You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
PMIPMI Professional in Business Analysis
The PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) certification validates your expertise in defining requirements, engaging stakeholders, and driving successful business outcomes. It is designed for business analysts who work with project teams to bridge the gap between strategic objectives and project deliverables. Earning the PMI-PBA demonstrates your ability to apply a structured, standards-based approach to business analysis, enhancing your credibility and career potential.
Exam formatMultiple-choice questions
Duration240 minutes
DeliveryPMI
Free questions798
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What PMI Professional in Business Analysis proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
5domains
28objectives
189concepts
US $405 (member) / US $555 (non-member)exam fee
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) certification recognizes professionals who possess the specialized knowledge and skills to effectively perform business analysis within the context of projects and programs. It validates your ability to work with stakeholders to elicit, analyze, and define requirements, ensuring that project outcomes align with organizational goals. This credential is built on PMI's standards, providing a globally recognized framework for business analysis practice.
Earning the PMI-PBA demonstrates your proficiency across the full spectrum of business analysis, from needs assessment and requirements management to solution evaluation. It signals to employers that you can bridge the gap between business needs and project execution, reducing risk and increasing the likelihood of project success. The certification is ideal for practitioners who are ready to formalize their experience and advance their careers in this critical discipline.
Who it’s for
This certification is for business analysts, business analysis managers, and project or program managers who are responsible for defining requirements and ensuring that project outcomes deliver business value. It is also suited for professionals who work closely with stakeholders to identify needs and shape project scope. Candidates typically have hands-on experience in requirements gathering, stakeholder engagement, and solution assessment. They are looking to formalize their expertise with a globally recognized credential that demonstrates their ability to apply a structured business analysis framework.
Recommended experience
A secondary degree (high school diploma, associate's degree, or global equivalent) with 7,500 hours of business analysis experience, or a bachelor's degree (or global equivalent) with 4,500 hours of business analysis experience. In both cases, 35 contact hours of education in business analysis practice is also required. Experience in eliciting, analyzing, and documenting requirements; Experience in stakeholder engagement and communication; Experience in defining and managing product scope; Experience in solution evaluation and validation
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective PMI measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official PMI exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Needs Assessment
- Task 1
- Task 2
- Task 3
- Task 4
- Task 5
Planning
- Task 1
- Task 2
- Task 3
- Task 4
- Task 5
- Task 6
Analysis
- Task 1
- Task 2
- Task 3
- Task 4
- Task 5
- Task 6
- Task 7
- Task 8
Traceability and Monitoring
- Task 1
- Task 2
- Task 3
- Task 4
- Task 5
Evaluation
- Task 1
- Task 2
- Task 3
- Task 4
On the day
The exam itself
Everything PMI publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
A secondary degree (high school diploma, associate's degree, or global equivalent) OR a bachelor's degree (or global equivalent).
CertificationPMI Professional in Business Analysis
Exam formatMultiple-choice questions
Duration240 minutes
Questions200 questions
DeliveryPMI
LanguagesEnglish
PricingUS $405 (member) / US $555 (non-member)
Certification levelProfessional
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path PMI lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to PMI Professional in Business Analysis
PrerequisiteA secondary degree (high school diploma, associate's degree, or global equivalent) OR a bachelor's degree (or global equivalent).
Credential earnedPMI Professional in Business Analysis Professional level certification Renewal and maintenance
The PMI-PBA certification is valid for three years. To maintain it, you must earn 30 Professional Development Units (PDUs) in the business analysis topic area during each three-year cycle. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. PMI maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by PMI
Exam registration
Register for the exam through PMI, PMI’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official PMI certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does the PMI-PBA relate to the PMP certification?
The PMI-PBA focuses specifically on business analysis, while the PMP focuses on project management. They are separate certifications, and you do not need one to earn the other. However, they can complement each other for professionals who manage both the business analysis and project management aspects of their work.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the PMI-PBA exam?
No. The PMI-PBA exam consists entirely of multiple-choice questions. There are no hands-on labs or performance-based simulations.
What is the retake policy if I fail the PMI-PBA exam?
If you do not pass the exam on your first attempt, you can retake it. You must wait at least 30 days after your first failed attempt to retake it. After a second failed attempt, you must wait 90 days before your next attempt.
What job roles does the PMI-PBA credential map to?
The PMI-PBA is designed for professionals in roles such as Business Analyst, Business Analysis Manager, Product Owner, and Project or Program Manager who are responsible for defining requirements and ensuring project outcomes deliver business value.
Can I recertify by passing a different PMI exam?
No. The PMI-PBA certification must be maintained by earning 30 PDUs in the business analysis topic area every three years. Passing another PMI exam does not automatically renew this credential.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 798 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept PMI measures — each one written out.
5domains
28objectives
189concepts
171free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official PMI exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Needs Assessment150 questions
2Planning177 questions
3Analysis218 questions
4Traceability and Monitoring139 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Task 17 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
35 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
798 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
798questions
171pages
28objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Needs Assessment150 questions
2Planning177 questions
3Analysis218 questions
4Traceability and Monitoring139 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
189concepts
798free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from PMI
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
2official links
189concepts mapped
The source
PMI’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official PMI outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 28 objectives, 189 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When PMI changes the outline, this page changes with it.
28objectives on the outline→189concepts written→798free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.