How the exam is built.
What an EMA examination measures, how its questions are written and drawn, how it is timed and scored, and what we will publish about results. Where we have not yet done something, this page does not claim it.
What each examination measures
Each examination assesses the competencies of the EMA Competency Framework at the scope of its level: one team at EMA-I, a manager of managers at EMP-II, an executive at EME-III. Questions are scenario-based — they place you in a situation and ask for the most defensible action, not for a definition. Each level has a published Exam Content Outline stating, competency by competency, how many questions it carries and what a certified holder can do: EMA-I, EMP-II, EME-III.
| Credential | Questions | Duration | Pass mark | To pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EMA-I — Engineering Management Associate | 60 | 90 minutes | 70% | 42 of 60 |
| EMP-II — Engineering Management Professional | 75 | 105 minutes | 75% | 57 of 75 |
| EME-III — Engineering Management Expert | 90 | 120 minutes | 80% | 72 of 90 |
The blueprint
Every sitting at a level is built to the same blueprint. The five domains carry equal weight, and within each domain the outline fixes how many questions each competency contributes. The table gives the domain totals; the outlines give the per-competency figures.
| Domain | EMA-I | EMP-II | EME-III |
|---|---|---|---|
| People Leadership | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Delivery & Execution | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Strategy & Vision | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Technical Judgment | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Culture & Coaching | 12 | 15 | 18 |
| Competencies examined | 27 of 29 | 29 of 29 | 29 of 29 |
Sittings started on or after 27 October 2026 draw their questions by these per-competency figures, then hold every domain at its share. Sittings started before that date drew an equal number of questions from each domain, without a per-competency distribution.
How questions are drawn
Your question set is drawn when the sitting starts, from the bank for your level, by a procedure seeded with that sitting's identifier. The same sitting therefore always produces the same set: a reload or a dropped connection resumes the exact questions you had, and the server reproduces that set to score it. A new sitting has a new identifier and draws its own set.
The examination is built to carry up to ten unscored pilot questions, mixed in and indistinguishable from the rest, so that new questions can be tried before they count. A pilot can never be scored: both draws exclude pilots before choosing the scored set. No sitting currently carries a pilot question.
How questions are written and checked
Every question is written to an Exam Content Outline and tagged with the one competency it assesses, at the scope of its level. The keyed answer follows the judgment the EMA Body of Knowledge sets out for that competency, and the wrong options are built from recognizable mistakes rather than nonsense.
The questions were drafted with AI assistance, working to the outlines and the Body of Knowledge, and accepted into the bank by the Academy. We say so because you are entitled to know how the instrument that judges you was made.
Automated checks run against the bank's source on every change: each question must carry a competency within its own domain, no two questions at a level may share a stem, and the correct option must not be reliably the longest. That last check exists because a measurement of the whole bank in September 2026 found the correct option was the longest in nearly every single-answer and scenario question — a cue a candidate could exploit without knowing the material. The options were rewritten to remove it, and the rewritten bank has been in use since 27 September 2026. From every sitting, the platform records how often each question was shown and how often it was answered correctly.
Timing and scoring
Every question counts
Your score is the share of all questions in the sitting answered correctly, not of the questions you attempted. An unanswered question scores zero. Each question is worth one point, with no partial credit and no negative marking; a select-all-that-apply question is right only when the selection matches exactly. Answers to questions outside your drawn set are ignored.
The clock is the server's
The countdown you see is a courtesy; the limit is enforced by the examination server, measured from the moment the sitting started. Your answers are submitted automatically when the countdown ends. The server allows two minutes beyond the limit for a slow connection; a submission later than that is not accepted and the sitting is closed.
Pass marks
The pass mark for each level is set by the Academy and published in the table above. It is applied to every candidate in the same way: there is no curve, no quota, and no adjustment after the fact. You are measured against the standard, not against other candidates.
Retakes
A candidate who does not reach the pass mark may take another sitting; there is no limit on retakes. Each sitting draws its own question set. You may hold only one open sitting per certification at a time.
Keeping the answer key out of the browser
What reaches your browser during an examination is a fixed list of fields — the question, its scenario, its instructions, its options, and labels for its domain, format and difficulty. The correct answer and its explanation never leave the server, and scoring happens there. The report you receive afterwards shows results by domain and competency band; it contains no question text, no option text and no answer key, so no report can be used to reconstruct the bank.
Impartiality
The Academy sells no training, courses or coaching, and endorses none. The Body of Knowledge is free and is the whole of the examined material. The sample examination's questions were written for it alone and are never drawn from the live question banks. How study material and examination development are kept apart is set out in the governance chapter of the standard.
Pass rates
We will publish the pass rate for each examination, with the number of candidates, once that examination has at least 30 candidates. Until then a percentage would mislead more than it informs.
Administration, the credential lifecycle, accommodations and integrity rules are on Certification Standards. Questions about this page: contact the Academy.