Ten weeks to 1 December and what to do with your 35 hours

Ten weeks left. On 1 December 2026 the rules change on which live training counts towards the PMP 35 hours, and a good part of the people gathering those hours still do not know whether it reaches them. We already explained what changes, so this is not the news. This is the list of what is worth doing before the window closes.

What changes and exactly when

The date is published and it is 1 December 2026. From that day, the hours of a live class, whether in person or virtual with an instructor, only count if the course is delivered by one of these three things. A PMI Authorized Training Partner. A China Registered Education Provider. Or an accredited higher education programme, including those accredited by PMI’s global accreditation centre.

That is three categories and not one. It is worth underlining, because the short version is already going around, that only authorized partners would work, and that is false. A university programme in project management can also work after 1 December, with no commercial badge involved. That said, PMI accepts accredited programmes that meet its conditions and not just any university, so it has to be checked in the directory.

Based on the training changes notice and the PMP requirements page published by PMI.

Everything you complete before 1 December remains valid under today’s rules. PMI puts it that way, with no small print. What you are doing right now does not fall through.

Who it hits and who it does not

If you already completed the 35 hours, it does not hit you. File the certificate with its completion date and get on with the application.

If you are halfway through a live course with a provider that fits none of the three categories, it hits you only if the course finishes after 1 December. The date that matters is the completion date, not the enrolment date.

If you were planning to buy a live course in January, it hits you squarely, and that is the case that stings most, because it is money you have not spent yet.

If you study with a recorded or self-paced course, it does not hit you at all.

And if you hold an active CAPM, it does not either, because PMI counts the 35 hours as met.

The routes that stay open in December

The widest one is the least mentioned. On-demand online training at your own pace can come from any organisation, and PMI says so expressly on the very page where it announces the change. No provider condition, no directory to check. That is the most useful fact in this whole affair and the one that appears least in the headlines.

Then come the three categories of live class. And the CAPM shortcut is still there for whoever already has it.

How to check whether a provider works for you

Four steps and none of them depends on trusting a salesperson.

• Ask for the delivery mode in writing. If the course is on demand or self-paced, this discussion does not reach you and you can stop reading here.
• Look the provider up in PMI’s directory of authorized partners. If it claims to be one and does not appear, it is not. A logo on the course page proves nothing.
• If it is a university, check the directory of accredited programmes. PMI publishes its own and it takes a minute to confirm.
• Ask that the certificate state the completion date. That is the date you will have to defend if your application gets audited.

One reading of the move

It is worth looking at where else this change shows up. On the page PMI uses to recruit training partners, the announcement sits under a heading saying PMP requirements are changing with authorized partners central to what comes next, and the text closes by saying the partner route is reinforced. That is not an accusation, it is a quotation. It helps explain why the self-paced route, the only one with no provider condition, always appears in smaller print.

What to do this week

If you already have the hours, nothing. File the certificate and spend the time on the experience, which is the part that actually stalls applications.

If you are studying, write to the provider and confirm the completion date. If it lands after 1 December and the provider is not in the three categories, ask to bring it forward or switch routes now, with ten weeks ahead, which is plenty.

If you were about to buy, choose between a live authorized partner and a self-paced course. Both routes work, one costs considerably less, and neither expires.

And if you have not started, the self-paced route is the one with no deadline hanging over it.

If you are also working out whether your experience is enough, look at the four routes to apply. And if you want the detail of what changes and what does not, it is in the post on the 35 hours change.

Ten weeks are not few. They are few only if you spend them finding out whether they concern you.

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