Change Management Exam – Questions & Answer Guide

This blog is written to help you understand and prepare for exams leading to the APMG Change Management qualification.  I’ll focus on the new (3rd) edition of the qualification (“CM3”), launched in April 2024.

The purpose of the qualification is to help candidates build a strong understanding of change management principles and practice.  These will of course be essential for all those pursuing a career in Change Management, but are also highly relevant to other leaders, managers and supervisors in organisations facing change, and to professionals in related disciplines including human resources, process improvement, project and programme management.  The training is not based on a single methodology but instead develops the ability to apply and adapt any chosen change approach to the needs of the organisation and situation.

The CM3 certification is based on The Change Management Study Guide (“the Study Guide”) that has been written specifically for this course, and on which the examinations are based.  This book is not on public sale but is available to registered exam candidates in both digital and paper formats.

There are two levels of examination:

Foundation which tests what you know and understand about organisational Change Management, and

Practitioner which tests your understanding and your ability to apply that knowledge appropriately to a real situation.

Most people choose to study by taking a course with one of APMG’s Approved Training Organisations (“ATOs”). Such courses are often designed to teach through Foundation to Practitioner level and include both exams, but some teach Foundation and Practitioner separately.

It is also possible to study independently, with exams taken online.  To self-study, you purchase the exam. You will then receive an email with instructions on how to download the study guide or read it online. You are allowed up to 12 months from the date you purchase the exam to study the guide and sit the paper(s).

The syllabus of both Foundation and Practitioner exams is built around five main topic areas.

You’ll learn ways of assessing your organisation’s situation, its culture and the purposes it might have in initiating change.  Thinking about some well-known methodologies and the increasingly ‘always on’ cycle of change will help you form your approach to change including agile thinking, change strategy, delivery strategy and the relationship between change and project management.

Practitioner candidates also learn principles of building collaborative change (co-design, co-creation, co-production) and how to facilitate this process.

Key things you’ll discover in this topic include human responses to change, with some key insights from neuroscience included in the mix.  Human motivations and drives link with this and will give you important insights into change resistance and resilience.  In this part of the syllabus there’s also an introduction to learning and change – how people’s competence can be built and sustained.

At Practitioner level, you’ll learn more about establishing good learning objectives and designing instruction to help people learn new skills.  You’ll also learn principles of active listening and feedback as a basis for coaching colleagues through change.

Based on a recognition of the various key roles in supporting an organisational change process, this topic area helps you identify what sponsors, line leaders, change agents and change managers each need to do to make change effective.  You’ll understand the various demands on leadership that result from change and learn how change teams can be built, led and used effectively.

Understanding stakeholders is vital in developing a successful change initiative.  You’ll discover ways to identify stakeholders, analyse their needs and influence, and how to build effective engagement with them.  Central to this is great communications management, and you’ll learn how to manage your change messaging, overcoming communication barriers and appealing to both hearts and minds.

This is the section of the syllabus in which you learn how to deal with practical issues faced by professional change managers.  These include how to assess the scope and severity of change impact, identifying and addressing causes of change resistance and the importance of change analytics.

Practitioner-level learners also learn about ‘levers’ of change and how to use them, how to achieve and recognise ‘critical mass’ in a change process and how to respond, and constructive approaches to handling conflict (actually in change or any other situation!).

This blog ‘APMG’s Change Management Training Course Outline’ provides an in-depth look at the syllabus.

Whether taken in person as part of an instructor-led course or online by self-study (or any combination – see below) the exams work in the same way.  They do not involve long written answers and there are no trick questions!

You will be faced with 50 short, clear multiple-choice questions.  These are carefully designed to check that you have learnt and understood key ideas from the syllabus. The exam is ‘closed book’, so you simply use what you’ve learnt to select the correct answer to each and mark your response on the answer sheet (or on-screen). You’ll already have seen and worked through one or two sample papers so there will be no surprises about the format.  Your training provider will supply you with these sample papers. If you are self-studying you can find Change Management Practice Exams here.

The pass mark is 25 (50%).  You will have 40 minutes to complete the paper.

Here’s an example of a Foundation question taken from one of the sample papers:

What is the objective of the 'change formula' (Beckhard and Harris)?

a) Calculate the cost and benefit of a change

b) Identify areas to focus on to increase motivation for change

c) Help create detailed plans for a change initiative

d) Identify skills and training requirements.

As you’d expect, this is a more demanding paper.  It tests not only your understanding but also your ability to apply what you’ve learned.  Accordingly – and as in the ‘real world’ – you are allowed to consult the Study Guide (though no other resource) during the exam, to check key concepts you might want to apply.

There are 80 questions in the exam and the pass mark is 40 (again, 50%).  For this exam you will have 2½ hours to allow for the reading and thinking it will require. As with the Foundation exam, you will simply mark your response to each question on the answer sheet (or screen) provided.

This exam starts by asking you to read a short, clear 2- to 3-page description of a change situation (the “scenario”). These are typically adapted (and simplified) from real changes faced by change managers.  All the questions should be answered with the scenario in mind.  You can always return to it to remind yourself as you answer questions.  Some questions might give you additional information about a particular event, meeting etc. within that scenario and ask detailed specific questions about this.  You will already have worked through a sample paper, so the format will be familiar to you before you take the actual exam.

Questions in this exam are ordered by syllabus topic (see above) in five groups of sixteen questions each.

Here are two examples of Practitioner questions taken from the sample paper, which is based on a situation in “Helping Homeland Habitats”, part of a fictional charitable trust in the conservation sector:

The first example presents a set of four questions, each of which can be answered by one of the possible responses in Column 2.  It tests understanding of some principles of co-design.

The second example is one of the most challenging types of question, asking not only about the right response but about the reasons for selecting it.  (Since you haven’t seen the full scenario – or attended the training – don’t worry if you can’t answer it right now!)

• DO keep an eye on the time as you go along – make sure you’ve answered up to at least Q13 by 10 minutes, Q25 by 20 minutes and so on.
• DO make sure you answer all the questions.
• DO remember that there are no trick questions.  If the answer looks straightforward to you, it is!
• DO give your best guess if you’re stuck between a couple of options - there’s no penalty for wrong answers but you can’t score for what you don’t answer!
• DO make your answers on the question paper clear and unambiguous, especially if you change your mind (you’ll be shown how).
• DO mark your answers directly on the answer sheet/screen.
• IF you decide to note your answers on the question paper first (some people do, though we don’t recommend this) make sure you allow time to transfer them to the answer sheet within the 40 minutes.  Only answers correctly marked on the answer sheet will be counted.
• DON’T be quick to change your mind.  Unless you’ve seen an obvious, ‘silly mistake’ your first answer is probably the right one.

• DO allow yourself time at the beginning to read the scenario properly (maybe 10 minutes?).
• DO manage your time to ensure you can answer all the questions.
• DO expect some questions (usually towards the end of a section) will take longer than others in that section – they are more challenging
• DO have a time plan before you start – and stick to it.  (Consider an example: 10 minutes to read the scenario, 25 minutes for each of the five 16-question sections, 15 minutes ‘spare’ at the end for checking or going back to questions you were unsure about)
• DO use the Study Guide if you are genuinely unsure about a model or piece of information, but
• DON’T try to check everything in the Study Guide or you will struggle with timing

The rest of the tips are the same as for Foundation level:

• make sure you answer all the questions
• there are no trick questions etc.

All training organisations and trainers approved by APMG for these exams are regularly reviewed by APMG assessors to ensure that:

• they have reliable processes to support candidates who work with them,
• the course materials they use cover the syllabus fully and to a sufficient depth, and
• trainers are individually accredited both as trainers and on their knowledge of the syllabus content.

That said, there is a huge variety of formats in which the courses are offered and some may fit your needs better than others.  Here are some examples:

• 5-day in-person Foundation and Practitioner course including both examinations
• 2½- to 3-day Foundation courses including the Foundation exam
• 2-day Practitioner courses for those who have done foundation separately
• 10 x half-day sessions spread over two (or more weeks)
• Online courses (and hybrid variants) run over varying periods of time
• Courses that focus on particular industries or sectors
• Trainers with different professional backgrounds or experience of particular industries.

The variety is considerable and it is worth spending time to check out the options available before deciding which will be best for you.  It is OK to ask about things like the experience of the trainer(s) who will run your course, size of learning group and any specific emphasis or area of expertise that the particular ATO offers.  This training is a significant investment in your future and it’s worth doing your due diligence!