PMGT5889 Project Controls
The Complete Study & Assessment Guide · S2 2026PMGT5889 Overview
- University of Sydney School of Project Management, Faculty of Engineering
- Semester 2, 2026
- a postgraduate Project Management unit
- 6 credit points
- a project controls unit in the Master of Project Management suite
- Early Feedback Test 1%, group Assignment 1 10%, Online Test 19%, group Assignment 2 30%, Group Presentation 5%, and individual Assignment 3 35%
PMGT5889 Project Controls integrates scope, schedule, cost, finance, earned value and performance reporting into a controllable project baseline. It is taught within University of Sydney School of Project Management, Faculty of Engineering. It is a postgraduate Project Management unit. It carries 6 credit points.
- PMGT5889 grading Early Feedback Test 1% · Assignment 1 10% · Online Test 19% · 3 more published item(s)
- PMGT5889 task mode Plan around this operating format: No final examination appears in the official 2026 PMGT5889 table.
- PMGT5889 pressure point The main transfer challenge is this: Keeping the scope, schedule and cost baselines internally consistent as assumptions change.
- PMGT5889 pass rule Before relying on the total mark, apply this control: Two current sources publish different attendance figures: the official 2026 S2 outline states at least 85% and says failure may result in a fail grade, while the captured unit introduction states an expected minimum of 90%. No weighted assessment is labelled as a component hurdle. Students must confirm the operative attendance threshold in the current LMS or with the teaching team.
How PMGT5889 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Early Feedback Test | 1% | Individual online quiz in Week 3 |
| Assignment 1 | 10% | Group charter, work breakdown structure and estimating task |
| Online Test | 19% | Individual 45-minute knowledge test in Week 8 |
| Assignment 2 | 30% | Group integrated scope, cost, time and earned-value control report |
| Group Presentation | 5% | Group presentation of no more than 15 minutes |
| Assignment 3 | 35% | Individual application and reflection task |
The six official weights total 100%. Attendance sources conflict: the 2026 S2 outline states at least 85%, while the captured unit introduction states an expected minimum of 90%; students must confirm the operative threshold in the current LMS or with the teaching team.
Current PMGT5889 dates
| Date | Item | Control |
|---|---|---|
| 23 Aug 2026 · 23:59 | Early Feedback Test | 1% in-class quiz |
| 13 Sep 2026 · 23:59 | Assignment 1 | 10% group start-up assignment |
| 27 Sep 2026 · 23:59 | Online Test | 19% 45-minute knowledge test |
| 1 Nov 2026 · 23:59 | Assignment 2 | 30% detailed group application |
| 8 Nov 2026 · 23:59 | Group Presentation and Assignment 3 | 5% presentation and 35% individual assignment share the published deadline |
Current-offering dates captured in the course materials. Confirm changes and exact submission settings in the live LMS.
What PMGT5889 covers
Build the course in three arcs: Integrated Baselines, Assessment Milestones and Control establishes the frame, Financial Appraisal and Funding Decisions deepens it, and Control Plan, Presentation and Individual Synthesis tests the complete method.
Integrated Baselines, Assessment Milestones and Control
1/10/19/30/5/35 architecture · project control cycle · 85% attendance expectation · link every task to a control-cycle decision and keep group evidence separate from individual judgement02Integrated Project Controls and Governance
integrated project control · control account · governance threshold · assign each control signal to an owner, baseline and escalation threshold03Charter, Scope and Work Breakdown Structure
project charter · scope baseline · work breakdown structure · decompose a deliverable until responsibility, estimate and completion evidence can be assigned04Network Logic and the Critical Path
activity network · critical path · total float · calculate earliest and latest times and explain which dependency or duration drives completion05Estimating Duration, Effort and Uncertainty
bottom-up estimate · three-point estimate · estimating contingency · compare estimate methods and expose the assumption that contributes most to uncertainty06Budgeting, Cash Flow and Cost Baseline
project budget · time-phased cost baseline · project cash flow · reconcile work-package estimates, contingency, funding timing and the performance baseline07Financial Appraisal and Funding Decisions
net present value · discount rate · funding constraint · compare project cash flows on one valuation date and test the decision under a changed rate08Baseline Integration and Status Data
performance measurement baseline · status date · progress measurement rule · validate that scope, schedule, budget and progress rules refer to the same work and reporting date09Earned Value, Cost and Schedule Performance
planned value · earned value · actual cost · calculate variances and indices, then explain the baseline relationship that each comparison measures10Forecasting Estimate at Completion
estimate at completion · estimate to complete · to-complete performance index · select a forecast formula by stating whether current efficiency is expected to persist11Variance Diagnosis, Change and Communication
variance analysis · integrated change control · performance report · move from variance signal to cause, forecast, options, approval path and stakeholder message12Control Plan, Presentation and Individual Synthesis
control plan · team evidence trail · reflective application · present one integrated control decision and then distinguish team output from individual learningIt is positioned as a project controls unit in the Master of Project Management suite.
Assessment follows the control cycle itself: define the charter and work breakdown structure, estimate and baseline the work, measure performance through earned value, communicate variance, and reflect on application.
Group artefacts and individual judgement are both visible in the final result.
Assessment in PMGT5889 is distributed as follows: Early Feedback Test 1%, group Assignment 1 10%, Online Test 19%, group Assignment 2 30%, Group Presentation 5%, and individual Assignment 3 35%
The operational assessment conditions matter here. No final examination appears in the official 2026 PMGT5889 table.
The 19% online knowledge test runs in Week 8 under the mode-specific instructions published for the enrolled class.
What makes PMGT5889 demanding is concrete: Keeping the scope, schedule and cost baselines internally consistent as assumptions change.
Earned-value numbers are easy to compute mechanically; the difficult part is tracing each variance to the baseline, forecasting its consequence and recommending a control action that does not hide uncertainty.
Two current sources publish different attendance figures: the official 2026 S2 outline states at least 85% and says failure may result in a fail grade, while the captured unit introduction states an expected minimum of 90%.
No weighted assessment is labelled as a component hurdle.
Students must confirm the operative attendance threshold in the current LMS or with the teaching team.
For enrolment planning, The 2026 unit outline publishes no prerequisite.
Build the course in three arcs: Integrated Baselines, Assessment Milestones and Control establishes the frame, Financial Appraisal and Funding Decisions deepens it, and Control Plan, Presentation and Individual Synthesis tests the complete method.
Coverage note: the attendance consequence is conditional and is not assigned to an invented assessment row.
Read earned-value signals before recommending control
- 1Calculate cost variance and schedule variance.
- 1Calculate CPI and SPI from the same status date.
- 1Interpret the four signs against the approved baseline.
- 1Name the causal evidence needed before recommending corrective action.
Key terms
- Earned value management
- A project-control method integrating planned value, earned value and actual cost to measure performance and forecast outcomes against a baseline.
- Work breakdown structure
- A hierarchical decomposition of the complete project scope into manageable deliverables and work packages used for planning and control.
- Critical path
- The longest-duration path through a project network that determines the earliest possible completion under the stated schedule assumptions.
- Cost baseline
- The time-phased approved project budget used as the reference for measuring and controlling cost performance.
- Cost performance index
- The ratio of earned value to actual cost, indicating the amount of budgeted value earned per unit of cost spent.
- Schedule performance index
- The ratio of earned value to planned value, indicating progress against the time-phased value baseline at the status date.
- Estimate at completion
- A forecast of total project cost at completion derived from current actual cost, remaining work and explicit performance assumptions.
- Change control
- A governed process for evaluating, approving, documenting and implementing changes to project scope, schedule, cost or other baselines.
PMGT5889 FAQ
Which current PMGT5889 dates are captured?
Early Feedback Test: 23 Aug 2026 · 23:59; Assignment 1: 13 Sep 2026 · 23:59; Online Test: 27 Sep 2026 · 23:59; Assignment 2: 1 Nov 2026 · 23:59. Confirm any change and the exact submission setting in the live LMS.
How is PMGT5889 assessed?
Early Feedback Test 1%, group Assignment 1 10%, Online Test 19%, group Assignment 2 30%, Group Presentation 5%, and individual Assignment 3 35%
Where do students usually lose marks in PMGT5889?
Keeping the scope, schedule and cost baselines internally consistent as assumptions change. Earned-value numbers are easy to compute mechanically; the difficult part is tracing each variance to the baseline, forecasting its consequence and recommending a control action that does not hide uncertainty.
How does cost performance index appear in PMGT5889?
Cost performance index equals earned value divided by actual cost. A value below one indicates less budgeted value was earned per dollar spent than planned, but diagnosis still requires the baseline, measurement date and cause of the variance.
Does PMGT5889 have a hurdle or component-level pass rule?
Two current sources publish different attendance figures: the official 2026 S2 outline states at least 85% and says failure may result in a fail grade, while the captured unit introduction states an expected minimum of 90%. No weighted assessment is labelled as a component hurdle. Students must confirm the operative attendance threshold in the current LMS or with the teaching team.
What is the PMGT5889 final assessed-task format?
No final examination appears in the official 2026 PMGT5889 table. The 19% online knowledge test runs in Week 8 under the mode-specific instructions published for the enrolled class.
Is this PMGT5889 resource an official university guide?
No. It is an independent PMGT5889 study resource; current institutional instructions remain authoritative for assessment operation.
How to prepare for the assessments
Retrieve the course map, practise the recurring method—define the approved scope, schedule and cost baseline, measure status consistently, diagnose variance, forecast consequence and recommend a governed control action—on changed scenarios, and verify every operational assessment detail in the live institutional system.
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