Change practitioner track: your route from first course to CCMP and MCMP

What are the four steps from first course to MCMP?

The track runs from a 21-hour QEP™ course, through the CCMP® after three or five years of experience, to the MCMP™ after 8,400 hours, with renewal every three years (ACMP eligibility page, read on 7 October 2026).

Each step has its own gate. The course gives you the 21 hours the CCMP asks for. Experience is the slow part, and it cannot be bought. The CCMP and the MCMP are awarded by the ACMP after an application, not by the course provider, and both lapse after three years unless you renew. This page is the hub of the practitioner section, and the steps below link to the detailed pages.

Step 1: a 21-hour course and a certificate

The first step is a course of at least 21 hours aligned with the Standard for Change Management©, completed in the past seven years, with an instructor present in the classroom or online. Blended formats are accepted (ACMP training FAQ, 7 October 2026).

QEP™ courses are pre-qualified. Any other instructor-led training aligned with the Standard© may be submitted with its objectives, outline, dates, duration and the instructor-led portion, documented in English. For a self-paced start, Leanova’s 21-hour CCMP exam prep course (code Q000607) cost US$595 on 7 October 2026, with 45 modules, one year of access, English with subtitles, and a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Taking the course early has a practical benefit that people overlook: the vocabulary of the Standard helps you recognise which of your daily tasks count as change management. That matters for step two.

Step 2: logging 4,200 or 7,000 hours of experience

The CCMP asks for 4,200 hours (three years) of change management experience with a four-year degree or international equivalent, or 7,000 hours (five years) with secondary education. Experience hours carry no time limit.

Start a log in your first month. Note the project, the dates, the hours and the change activity: stakeholder analysis, communication plans, training design, resistance management. A short, dated entry written the week it happens is worth more than a reconstruction made in year three. Our page on the change manager career path describes the roles where those hours accumulate.

Step 3: the CCMP application and exam

The CCMP application cost US$595 for ACMP members and US$795 for non-members on 7 October 2026, with the exam fee included (ACMP application page).

The exam has 150 multiple-choice questions over three hours, proctored online by Kryterion or taken at a Kryterion test centre, with up to three attempts within a year. A retake costs US$300 for members and US$375 for non-members, up to two retakes within one year of application acceptance. The ACMP does not publish a pass rate or a pass mark, so any figure quoted by a training website is unsourced.

Preparation is the other cost. Some candidates add mock exams before the sitting; Leanova’s set of three 150-question mock exams was US$95 on 7 October 2026. For a comparison of preparation courses, see our review of change management certifications.

Step 4: the MCMP with 8,400 hours and 6 hours of mentorship

The MCMP requires an active CCMP, 8,400 hours of experience, 10 different hours of training and at least 6 hours of Standard-aligned mentorship as a mentor, all within the 10 years before applying (ACMP MCMP page).

The fee was US$655 for members and US$855 for non-members on 7 October 2026. Exam format and languages are not published. The ACMP states that if the CCMP expires, the MCMP expires too, so the renewal calendar of the two credentials is linked.

The 10 training hours must be new. Leanova’s 10-hour MCMP course (code Q000655, self-paced, English with subtitles) was US$395 on 7 October 2026, and its MCMP overview page sets out the format. The live version cost US$995, with dates on request. Our guide to the MCMP and its 10 training hours goes through the requirements one by one.

A fictional practitioner, year by year

The table below follows Camille, an invented project coordinator with a bachelor’s degree, to show how the hours and dates fit together. The example is fictional, and your own timeline depends on your role and employer.

When	What Camille does	Requirement met
Month 1	Completes a 21-hour QEP™ course and starts the hours log	21 training hours, valid for seven years
Years 1 to 3	Works on three change projects, logging hours monthly	4,200 hours (three years)
Year 3	Applies to the ACMP, then sits the exam	CCMP®
Years 3 to 6	Continues in the field and mentors two colleagues	8,400 hours, 6 mentorship hours
Year 6	Takes a different 10-hour course, then applies	MCMP™
Every three years	Earns PDUs and pays the renewal fee	60 PDUs for the CCMP, 15 for the MCMP, 6 of them in mentorship

Camille’s plan assumes steady full-time work in change roles. Part-time involvement stretches each step.

How do renewals work over the long run?

The CCMP stays valid for three years and renews with 60 professional development units, or PDUs, from conferences, QEP courses, webinars, reading, work, non-QEP courses and volunteering (ACMP renewal page).

The renewal fee was US$100 for members and US$150 for non-members on 7 October 2026, and a one-year suspension period applies before expiry. The MCMP renews every three years with 15 PDUs, including 6 in mentorship. Our page on CCMP renewal and PDUs lists the activities that count. Plan renewals from the day you pass: PDUs collected steadily over three years take less effort than 60 of them in the final month.

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