PMP Question Types: Case Sets, Graphics, Matching, and Hotspots

The eight PMP question types and where each appears

PMI's 2026 Exam Content Outline (ECO) lists eight question types. Four can appear however you test, and two of those, case or scenario sets and graphic-based questions, are new in 2026. The other four appear only on a computer at a test center. PMI does not publish how many questions of each type you will get.

The ECO labels the last four "Only available on CBT." In PMI's terms, computer-based testing (CBT) is the in-person option at a test center, as distinct from online proctored testing and paper-based testing. If you test online or on paper, prepare for the first four types. If you test at a center, prepare for all eight. The ECO's general exam description also mentions drag-and-drop and "practicum hands-on testing" that may include tools, data, and case study questions, and PMI's July 10, 2026 blog says the updated exam uses more content built around dashboards, project artifacts, tools, and data.

Forum posts disagree about the total. PMI's FAQ and ECO say 180 questions, 170 scored and 10 unscored pretest questions, in 240 minutes, as checked on October 25, 2026. Claims of 185 questions or 230 minutes do not match PMI's current pages. PMI says the number of items of each type may vary by form, so treat any fixed count of case sets you see quoted as one person's experience. The PMP exam facts checked against PMI's outline list the same 180 questions and 240 minutes.

The mock-ups below are original Passy examples. Every name and number is invented, and none is a PMI item. The ECO shows PMI's own examples as images, which this guide does not reproduce.

A PMP case set: an original mock-up

Lakeside Credit Union (fictional) is replacing its mobile banking app. The team builds in two-week sprints. A regulator requires a signed-off security review before launch. The release candidate for that review was finished in sprint 6, and 64 story points of lower-priority features are planned for later releases. The data migration and the security review follow a fixed, sequential plan.

Question 1 (single response). When will the security review finish?

• A. Wednesday, March 31
• B. Friday, April 2
• C. Monday, April 5
• D. Monday, March 29

Answer: B. The review starts Monday, March 29 and runs five working days: March 29, 30, 31, April 1, and April 2. Option A is what you get by counting calendar days from March 27.

Question 2 (multiple response, choose two). Which two facts put the regulator's deadline at risk?

• A. The date the masked test data will be ready
• B. The team's average pace of 16 story points
• C. The review's length of five working days
• D. The 64 story points planned for later releases

Answer: A and C. The release candidate is already finished, so the team's pace and the later features are not on the path to the review.

Question 3 (single response). Which delivery approach is this project using?

• A. Predictive
• B. Adaptive (agile)
• C. Hybrid
• D. The case does not say

Answer: C. The build is iterative, while the migration and compliance review follow a fixed plan. Mixing predictive and agile working in one project is a hybrid approach, one of the three the ECO names. PMI says about 60% of items involve agile or hybrid approaches.

Case sets share their facts. One misreading, such as counting calendar days instead of working days, can carry into several answers, so check the units in the case before you start the first question. The PMP exam 2027 guide explains why sets like this, mixing compliance with iterative delivery, fit the 2026 outline. Full PMP prep on Passy is still being built; the PMP page lists the scenario practice planned for full PMP prep, mapped to predictive, agile, and hybrid projects.

Graphic-based and pull-down questions: a burn-up chart in words

A graphic-based question gives you the picture and asks what it shows. Here is a chart described in words.

Release burn-up for a fictional HR portal. The horizontal axis shows sprints 1 to 8. The vertical axis shows story points. The total scope line is flat at 120 points through sprint 4, steps up to 150 points at sprint 5, and stays there. The completed work line reaches 20, 41, 60, 80, and 100 points at the end of sprints 1 through 5.

Question (single response). What does the step in the scope line at sprint 5 show?

Answer: 30 points of scope were added. The completed line kept climbing at the same rate, so the team did not slow down. A burn-up shows scope changes separately from progress, which is why it suits this kind of question.

The same chart as a pull-down question. "At its average pace so far, the team will complete the remaining work during sprint [6 / 7 / 8 / 9]."

Answer: 8. The team averaged 100 ÷ 5 = 20 points per sprint. The remaining 150 − 100 = 50 points need two and a half more sprints, so the work finishes partway through sprint 8. On the real exam, a pull-down list appears only at a test center, but the reading skill is the same for a graphic-based question in any delivery mode.

Matching and enhanced matching: a mock-up built on the outline

A matching question gives you two columns and asks you to pair them. This one uses five of the eight Business Environment tasks in the 2026 ECO, the domain that grew from 8% to 26% of the exam. In the question, the right column would appear shuffled.

Each pair follows an enabler in the ECO: governance includes escalation paths and thresholds, issue management includes recognizing when a risk becomes an issue, continuous improvement includes updating organizational process assets, organizational change includes assessing culture and impact, and the external task names market changes.

Enhanced matching adds an image. On the burn-up chart above, you might be asked to drag three labels onto the right spots: "scope added" on the step at sprint 5, "work completed" on the rising line, and "remaining work" on the vertical gap between the two lines.

Point and click (hotspot): what it asks

A hotspot question shows an image with hidden clickable areas. Picture a schedule chart with five tasks, A to E, each drawn as a gray baseline bar with a blue actual bar beneath it.

Asked to "click the task that started on schedule but finished late," you would click task C. The skill is the same as in any graphic question: identify what each mark means before you look for the answer.

Practicing PMP question types without official items

PMI keeps its exam items confidential. The sample questions on PMI's PMP page are single-response scenarios that ask what the project manager should do first or next, which is still the core reasoning every type tests. The 20 free PMP practice questions on this site are also single-answer multiple choice: they do not simulate matching, hotspots, case sets, or graphics. You can train the reading skill with a simple routine:

1. Read the frame first. Title, axes, units, and legend, before the question.
2. Name what changed. A slope, a step, or a gap between planned and actual.
3. Answer from the graphic. Not from what usually happens on projects like it.

Your own work is the cheapest source of practice charts. Take a burn-up, a schedule view, a risk heat map, or a budget tracker from a past project, cover the labels, and write two questions about it for a colleague or for yourself a week later. For case sets, practice reading a long scenario once, noting the approach, the constraint, and the deadline, before you look at the first question.

Which types you see depends on where you test, so decide between a test center and online testing with this list in mind. The PMP passing score guide explains how all of these items feed one pass or fail decision. For the timed side, read what the planned 180-question PMP mock will cover when full prep launches.