project manager in a weak matrix organization is having difficulty getting team members to complete project tasks because they prioritize their functional work. Which type of power should the project manager primarily rely on to influence the team?

Hard
31

Drag and drop the steps for performing risk management planning in the correct order.

Medium
32

Which THREE of the following are characteristics of a project?

Medium
33

A project has a cost baseline of $100,000. At the end of month 2, the planned value is $30,000, and the actual cost is $40,000. If the earned value is $25,000, what is the cost variance?

Easy
34

Which THREE of the following are processes that belong to the Planning process group?

Hard
35

A project is in the monitoring and controlling phase. The project manager calculates the cost performance index (CPI) as 0.8 and the schedule performance index (SPI) as 1.0. The project budget is $500,000, and the actual costs to date are $200,000. The project is behind schedule? Actually SPI=1.0 means on schedule. But the question: What does this indicate about the project performance?

Medium
36

A construction project manager, Maria, is overseeing the building of a bridge. The project has a fixed budget and schedule. During the execution phase, the quality audit reveals that the concrete used does not meet the specified strength requirements. The concrete supplier insists that the concrete meets industry standards. However, the project specifications require a higher strength grade. Maria must decide on corrective action. What should she do?

Hard
37

Which TWO of the following are examples of project constraints? (Choose two.)

Medium
38

A project manager notices that the project is behind schedule. Which of the following actions is most appropriate to bring the project back on track?

Medium
39

A project team is struggling with unclear roles and responsibilities, leading to duplicated work and missed tasks. Which document should the project manager create or update to resolve this issue?

Easy
40

A project manager is leading a team in a matrix organization where team members report to both a functional manager and the project manager. The project is in the planning phase. What is the primary responsibility of the project manager during this phase?

Easy
41

During project execution, a key stakeholder requests a change that would add a new feature to the product. The project manager evaluates the impact on scope, schedule, and cost. According to the change management plan, which step should the project manager take first?

Medium
42

A construction project is underway. The project manager receives a report that the concrete supplier will deliver late, causing a two-week delay. The project has no schedule reserve. What is the best course of action?

Medium
43

During project execution, a key stakeholder requests a new feature that was not included in the approved scope. What should the project manager do first?

Easy
44

Refer to the exhibit. What is the total float of activity C?

Hard
45

A project manager is leading a software development project. The sponsor has requested a new feature that was not part of the original scope. The project manager assesses that adding this feature will require additional resources and will extend the timeline by two weeks. What should the project manager do first?

Medium
46

A project sponsor asks the project manager to report on budget performance. Which metric best indicates whether the project is under or over budget?

Medium
47

You are a project manager for a construction project to build a new office wing. The project is in the execution phase. The team reports that the foundation work is behind schedule because of unexpected soil conditions that require additional stabilization. The project plan had a contingency reserve for such issues. The project sponsor is concerned about the delay and asks you to compress the schedule to recover. The project has a fixed completion date and cannot be delayed. After analyzing the schedule, you find that there is float on some non-critical paths, but critical path activities are already resource-loaded. What is the BEST course of action to address the delay while keeping the project on track?

Hard
48

You are a project manager in a functional organization managing a software upgrade project. The functional managers control resources and priorities. Your project requires a senior developer from the IT department for two weeks starting next Monday. The IT functional manager informs you that the developer is assigned to an urgent operational issue and cannot be released until further notice. The project has a fixed deadline in four weeks, and any delay will impact the next phase. You have already used your influence and escalated to senior management, but the functional manager insists on keeping the developer. What should you do next?

Medium
49

A project team encounters this error during deployment. Which project document should be updated first?

Easy
50

Match each project document to its description.

Medium
51

A project is being executed in a highly regulated industry. The quality management plan requires extensive documentation. During a quality audit, the auditor finds that some test results are missing. What is the MOST appropriate action for the project manager?

Hard
52

A project manager is assigned to a project that is in the planning phase. The sponsor asks the project manager to include a 10% contingency reserve in the budget. The project manager knows that the project has a high degree of uncertainty. What should the project manager do?

Hard
53

Which of the following is NOT a purpose of the project charter?

Easy
54

A project team is working on a software development project. The project manager notices that the team is spending too much time on unplanned work, resulting in delays to the critical path. What technique should the project manager use to reduce unplanned work and improve focus?

Medium
55

Which TWO are outputs of the Initiating process group?

Medium
56

During the project kickoff meeting, a key stakeholder expresses concerns about the project scope. What should the project manager do first?

Medium
57

A project manager is evaluating two project proposals. Proposal A has a benefit-cost ratio (BCR) of 1.2 and a payback period of 3 years. Proposal B has a BCR of 1.5 and a payback period of 4 years. The organization has limited funds and wants to maximize return on investment. Which proposal should the project manager recommend?

Medium
58

Refer to the exhibit. The project manager needs to calculate the total hours assigned to each resource. Which resource has the highest total assigned hours?

Medium
59

You are managing a project to implement a new customer relationship management (CRM) system. The project management plan has been approved, and you are in the executing process group. A team member reports that a vendor has delivered a software module that does not meet the acceptance criteria specified in the procurement statement of work. The team member suggests modifying the acceptance criteria to accept the module as is, because returning it would cause a two-week delay. You review the project management plan and the requirements documentation. What should you do?

Hard
60

A milestone in a project schedule is best described as:

Easy
61

Refer to the exhibit. The project manager notices that the resource histogram shows a peak of 15 FTEs in Week 2, exceeding the available 12 FTEs. The project manager needs to bring the resource usage within the limit without increasing the project duration or budget. Which action should the project manager take?

Hard
62

A project team is working on a construction project. The project manager notices that the team is spending excessive time clarifying task responsibilities. Which project management artifact would most directly help assign clear ownership?

Easy
63

In which project management process group is the project charter developed?

Easy
64

Refer to the exhibit. How many work packages are at the lowest level of the WBS?

Easy
65

Refer to the exhibit. Which risk has the highest expected monetary value?

Hard
66

Which TWO of the following are outputs of the Plan Stakeholder Engagement process?

Hard
67

A project team is working on a construction project. The project manager notices that the actual cost is consistently higher than planned. Which project management process is most directly responsible for monitoring and controlling costs?

Easy
68

Refer to the exhibit. Based on the error log, which task has a dependency issue?

Medium
69

The sponsor is concerned about the accuracy of cost estimates prepared using analogous estimating. Which estimating technique should the project manager recommend to improve accuracy?

Hard
70

A project is in the executing phase, and the team is frequently reworking deliverables due to defects. Which process is most likely inadequate?

Hard
71

Which TWO of the following are typically outputs of the Initiating process group?

Easy
72

A project team using a Kanban board wants to predict when all remaining backlog items will be completed. Which metric is most useful for this prediction?

Hard
73

Which TWO of the following are considered key constraints in project management that form the traditional 'triple constraint'?

Medium
74

A project manager notices that the team is frequently redoing work because requirements were unclear. Which process group interaction would help address this issue?

Hard
75

A software development project is facing high uncertainty in requirements. The team is experienced and prefers frequent feedback. Which project life cycle approach is most appropriate?

Hard
76

A project manager is estimating activity durations. The team provides three estimates: optimistic 10 days, pessimistic 20 days, most likely 14 days. Using the PERT beta distribution, what is the expected duration?

Medium
77

A manufacturing company is implementing a new ERP system. The project team includes members from IT, finance, and operations. The organization uses a strong matrix structure. Recently, the project has been missing milestones because the operations manager frequently assigns urgent operational tasks to the operations team members, who are also assigned part-time to the project. The project manager has discussed this with the operations manager, but the situation continues. The project sponsor is concerned about the delays and wants a solution within two days. What should the project manager do?

Easy
78

Refer to the exhibit. What is the total float of Task B?

Medium
79

Which TWO of the following are considered examples of enterprise environmental factors (EEFs)?

Medium
80

Which THREE are components of the project management plan?

Easy
81

A project team is using a colocation (war room) technique. What is the primary benefit?

Easy
82

A project manager is reviewing the business case for a new initiative. Which document should the project manager create to define how the project will deliver the expected benefits?

Medium
83

A project is behind schedule and over budget. The sponsor asks the project manager to reduce costs without affecting the end date. Which constraint should the project manager consider adjusting?

Medium
84

A project manager sees this git log output. The team is delivering features in small increments. Which project life cycle phase does the 'Fix login bug' commit represent?

Hard
85

Which of the following best defines a project?

Easy
86

In a predictive project life cycle, which of the following best describes the relationship between scope, time, and cost?

Hard
87

Which THREE of the following are recognized process groups in the PMBOK Guide? (Choose three)

Medium
88

A project manager is assigned to a cross-functional initiative in a matrix organization. The team members report to both the project manager and their functional managers. What is the primary challenge the project manager would face?

Medium
89

A project manager is leading a software development project. During the planning phase, the team identifies a significant risk that a key third-party API may be deprecated before the project completes. The project sponsor asks for a risk response strategy. Which strategy should the project manager recommend to best address this risk?

Medium
90

Which THREE are techniques used for estimating activity durations?

Hard
91

You are managing a software upgrade project for a financial institution. The project involves upgrading the core banking system to a new version. During user acceptance testing (UAT), the testers find that the new system does not handle certain legacy data formats correctly, causing errors. The project schedule has no buffer left, and the go-live date is fixed due to regulatory compliance. The team estimates it will take two weeks to fix the issue, but the go-live is in one week. The project manager has already used the contingency reserve for other issues. What should the project manager do next?

Medium
92

During project planning, the project manager wants to ensure that all work required to complete the project is identified. Which document is the primary output of the process that defines and controls what is included in the project?

Easy
93

Which THREE of the following are components of the project charter?

Medium
94

A project team is experiencing frequent changes in requirements. The project manager wants to minimize disruptions. Which approach is best to manage changes effectively?

Easy
95

During project execution, you notice that a key stakeholder, the head of the legal department, has been disengaged from project reviews and has not responded to your emails requesting input on a regulatory compliance issue. The project is at risk of missing a legal requirement that could result in fines. You have classified this stakeholder as having high power and high interest. According to stakeholder engagement best practices, what should you do first?

Medium
96

You are a project manager in a projectized organization. The project is nearing completion, but a key stakeholder has introduced several new requirements that were not in the original scope. The stakeholder insists these are critical for user acceptance. The project is already behind schedule and over budget. The change control board (CCB) has denied all previous change requests due to time and cost constraints. What is the best course of action?

Hard
97

A project manager is leading a team that includes members from different cultures. Communication misunderstandings are causing delays. Which action best addresses the root cause?

Medium
98

A project manager is defining success criteria for a new software development project. Which of the following is the most objective and measurable success criterion?

Easy
99

A project has a fixed deadline but flexible scope. The project manager receives a change request that would significantly increase scope. What should the project manager do first?

Medium
100

In project procurement management, what is the primary purpose of the procurement statement of work (SOW)?

Medium
101

During project execution, a key stakeholder requests a significant change that will increase project scope. The project manager performs an impact analysis and determines that the change will delay the project by two weeks and increase costs by 10%. However, the change is critical for regulatory compliance. What should the project manager do first?

Hard
102

Refer to the exhibit. Which task has a dependency that requires the successor to start 2 days after the predecessor starts?

Hard
103

A project manager is assigned to a project that is in execution phase. The project has a cost performance index (CPI) of 0.8 and a schedule performance index (SPI) of 1.1. Which of the following best describes the current status of the project?

Hard
104

Which THREE of the following are types of dependencies that can exist between project activities?

Hard
105

A project manager is reviewing the project charter and notices that the business case includes a cost-benefit analysis with a Net Present Value (NPV) of $50,000 and an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 12%. The company's required rate of return is 10%. What should the project manager conclude about this project?

Medium
106

During project execution, a key team member leaves the company. The project manager needs to quickly reassign tasks to maintain progress. Which document should be consulted first to understand the team member's current responsibilities?

Medium
107

Which TWO of the following are project management process groups?

Easy
108

A project manager is assigned a project that has a very low tolerance for scope changes. Which development approach is most appropriate?

Easy
109

Your organization is initiating a new mobile app development project. The product owner expects to release a minimum viable product (MVP) within three months, with subsequent iterations based on user feedback. The development team is experienced with agile methodologies. The project sponsor, however, is accustomed to traditional waterfall projects and insists on a detailed upfront plan covering all requirements and a fixed schedule. You need to select a project life cycle that balances the product owner's desire for iterative delivery with the sponsor's need for predictability. What is the most appropriate approach?

Easy
110

Drag and drop the steps for developing a project schedule in the correct order.

Medium
111

Which TWO of the following are true regarding a project's life cycle?

Medium
112

You are a project manager working on a large infrastructure project under a strong matrix organization. The project charter has been signed, and you have been given authority to manage the project. However, the functional manager of the engineering department is refusing to assign the promised resources, claiming that another project has higher priority. You have already held a meeting with the sponsor and functional manager, but the functional manager remains uncooperative. The sponsor is concerned about the project's viability. What is the most effective course of action?

Hard
113

A project manager learns of a policy requiring all cloud resources to have tags for CostCenter, Environment, and Owner. Which project management process is being supported by enforcing these tags?

Medium
114

Refer to the exhibit. What is the duration of the critical path?

Medium
115

Refer to the exhibit. The project manager is reviewing deployment logs. Which statement best describes the event?

Easy

Frequently asked questions

What does the Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts domain cover on the CAPM exam?
Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts questions test whether you can apply the concept in context, not just recognise a definition.
How many questions are in this domain?
This page lists all 115 Project Management Fundamentals and Core Concepts questions in the CAPM question bank. The actual exam draws from this domain proportionally to its weighting in the official exam blueprint.
What is the best way to practise this domain?
Start with a short focused session (10 questions) to identify gaps, then work through explanations. Repeat with a longer session once the weak areas feel solid.
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