APM PMQ
APM PMQ topic

Governance Arrangements questions for the APM PMQ

Sponsorship, boards, roles and responsibilities, decision gates and assurance.

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Governance is the single largest area of the PMQ question bank, and the one examiners lean on hardest, because almost every scenario turns on who is accountable for what. You are expected to know the difference between the sponsor and the project manager, what a board or steering group actually decides, and where the line between governance and day-to-day management sits.

What governance covers in the PMQ

  • The roles: sponsor, project manager, steering group / board, project office and assurance
  • Accountability versus responsibility, and who owns the business case and the benefits
  • Decision gates and stage reviews — go / no-go against the business case
  • The three lines of defence and independent project assurance
  • Governance of project management: policy, delegation and reporting lines
  • How governance differs in linear, iterative and hybrid delivery

Where candidates lose marks

Confusing the sponsor and the project manager. The sponsor owns the business case and the benefits; the project manager delivers the outputs.

Treating assurance as the same as control. Assurance is independent of the project; control is the manager's own.

Assuming a decision gate is a status update. A gate is an authorisation point — it can stop the project.

Test yourself on governance

Free, timed, exam-style questions across the twelve PMQ topics — with an explanation for every answer and a per-topic breakdown at the end.

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Governance questions, answered

What is the difference between the project sponsor and the project manager?

The sponsor owns the business case and is accountable for the benefits; they decide whether the project continues. The project manager is responsible for delivering the outputs to time, cost and quality, and runs the project day to day.

What is a decision gate in APM governance?

A point between phases where the project is formally reviewed against its business case and authorised to continue, change or stop. It is an authorisation point, not a status update — a gate can end a project.

The other eleven topics

Planning
The project management plan, estimating, and the subsidiary management plans.
Life Cycles
Linear, iterative and hybrid life cycles, phases and the extended life cycle.
Scope Management
Requirements, breakdown structures, and configuration management.
Resource, Scheduling & Optimisation
Critical path, resource smoothing and levelling, and schedule optimisation.
Project Management Fundamentals
What a project is, its context, and the project environment.
Communication
Communication planning, methods, barriers and reporting.
Quality
Quality planning, assurance, control and continual improvement.
Stakeholder Management
Identifying, analysing, engaging and influencing stakeholders.
Leadership
Leadership styles, motivation, team development and management.
Risk & Issue Management
Identifying, analysing and responding to risks, and managing issues.
Project Success & Benefits
Success criteria, benefits management, and project reviews.
Read the complete APM PMQ guide

Independent study material, not affiliated with or endorsed by APM. Always check the official APM website for the current syllabus. APM does not publish a fixed pass mark for the PMQ.