PRINCE2 7 Exam Prep and Tips
PRINCE2 7 is a globally recognized project management method with over a million professionals in 200 countries certified after passing the scenario-based examination.
The PRINCE2 Practitioner certification is awarded based on a candidate’s ability to apply their knowledge of PRINCE2 to a realistic scenario.
The examination format requires learners to demonstrate their understanding through the ability to engage with the scenario and provide a rationale for their responses. Tried and tested for 25 years, PRINCE2 has been continually developed and refined through consultation with project management professionals to reflect their real-life experiences.
It helps organizations to understand how to incorporate the principles, practices, and processes of PRINCE2 into their projects. It also provides a common language that unites the project team with other stakeholders, regardless of language and geographical location.
Licensed trainers and consultants, and accredited training organizations (ATOs) offer PRINCE2 7 training courses for all the certification levels or you can self-study.
PeopleCert is the IP owner of the Global Best Practice portfolio and administers the exams.
PRINCE2 7: Foundation and Practitioner are the two main levels of the PRINCE2 7 project management certification scheme.
The PRINCE2 Practitioner course and examination follow on from the PRINCE2 Foundation level. The Foundation level course and exam focused on your ability to recall and understand essential PRINCE2 concepts.
The Practitioner course requires you to analyse realistic scenarios and to apply PRINCE2 concepts to those scenarios. As such, the course assumes that you have a strong grasp of the PRINCE2 Foundation concepts.
You may also benefit from self-study of the Official Book to refresh your memory.
The PRINCE2 7th Edition Practitioner Exam
You will have up to 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete the exam. If you take the exam in a language that is not your native or working language, you may be awarded 25% extra time, or 188 minutes in total.
There are 70 questions on the exam, each worth one mark. There is no negative marking.
The exam includes a scenario in a Scenario Booklet which is not the same as the scenario used for the workshop. Be sure to read the scenario in the Scenario Booklet thoroughly, as you will be unfamiliar with this version.
Take time to make notes or highlight relevant sections before responding to the questions.
The questions ask you to apply your PRINCE2 knowledge to a situation, analyse the information provided, and reason whether a course of action is effective, appropriate, and following PRINCE2 best practices.
The exam format is scenario-based. You will be asked to read a realistic scenario, which gives background information about a project that the questions explore. For at least one question, you may need to use more information than will be provided about people working on the project.
All questions start with a short scenario followed by a question and multiple choice.
Classic questions (worth one mark) present four options, each with a response and a justification.
Matching questions (worth three marks) present three pieces of information and ask you to choose an answer for each from a list of five or six options.
No material is permitted in the exam other than the Official Book, Managing Successful Projects. You can also make notes inside the book.
The PRINCE2 Practitioner exam is open book. You can consult the Official Book, PRINCE2
Is your exam booked already? If it is, are you sure of the date and time?
If it is not, find out how to and book it. Do you know where your exam will take place? Be sure you know the location of the exam.
You must score at least 42 marks to pass the exam and will receive your results as soon as they are released. If you do not pass, you can schedule a retake of the exam immediately.
The questions ask you to apply your PRINCE2 knowledge to a situation, analyse the information provided, and reason whether a course of action is effective, appropriate, and following PRINCE2 best practices.
The exam format is scenario-based. You will be asked to read a realistic scenario, which gives background information about a project that the questions explore. For at least one question, you may need to use more information than will be provided about people working on the project.
All questions start with a short scenario followed by a question and multiple choice.
Classic questions (worth one mark) present four options, each with a response and a justification. Matching questions (worth three marks) present three pieces of information and ask you to choose an answer for each from a list of five or six options.
Time management:
One key issue is running out of time for an exam. On average, you have about two minutes to respond to each question. If a particular question is taking longer to answer, move on and come back to it after you have attempted the rest of the questions.
Remember to keep checking the time as you progress through the exam.
Attention to detail:
Make sure to read each question thoroughly. Sometimes a question may seem daunting at first, but after a few readings, it starts to make more sense.
Better still, pay attention to initial thoughts about the answer to a question.
Often, we can double back and change our initial response, when in fact that first response was correct.
Make notes during the exam, including highlighting keywords in the questions and eliminating answer options which seem incorrect.
Pressure:
Stress is a perfectly natural reaction to a difficult situation such as an exam.
Stress can challenge us to achieve great things, but it can also get out of control and cause problems. If you feel stressed or panicky at any point before or during the exam, take deep breaths in and out.
Simple breathing exercises will get more oxygen to the brain, which allows us to think more clearly.
Here are some useful independent study tips:
Retrieval:
Practice asking a question and having to respond. This is consistently found to be one of the most effective ways to prepare for an exam. The most obvious format for this is completing a sample paper
You could also ask someone to ask you questions about PRINCE2 principles, practices, and processes.
Spacing:
Do not overdo study sessions. Little and often is better than all at once.
Essentially, short study sessions over a longer period is better than trying to complete all exam preparation in one go.
Interleaving:
Mix up the topics to review to encourage thinking deeply about the material. This may also help you to become familiar with the Official Book, add further annotations and tabs to access information quickly, and highlight connections between topics where relevant.
Elaborative interrogation:
This approach requires you to ask ‘Why is this true?’ and try to find your own rationale for responses before checking them in the Answers and Rationales booklet.
This will help to further deepen knowledge and may highlight any misconceptions.
Reading out loud has been shown to be far more effective than reading alone.
Distraction-free:
Listening to music with lyrics or having phones nearby has been found to compete for attention and usually reduces learning. Try to reduce distractions during study sessions.
Teaching others:
Also known as ‘the protégé effect’. Having to teach someone else makes us learn the material more thoroughly and clearly. If you have a partner, friend, or colleague who can help you prepare for the exam, this approach can be really helpful.
PRINCE2 7th Editition Exam technique
For each question, the examiner needs to be sure you have obtained the correct answer through knowledge and not guesswork or luck!
For this reason, exam answer options include correct answers, but do not explain or relate to the question being asked
Watch out for “dummy” answer options!
Many candidates fail because they did not answer the question, so use these checks to spot wrong answers:
However, this does not explain why …
However, that does not mean …
However, this does not relate to …
PRINCE2 Practitioner Example Question
The third party is proposing to use an agile delivery approach, and the project manager is concerned that if so, a new version of the issue management approach will be needed, as it was not originally written to work within an agile development environment. Is this appropriate or not?
A. Yes, because it is important that the change control approach
works with and supports the projects chosen delivery approach
B. Yes, because now there needs to be two change control approaches:
one for the third party and one for the rest of the project
C. No, because the issues management approach
is created in the initiation stage
D. No, because in an agile environment, changes are not controlled
so, an issues management approach will not be needed
The Dummy Answer
The correct answer option will always answer the question directly
A Dummy answer may, in and of itself, be a correct statement – but it does NOT answer the question!
A Dummy answer will often not explain why it answers the question, why the outcome is correct, or how it relates to the question
Beware of words such as will, must, always, etc …
… or can, may, might, could,
The correct answer might be the reverse!
PRINCE2® 7 Foundation and Practitioner
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The PRINCE2 Foundation examination assesses your knowledge and comprehension of the PRINCE2 project management methodology as detailed in the syllabus. The PRINCE2 Practitioner examination, on the other hand, gauges your ability to apply and tailor the PRINCE2 method. Candidates who pass the Practitioner exam should be able to start implementing the method on an actual project with some guidance. However, their effectiveness may differ based on their experience in project management, the complexity of the project, and the level of support they receive in their work environment.
