National Diploma in Project Management (PMP)
Develop the planning and coordination skills needed to manage a defined project.
About the course
Develop the planning and coordination skills needed to manage a defined project. You will balance delivery requirements, people, resources and organisational value while documenting decisions.
What you'll learn
Select a delivery approach suited to a project.
Integrate scope, schedule, cost and resources.
Coordinate stakeholders and address project issues.
Evaluate progress and control proposed changes.
Review project outcomes against intended benefits.
Requirements
Prepare with relevant school learning, practical numeracy, English communication and basic digital skills. BMIT must confirm admission, progression, recognition of prior learning and approved practical requirements.
Course content
The complete subject sequence below moves from foundations to specialist application. Stages show learning progression. Practical work and the final project draw together the subjects studied.
3 learning stages 16 subjects
1Stage 1: Foundations6 subjects
2Stage 2: Core subjects8 subjects
3Stage 3: Specialist subjects and application2 subjects
Subjects in this programme
The complete subject sequence below moves from foundations to specialist application. Stages show learning progression. Practical work and the final project draw together the subjects studied.
16 subjects are listed below with a short description of each. The Subject descriptions tab contains the learning outcomes, topics, practical tasks and assessments.
Stage 1: Foundations
- Business Communication. Prepare purposeful communication for colleagues, customers and decision makers. You will organise evidence, adjust tone for different audiences and check whether a message leads to the intended action. Examples include multilingual workplaces, professional correspondence and short management reports.
- Digital Business Skills. Use everyday digital tools to organise business information accurately. You will build reliable spreadsheets, manage documents and share work responsibly. Activities address uneven connectivity, accessible communication and the protection of personal information in small organisations and public offices.
- Business Statistics. Summarise data and judge the strength of numerical evidence. You will distinguish a population from a sample, choose appropriate summaries and interpret uncertainty. Business examples cover demand, customer service, workforce information and variation in operating performance.
- Project Management Foundations. Organise a defined piece of work with a clear objective, scope and responsibilities. You will distinguish projects from continuing operations and prepare basic plans for time, resources and communication. The module develops practical records for monitoring progress and recording agreed changes.
- Project Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement. Coordinate project work through clear responsibilities, constructive communication and stakeholder participation. You will analyse interests, manage team relationships and prepare responses to conflict. Activities connect leadership choices with project constraints, stakeholder expectations and the need to document decisions and unresolved concerns.
- Project Scheduling and Resource Planning. Translate project work into a realistic schedule and resource plan. You will examine activity dependencies, estimate effort and assess the consequences of resource constraints. Activities require visible assumptions and comparisons between an initial baseline and changes affecting delivery dates or available capacity.
Stage 2: Core subjects
- Project Finance and Cost Control. Plan project expenditure and monitor the relationship between cost and progress. You will estimate resources, develop a budget and analyse changes against a baseline. Cases distinguish cash flow, committed expenditure and performance measures, with clear explanations of the assumptions supporting forecasts.
- Project Risk, Quality and Procurement. Coordinate uncertainty, quality requirements and purchased resources within a project. You will develop risk responses, plan quality checks and define supplier responsibilities. Cases connect these decisions with project scope and schedule so controls support delivery rather than becoming detached administrative records.
- Procurement Contracts and Negotiation. Prepare and administer purchasing agreements with clear requirements and responsibilities. You will plan negotiation, examine performance provisions and manage variations or disputes. Cases distinguish a commercially useful agreement from unsupported legal assumptions and use the jurisdiction specified in the assessment materials.
- Quality Management and Improvement. Examine how quality is designed, monitored and improved in goods and services. You will define requirements, analyse variation and investigate causes of failure. The module connects improvement tools with customer evidence, process ownership and the practical need to verify whether a change works.
- Agile and Adaptive Project Delivery. Organise iterative work where requirements develop through feedback. You will compare predictive and adaptive approaches, prioritise a backlog and review completed increments. Cases require a reasoned choice of approach and show how governance, quality and stakeholder accountability still apply during adaptation.
- Programme and Portfolio Management. Coordinate related projects and choose investments against organisational priorities. You will examine dependencies, benefits and resource competition, then design governance and review arrangements. Cases emphasise the difference between completing project outputs and achieving the wider change or service improvement expected from a programme.
- Corporate Governance and Accountability. Examine how boards, executives and assurance functions share responsibility for organisational direction and control. You will analyse accountability arrangements and conflicts of interest, then assess the quality of governance information. Cases consider private companies, public entities and member-based organisations.
- Entrepreneurship and Small Business. Develop an enterprise idea through customer evidence, resource planning and a realistic operating model. You will examine owner responsibilities and compare routes into business. Activities address informal and formal markets, limited finance and the need to test assumptions before expansion.
Stage 3: Specialist subjects and application
- Workplace Learning and Professional Portfolio. Connect taught subjects with supervised or carefully designed simulated professional work. You will agree learning objectives, record tasks and evaluate your decisions against evidence. The portfolio makes your individual contribution visible and identifies areas requiring further practice or specialist supervision.
- Applied Project Management Portfolio. Integrate planning, delivery and evaluation in a complete project management case. You will maintain consistent scope, schedule, cost and risk records, then explain changes and lessons. The portfolio demonstrates how management decisions respond to evidence throughout a project's life cycle.
Assessment and practical learning
- Integrated planning and control exercises.
- Team and governance case assessments.
- A project dossier and oral defence.
Practical application
Produce a proposed delivery dossier for a realistic development or business project. Include decision records, baselines, reporting measures, changes, closure and a benefits-review plan.
Subject descriptions
Select a subject to read its learning outcomes, main topics, practical task and assessment.
Stage 1: Foundations
Business Communication
Prepare purposeful communication for colleagues, customers and decision makers. You will organise evidence, adjust tone for different audiences and check whether a message leads to the intended action. Examples include multilingual workplaces, professional correspondence and short management reports.
Learning outcomes
- Write a concise business report
- Record decisions and assigned actions
- Present evidence for a defined audience
Main topics
- Audience and purpose
- Professional correspondence
- Report structure
- Meeting records
- Presentations
- Intercultural communication
Practical task
Produce a report, meeting record and five-minute briefing about a service problem.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Digital Business Skills
Use everyday digital tools to organise business information accurately. You will build reliable spreadsheets, manage documents and share work responsibly. Activities address uneven connectivity, accessible communication and the protection of personal information in small organisations and public offices.
Learning outcomes
- Build a checked spreadsheet
- Organise retrievable business documents
- Apply appropriate access permissions
Main topics
- File organisation
- Word processing
- Spreadsheet formulas
- Presentations
- Collaborative working
- Privacy and access
Practical task
Create a shared office information pack with formulas, document versions and access instructions.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Business Statistics
Summarise data and judge the strength of numerical evidence. You will distinguish a population from a sample, choose appropriate summaries and interpret uncertainty. Business examples cover demand, customer service, workforce information and variation in operating performance.
Learning outcomes
- Select an appropriate data summary
- Interpret a confidence interval
- Explain limits of a correlation
Main topics
- Sampling
- Descriptive statistics
- Probability distributions
- Confidence intervals
- Hypothesis testing
- Correlation and regression
Practical task
Analyse an anonymised service dataset and write a short evidence report.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Project Management Foundations
Organise a defined piece of work with a clear objective, scope and responsibilities. You will distinguish projects from continuing operations and prepare basic plans for time, resources and communication. The module develops practical records for monitoring progress and recording agreed changes.
Learning outcomes
- Define a project scope
- Build a work breakdown structure
- Report project progress
Main topics
- Project purpose
- Life cycle
- Scope
- Work breakdown
- Responsibilities
- Progress reporting
Practical task
Prepare a project charter, work breakdown and progress report for a small initiative.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Project Leadership and Stakeholder Engagement
Coordinate project work through clear responsibilities, constructive communication and stakeholder participation. You will analyse interests, manage team relationships and prepare responses to conflict. Activities connect leadership choices with project constraints, stakeholder expectations and the need to document decisions and unresolved concerns.
Learning outcomes
- Analyse stakeholder interests
- Plan project communication
- Resolve a simulated team conflict
Main topics
- Team roles
- Stakeholder analysis
- Communication planning
- Conflict
- Negotiation
- Engagement review
Practical task
Prepare a stakeholder and team working plan and facilitate a simulated project meeting.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Project Scheduling and Resource Planning
Translate project work into a realistic schedule and resource plan. You will examine activity dependencies, estimate effort and assess the consequences of resource constraints. Activities require visible assumptions and comparisons between an initial baseline and changes affecting delivery dates or available capacity.
Learning outcomes
- Construct a project schedule
- Calculate a critical path
- Resolve a resource conflict
Main topics
- Activity definition
- Dependencies
- Estimation
- Critical path
- Resource loading
- Schedule control
Practical task
Develop a linked project schedule with a resource-adjustment scenario.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Stage 2: Core subjects
Project Finance and Cost Control
Plan project expenditure and monitor the relationship between cost and progress. You will estimate resources, develop a budget and analyse changes against a baseline. Cases distinguish cash flow, committed expenditure and performance measures, with clear explanations of the assumptions supporting forecasts.
Learning outcomes
- Prepare a project budget
- Analyse cost performance
- Forecast completion expenditure
Main topics
- Cost estimation
- Budgeting
- Cash flow
- Cost baselines
- Performance measures
- Forecasts
Practical task
Produce a project budget and a cost-control report from supplied progress data.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Project Risk, Quality and Procurement
Coordinate uncertainty, quality requirements and purchased resources within a project. You will develop risk responses, plan quality checks and define supplier responsibilities. Cases connect these decisions with project scope and schedule so controls support delivery rather than becoming detached administrative records.
Learning outcomes
- Prepare a project risk response
- Define an acceptance criterion
- Plan a project purchase
Main topics
- Risk identification
- Risk responses
- Quality planning
- Acceptance criteria
- Project procurement
- Supplier control
Practical task
Compile a risk, quality and procurement plan for a fictional project.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Procurement Contracts and Negotiation
Prepare and administer purchasing agreements with clear requirements and responsibilities. You will plan negotiation, examine performance provisions and manage variations or disputes. Cases distinguish a commercially useful agreement from unsupported legal assumptions and use the jurisdiction specified in the assessment materials.
Learning outcomes
- Prepare a negotiation plan
- Evaluate a contract provision
- Document a contract variation
Main topics
- Contract specifications
- Negotiation planning
- Terms and responsibilities
- Performance clauses
- Variations
- Dispute processes
Practical task
Produce a negotiation brief and contract administration file for a fictional purchase.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Quality Management and Improvement
Examine how quality is designed, monitored and improved in goods and services. You will define requirements, analyse variation and investigate causes of failure. The module connects improvement tools with customer evidence, process ownership and the practical need to verify whether a change works.
Learning outcomes
- Specify a quality requirement
- Analyse process variation
- Evaluate an improvement result
Main topics
- Quality requirements
- Process variation
- Quality costs
- Root-cause analysis
- Improvement cycles
- Quality systems
Practical task
Complete a quality improvement investigation with baseline and follow-up measures.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Agile and Adaptive Project Delivery
Organise iterative work where requirements develop through feedback. You will compare predictive and adaptive approaches, prioritise a backlog and review completed increments. Cases require a reasoned choice of approach and show how governance, quality and stakeholder accountability still apply during adaptation.
Learning outcomes
- Compare delivery approaches
- Prioritise an iteration backlog
- Evaluate an increment and improvement action
Main topics
- Delivery approaches
- Backlogs
- Iteration planning
- Team coordination
- Reviews
- Retrospectives
Practical task
Run a simulated delivery iteration and submit its backlog, review and retrospective.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Programme and Portfolio Management
Coordinate related projects and choose investments against organisational priorities. You will examine dependencies, benefits and resource competition, then design governance and review arrangements. Cases emphasise the difference between completing project outputs and achieving the wider change or service improvement expected from a programme.
Learning outcomes
- Compare project investment priorities
- Map programme dependencies
- Design a benefits review
Main topics
- Portfolio selection
- Programme governance
- Dependencies
- Benefits
- Resource balancing
- Programme assurance
Practical task
Prepare a programme business case with portfolio choices and benefits measures.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Corporate Governance and Accountability
Examine how boards, executives and assurance functions share responsibility for organisational direction and control. You will analyse accountability arrangements and conflicts of interest, then assess the quality of governance information. Cases consider private companies, public entities and member-based organisations.
Learning outcomes
- Map governance responsibilities
- Analyse a governance weakness
- Recommend an accountability improvement
Main topics
- Board responsibilities
- Accountability
- Committees
- Conflicts of interest
- Assurance coordination
- Governance reporting
Practical task
Prepare a governance review with a responsibility map and prioritised recommendations.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Entrepreneurship and Small Business
Develop an enterprise idea through customer evidence, resource planning and a realistic operating model. You will examine owner responsibilities and compare routes into business. Activities address informal and formal markets, limited finance and the need to test assumptions before expansion.
Learning outcomes
- Assess an enterprise opportunity
- Construct a business model
- Prepare a feasible start-up plan
Main topics
- Opportunity identification
- Customer discovery
- Business models
- Start-up resources
- Small business controls
- Business planning
Practical task
Test a small venture idea and submit a business plan with evidence of customer needs.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Stage 3: Specialist subjects and application
Workplace Learning and Professional Portfolio
Connect taught subjects with supervised or carefully designed simulated professional work. You will agree learning objectives, record tasks and evaluate your decisions against evidence. The portfolio makes your individual contribution visible and identifies areas requiring further practice or specialist supervision.
Learning outcomes
- Set assessable workplace objectives
- Document your contribution
- Evaluate professional learning needs
Main topics
- Learning agreement
- Professional conduct
- Work evidence
- Supervisor feedback
- Reflective analysis
- Improvement planning
Practical task
Compile a verified or simulated workplace portfolio with supervisor or facilitator feedback.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Applied Project Management Portfolio
Integrate planning, delivery and evaluation in a complete project management case. You will maintain consistent scope, schedule, cost and risk records, then explain changes and lessons. The portfolio demonstrates how management decisions respond to evidence throughout a project's life cycle.
Learning outcomes
- Integrate a project baseline
- Control a documented change
- Evaluate project results
Main topics
- Business case
- Integrated baseline
- Delivery controls
- Change management
- Handover
- Lessons and benefits
Practical task
Submit a complete project file and present a handover and lessons briefing.
Assessment
Assessment combines applied exercises, a documented case or practical portfolio and an individual written or oral explanation. Judgement considers technical accuracy, reasoning, evidence quality and the feasibility of recommendations.
Instructors
