UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS
Cambridge International Diploma in Project Management
Professional Level
Introduction and Syllabus Outline
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General Introduction and Syllabus Outline
The Purpose
The purpose of the Cambridge International Diploma in Project Management is to provide candidates with
a certification of their competence as Project Managers. The certification is based on
assessment of a wide range of skills related to planning and managing projects across the full
project life cycle.
Assessment System
Assessment of candidate competence constitutes a dual system reflected in
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Student Assessment Records (SARs)
Written Assignments and a Project File
Student Assessment Records are used by tutors and candidates to continuously assess the
level and range of individual candidates’ skills and knowledge measured against the
standards defined by CIE in the syllabus for the award. The syllabus comprises six units
which are each accompanied by an SAR specifying the competence to be assessed. SARs
are signed by tutors and candidates whenever they agree that an area of competence has
been achieved by the candidate. SARs are submitted to CIE together with written
assignments for assessment and serve to substantiate that candidates’ competence has
reached the required level.
Three written assignments are produced by each candidate. The assignments must
demonstrate the candidate’s application of knowledge and understanding to practical
management of a specific project. The syllabus provides guidelines for the content and scope
of assignments. In terms of contents, the three assignments each correspond to two units of
the syllabus and are submitted to CIE for assessment together with the SARs for the units in
question.
A brief outline of the three assignments is as follows:
Assignment One
Assignment one includes documentation of project identification and project appraisal issues
and comprises of the following:
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overall objectives
project purpose
operational objectives
results
success criteria
risk assessment
contingency planning
budget estimates
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Assignment Two
Assignment two includes documentation of issues in detailed planning and budgeting and
approval. It comprises of the following:
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organisational diagrams
team structure diagrams
Gantt chart planning
PERT chart planning
resource planning
budgeting
optimising the project plan
Assignment Three
Assignment three includes documentation of project implementation and closure and
comprises of the following:
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monitoring
interim tracking
status reporting
management of change
final tracking
accounts
recommendations
reporting against specifications
Project File
A project file must be maintained throughout the programme and the life of the project. It will
reflect background, planning, procedures etc. for a project which are not necessarily included
in the assignments. A project file can be requested by an examiner in cases where the
authenticity or quality of a candidate’s work is not sufficiently substantiated in an assignment.
Guidelines for creation and contents of a project file are given in the syllabus.
The Basis for Written Assignments
The programme aims at certification of competence demonstrated in relation to candidates’
actual work with management of projects. Thus, in order to profit appropriately from the
programme and to document their competence, candidates will have to work with an
individual project, preferably a real project from their work situation. When signing up for a
programme, candidates should be encouraged to prepare themselves by identifying a project
which will be suitable for the certification procedure.
They should be informed that the ideal certification project has the following characteristics:
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the candidate will act as manager of the project or part of it
the project should ideally be initiated about the same time as the course programme
preferably, the duration of the project should not be considerably longer than the course
programme
the project should not be too large or very complex
the candidate must be responsible for a Project Team, even if he is managing only part of
a project
there should be some kind of previous approval of the project from the home organisation
in order that the candidate will not have to define a new project later on due to lack of
approval
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Candidates for whom it will not be possible to undertake the role of Project Manager in
relation to a certification project must negotiate with the training centre/tutor. It is not
recommended that candidates work with simulated projects as it will usually prove very
difficult to generate all the required documentation for the assignments and guarantee their
authenticity.
Tutor Roles
Tutors for a CDPM program should be prepared to develop a close relationship with their
candidates. In many organisations projects are still considered exiting but also strange
ventures and the Project Manager is regarded as a pioneer breaking new ground for the
company. Thus, at the same time the project and the Project Manager are considered part of
the company but also partly on their own.
In this situation it can be difficult for a Project Manager to have the personal and professional
support needed to be confident with trying out different ideas and solutions and he may have
a need for a sparring partner. Since the tutor will gradually get to know the individual
candidates’ projects and will be the one who introduces ways of doing things, candidates may
wish to use the tutor as a counsellor. This can be an important function in the candidates’
development of personal competence and experience in relation to their projects.
A programme can benefit from involving a number of different tutors with expertise and
experience in training for different areas of the curriculum. It is, however, important that one
tutor or programme manager follows the group of candidates throughout the programme. This
tutor will gain knowledge of the individual candidates and their projects and candidates will
develop confidence by having one person to discuss their projects, written assignments and
assessment SARs with. This function can be shared by more tutors who can each be
responsible for part of a group.
When a number of tutors are involved in the training programme, the coherence of a
programme should be ensured by a thorough briefing of incoming tutors by the programme
manager or previous tutors.
Candidate Roles
Typically, candidates in a CDPM programme will work at or below middle management level
in an organisation or company. Thus, a typical group of candidates will represent a number of
organisations, each of which will have different procedures for many of the issues dealt with in
the programme. This means that candidates can provide input and exchange experiences on
project issues. Their experiences, knowledge and attitude towards projects should always be
regarded as an asset to be used actively in presentations and discussions throughout the
programme.
The tutor should also be prepared to meet candidates with an open mind in relation to best
practices and correct solutions. Since the candidates deal with real life projects in real
organisations, they may, in their project work and documentation, have to adhere to methods
and procedures prevailing in their organisation. Thus, the tutor should not demand any
specific work methods but rather make sure that candidates acquire the necessary
background knowledge and make sure that they demonstrate the competence area required
in their assignments.
Logistic Arrangements
Prior to the start of the programme, the tutor and the training institution should have a
timetable for the submission of assignments. The centre will have deadlines for sending
assignments to CIE, usually every two months.
CIE allows a span of three years for submission of all three assignments. However, usually a
training programme will have a considerably shorter duration and the training centres will
have procedures and guidelines for handling incoming assignments that may be late. The
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tutor must be familiar with these timescales in order to advise candidates on submission of
assignments for their individual projects.
In the assessment of candidates’ knowledge and skills, the tutor is also responsible for
assessing the project file for the individual project. Thus, the tutor should decide how to
undertake this assessment. For large groups of candidates (e.g. 50) it can be useful to
introduce formal procedures for assessment of project files, whereas assessment can be
done more informally as the work progresses in the case of smaller groups (e.g. 20).
IT
For web-site references, only globally useful sites, i.e. English language sites, are referred to
as sources for knowledge and examples in this material. However, tutors should familiarise
themselves with local language web sites which may be used as resources by themselves or
candidates.
Candidates will need to have computers at their disposal. Software must include word
processing, spreadsheet and project planning software. The programme does not include IT
training as such and candidates should be familiar with the use of the software packages.
Suggested Course Programme for International Diploma in Project Management
The sessions should be seen as building blocks which can be used for constructing a number
of different programmes. The suggested programme contains 22 numbered sessions each
with an estimated duration of three and a half hours, giving a total of 77 hours.
The numbered sessions will take the students through all the core elements of the syllabus
and the programme includes group work and guidance on individual projects. A training
programme will usually call for a number of additional sessions depending on the students’
educational background and experience level. The suggested programme comprises nine
additional sessions at points where a need for elaboration or simply more time will typically
arise. However, the need for additional sessions should be identified as the programme
progresses. Additional sessions can be of varying duration and can be conducted in relation
to one of the numbered sessions or separately. They will typically be of the following two
types:
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Explanation in greater detail or repetition of some theoretical aspects, methods or
techniques
Individual student guidance in relation to documentation of competence for
certification/examination purposes
In order to conduct effective individual guidance, the tutor should encourage students to
consider where they have difficulties prior to the guidance session.
During the session the tutor should gain an impression of the student’s general level of
understanding as well as of the substance of the work with regard to the individual project for
certification.
The placing and contents of the additional sessions should be defined by emerging questions
and subject areas raised by the students. They may relate to the unit being carried out at the
time, to previous units or to other related subject areas relevant for the students’
understanding or handling of their projects.
References, resources and suggested exercises contained in this resource pack should
provide trainers with material and inspiration for these additional sessions.
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Session
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Additional
Unit
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Programme
Course Introduction
Project Characteristics
Project Goals and Purposes
Project Objectives and Results
According to requirement
Projects in Relation to Organisations
According to requirement
Project Risks
Risk Management
Budget Estimates
Project Health and Safety
Project Coherence
According to requirement
Organisational Presentations
Introduction to Task Planning
Issues in Detailed Planning
According to requirement
Milestones
According to requirement
Project Resources
Project Budgets
Project Proposal
According to requirement
Initiation of Implementation
Change, Problems and Conflicts
According to requirement
Tracking and Monitoring
According to requirement
Reporting and Communication
Project Closure or Hand-Over
Project Review
According to requirement
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