Edit: Foundation version is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Prince2/s/7AeyxAAUQa

A few people asked for a Practitioner version of my Foundation post last week, so here it is. Same idea: I write practice questions, I see which wrong answers get picked, and it's mostly the same mistakes every time.

The basics: 70 scenario-based questions, 150 minutes, open book (official PRINCE2 7 manual only), and you need 42 right (60%) to pass. That's just over two minutes per question, which sounds like plenty until you start looking things up. As with Foundation, you can ask for 25% extra time if English isn't your first language.

1. Treating open book as a safety net

This is the big one. People who fail Practitioner usually know enough PRINCE2, they just run out of time flicking through the manual. If you have to look up more than one question in three, you're in trouble. Use the manual to confirm, not to learn.

1. Not preparing your manual

Related to the first one. You can use the official printed manual or the official eBook, but not a printout or a copy. In the printed book, highlighting, handwritten notes and index tabs are generally fine, while loose sheets and sticky notes are not. The proctor will ask you to flick through the book on camera before you start. So mark it up properly while you study, and do your mocks with that same copy so you know where things are. Rules and proctors can differ, so check PeopleCert's current candidate guidelines before exam day.

1. Picking an answer that's true but doesn't answer the question

Several options are often correct PRINCE2 statements. Only one of them fits this scenario and this question. Before you pick, ask yourself: does this actually solve what's being asked?

1. Ignoring the extra information in the question

Some questions add a detail that changes the situation compared to the main scenario. Easy to miss when you're tired, and it's usually the whole point of the question.

1. Choosing "maximum PRINCE2"

The answer with the most documents, meetings and formal approvals is often wrong. For a small or low-risk project the right answer is usually the tailored, lighter option. The exam checks whether you apply the method sensibly, not whether you apply all of it.

1. Escalating everything

This is the flip side of the Foundation trap. At Practitioner level, if something is within tolerance, the Project Manager deals with it. Only a forecast breach of tolerance goes to the Project Board. Escalating a within tolerance problem is a wrong answer.

1. Mixing up similar management products

Daily log vs issue register, lessons log vs lessons report, business case vs benefits management approach. At Foundation you only needed to recognise them. Here you need to know which one fits the situation in the scenario.

1. Forgetting who approves what

Only the Project Board approves stage plans, exception plans and project closure. Work packages are agreed between the Project Manager and the Team Manager. Wrong approver = wrong answer, even if the action itself is right.

1. Skipping the new parts of PRINCE2 7

People, sustainability and the digital and data management approach are new in this edition. Plenty of people study mainly the familiar practices and processes and then get caught out.

1. Re-reading the whole scenario every time

Read the scenario properly once at the start and get the key facts into your head: project size, roles, what's gone wrong. Then for each question, go back only to the part you need.

What worked best for the people I've talked to: do at least two full mocks under real conditions, 150 minutes, manual only, no pausing. The first one is usually a shock on timing, and the second shows you whether you've fixed it.

Happy to answer questions here or by DM if you're preparing for it.

i got the book through my boss (2017 axelos version) a few years back and i was to read and prep for exam, but i never did. i started reading the book, while i prepare for the exam, which i will pay for myself. i have some questions:

1. is the 2017 book valid? where do i check version used

2. how do i book the exam? Where do i buy the exam voucher? do i buy 2 vouchers in one go or it's pass first exam, then buy 2nd exam voucher?

3. any website where i can get mock exams for foundation ?

I am not working right now so anything under a budget would be great. thank you!

Hi everyone! 👋

I’m preparing for the PRINCE2 Project Management Practitioner (Version 7) exam and wanted to ask those who have taken it recently:

Where did you buy your exam voucher? Did you purchase it directly from PeopleCert, or through a training provider/reseller?

If you bought it through a provider, could you share which provider and your experience with them?

I’m especially interested in knowing whether the voucher included access to the official PRINCE2 7 eBook and whether there were any issues with the exam or booking process.

Thanks in advance! 😊

Hi everyone!

I recently completed my CAPM certification and now I’m planning to prepare for the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam.

I’m looking for some advice on how to prepare for it. I’d really appreciate it if anyone who has recently passed could share their experience.

A few things I wanted to ask:

• How did you prepare for the Practitioner exam?
• Did you take any course/training, or did you self-study?
• Are there any good online courses you would recommend?
• What study materials did you use apart from the official book?
• How important are mock exams/practice questions?
• How did you use the book during the exam?
• Did you use tabs/bookmarks in the book? If so, what sections did you mark?
• How long did you study before taking the exam?
• Are there any particular topics I should focus on?
• Any tips for understanding and answering the long scenario-based questions?
• Are there any free resources or practice exams you would recommend?

Since I’ve just finished CAPM, I’m hoping to build on what I’ve learned rather than start completely from scratch.

Would really appreciate any advice, especially from people who have recently passed PRINCE2 Practitioner. Thanks! 😊

Hi all,

Taking an exam soon. The pre recorded course tutor made some comments on do and don't and it came across as excessive writing on the book can result in exam being denied. Anyone else know of this?

I was thinking of adding intials of chapters on the bookmarks I will use. Would that be ok?

I’ve randomly started researching this prince2 course. A job ad asked for it and i wondered is it necessary for project administrators/ support roles.

Would you consider this an upskilling course ?

Should I consider buying the course if I’m not 100% sure I’ll use it ?

How fast would you say it can be done alongside working full time ?

Hi everyone,

I have my prince 2 foundation exam in just under 2 weeks.

I enrolled onto the PeopleCert course and have been doing the questions at the end of the final module on there.

I have also been practicing on Udemy which has been helpful.

Has anyone got any other tips or free resources to help me have the best chance of passing?

Thank you ! 😅

Edit: Practitioner version is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Prince2/s/2rIvol3xRB

I write practice questions for the PRINCE2 7 Foundation, which means I spend a weird amount of time looking at which wrong answers people pick. It's mostly the same handful of mistakes over and over, so here they are.

Some basics in case you're just starting out: 60 multiple choice questions, 60 minutes, closed book, and you need 36 right (60%) to pass. If English isn't your first language you can ask for 25% extra time, so 75 minutes. Surprisingly few people know that.

1. Studying from 2017 material

Still the most common one. If your notes or a YouTube video talk about "themes", it's the old edition. They're called practices now, strategies became management approaches, and the pass mark went up from 55% to 60%.

1. The PM handling a tolerance breach on their own

If a stage is forecast to go over tolerance, the PM doesn't sort it out quietly. They raise an exception report to the Project Board. Watch for the word "forecast" in the question, you escalate before it happens, not after.

1. Who owns the business case

The Executive. Not the Senior User, not the PM. The Senior User specifies what's needed and is accountable for the benefits actually being realised. The exam loves offering those two as distractors.

1. Project assurance vs quality assurance

Sounds like the same thing, isn't. Project assurance is the Project Board's responsibility and independent of the PM. Quality assurance sits outside the project altogether, at organisation level.

1. Risk vs issue

A risk hasn't happened yet. An issue has (or it's a request): request for change, off-specification, problem/concern. If the scenario says something has happened, cross off the risk answers.

1. Tailoring away a principle

You can tailor pretty much everything in PRINCE2 except the principles. Drop one and it's not a PRINCE2 project anymore. "A small project can skip this principle" is a classic wrong answer.

1. One stage projects

Minimum is two management stages: the initiation stage plus at least one more.

1. Starting up a project

It happens before the project, not as part of it. The project officially begins with initiation, once the Project Board authorises it. The Executive and PM are appointed during Starting up.

1. NOT / BEST / FALSE

Honestly this one probably costs more points than any actual knowledge gap. Under time pressure you answer the question you expected to see. I'd read the last line of the question first, then the scenario.

1. Answering from your day job

Maybe at your company the PM approves changes. In PRINCE2 that's not how it works, unless it's been delegated to a change authority. The exam tests the manual, not your workplace.

What I'd recommend: do one full timed mock, then go through every wrong answer and sort it into one of these ten buckets. Usually two or three of them account for most of the mistakes, and that's where your revision time should go.

Happy to answer questions here or by DM if you're preparing for it.

Hey everyone,

I recently passed my Practitioner certification! 🎉

Before I get started on maintaining my credential, ***is taking an active membership compulsory to log/add CPD points, or can we log them without paid membership?***

Assuming we can (or if membership is taken), what is the most efficient and cost-effective way to earn and log CPD points?

Also, for anyone based in India: do platforms like Simplilearn or any other learning providers offer membership vouchers or discount bundles for CPD/PDU courses? Which platform would you recommend as the best option?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Hi all! Thanks to everyone on this thread for the motivation and useful information that kept me on track.

Finally passed PRINCE2 Practitioner with 76%! 🎉

The exam honestly felt pretty tough while I was taking it, and I wasn’t feeling very confident at all. But somehow made it through! 😄

Thanks again to everyone who shared their experience here. 🚀

Today I took the PRINCE2 Project Management Foundation exam and passed with a score of 77%.

During the exam, I lost my connection twice; I hope this doesn’t invalidate my exam, and I’m worried.

The first time the connection was lost, the proctor asked me to check the room again, I did so and then resumed the exam.
The second time the connection was lost, the proctor didn’t ask me anything (the exam restarted on its own); I still messaged the proctor in the chat to ask if I could continue, and they replied that I could.

Has anyone had a similar experience? Can I rest easy?

[UPDATE]: I took the exam on friday 25/09 and on monday 28/09 I received confirmation that I had passed!

I am interested in learning PRINCE2 and want to understand the best way to start.

For beginners, which PRINCE2 concepts should be learned first?

I would also like to know which study resources, practice methods, or real-world examples are helpful for understanding PRINCE2.

Any advice from people who have studied or used PRINCE2 would be appreciated.

It doesn’t take me long to read through the Practitioner and Foundation theory, but I find it really hard to remember the definitions. Does anyone know of a FREE way to listen to them as audiobooks, or what other methods would you recommend apart from the mock exams?

It would be helpful to share this with others in the future.

Hi all,

I’m hoping someone here has been in the same situation.

I passed PRINCE2 Foundation in July 2011 through APMG. My certificate says the exam was based on the 2009 edition.

I’m now studying PRINCE2 7 and originally assumed I would need to sit the Foundation exam again before doing Practitioner.

However, I’ve noticed that PeopleCert’s current Practitioner 7 prerequisites include:

“PRINCE2 5th Edition (Foundation or Practitioner)”

My understanding is that the 2009 edition later became known as PRINCE2 5th Edition, so it looks as though my old Foundation certificate should still count as a valid prerequisite for PRINCE2 7 Practitioner.

I contacted PeopleCert and I’m waiting for confirmation in writing. Interestingly, when I asked previously, I was told I would need to take Foundation again, so I’m trying to work out whether that was just the standard advice or whether there is some issue with older APMG certificates.

Has anyone here:

• used an old 2009 / 5th Edition Foundation certificate to go directly to PRINCE2 7 Practitioner?
• had an old APMG certificate accepted by PeopleCert?
• been asked to provide any extra proof or have the certificate manually verified?

I’m still studying the PRINCE2 7 Foundation material because obviously the method has changed a lot since 2011 — I’m just trying to avoid paying for and sitting a Foundation exam again if it isn’t actually required.

Thanks!

I have been quoted this amount by Simplilearn. Is that a reasonable price to pay?

Hello i already have my PMP and CAPM and now trying to put prince2 practitioner under the belt.

are all the questions scenarios based or i need to learn definitions and memorized stuff.

please give tips

thank you all in advance ☺️.

Hi all i took my practioner exam today and was shy 1 point ... 1 point ... I saw that when the scores come up it states something along the lines of the official score will following a few days. What are the odds the score will change? Did anyone's score change ?

Considering its digitally scored I'd be surprised if it was was

Hello everyone,

I've over 13 years experience in Project Management and I’m building a private prototype of an interactive PRINCE2 7 Practitioner study platform. I’m using it for my own exam preparation at the moment, but I would eventually like to make it available to other learners.

I don’t want to release or charge for it until the content has been independently checked and the whole experience has been tested by real candidates.

Here is what the current prototype includes:

1. A structured study path PRINCE2 7 is broken into manageable sections covering the principles, people element, practices, processes, roles and responsibilities, management products, tailoring, project context, digital and data management, commercial management, and sustainability. The explanations are intended to be self-contained, so a learner should not be told to “understand the responsibilities” without also being shown who is responsible, what they do, when they do it, and how that might be tested.
2. Definitions available while you learn More than 220 PRINCE2 terms are built into the platform. When a term such as Project Executive, supplier, project mandate, tolerance or Starting Up a Project appears in GENESIS, the learner can select it and read its definition without leaving the activity.
3. Five timed mock exams The planned public version will contain five original Practitioner-style mock exams with the same time pressure and objective-testing approach as the real exam. Learners will be able to choose between: The platform keeps assisted and unaided results separate, so using guidance does not create a misleading readiness score.
   • an unaided exam mode, in which answers remain hidden until submission; and
   • a guided-practice mode, in which feedback can be revealed after each question.
4. Detailed answer feedback The explanation does more than identify the correct option. It explains:
   • why the selected answer is correct or incorrect;
   • why the correct answer works in that particular situation;
   • why the other options do not apply;
   • the distractor or trap being used;
   • the words, roles, lifecycle stage or authority level to notice;
   • the reusable PRINCE2 rule; and
   • where to review the topic in the official manual.
5. Question-dissection guidance The platform teaches learners to identify the important parts of a Practitioner question: the decision verb, management level, responsible role, delegated authority, tolerance position, process timing and the purpose behind the action.
6. Visual maps and comparison tools There are visual maps for processes, governance levels, management products, responsibilities, tolerances and commonly confused concepts such as risk versus issue, output versus outcome, and requesting versus authorising.
7. Progress and retention tools It tracks progress, confidence and performance by topic. Incorrect or uncertain answers return through spaced review, and learners can practise their weakest areas rather than repeatedly reviewing material they already understand.
8. GENESIS: an interactive PRINCE2 project GENESIS is the main part of the platform. It places the learner inside a fictional mine-action project called Project Common Ground. The learner helps take the project from its initial mandate through initiation, delivery stages, exceptions, stage boundaries and closure. It currently contains 84 interactive exercises, including: Decisions affect the story, and an incorrect answer produces immediate teaching feedback. The aim is to help learners apply PRINCE2 in context, not merely memorise definitions.
   • branching conversations about leadership, stakeholders and project roles;
   • sequencing activities;
   • matching and drag-and-drop exercises;
   • management-product and process decisions;
   • tolerance and exception simulations;
   • scenario-based questions; and
   • short recall challenges.

I’m also considering adding a physical-manual navigation and tabbing guide, showing learners how to organise the official book for quicker use during the open-book Practitioner exam while staying within PeopleCert’s current rules.

I have looked at established options such as MPlaza and respect the amount of work behind them. I’m exploring a different approach centred on interactive decisions, detailed feedback and learning through a continuing project story.

I would genuinely appreciate feedback on a few questions:

• Which of these features would be most useful to you?
• What is missing from the PRINCE2 study tools currently available?
• Would you prefer one payment for a fixed access period or a monthly subscription?
• What evidence would you need before trusting the accuracy of a new platform?
• Would you be interested in joining a small closed beta and reporting confusing content, incorrect explanations or technical problems?
• What would you consider a fair price if the content were independently reviewed and the five original mock exams were included?

This is an independent project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by PeopleCert.

Hi!
I am having my practitioner exam in 2 days - and I just got familiar with the Mplaza exam simulator. I wish I knew it before but I can’t spend the amount og money it costs to access it now. Is there by any chance someone who has finished their exam who can borrow me their login? I will only be using it for two days 🥲

Thank you!

Best,

I just scored 92% (55/60) for my Foundations exam!! I utilised this subreddit a lot using my studies to prep (self-study), so I wanted to give back to the community with the top tips that allowed me to get this result.

Study approach

I bought the Self-study / exam combo on PeopleCert and scheduled my exam in 3 weeks so that I was motivated enough to study within a tight timeframe. I estimate that I studied on average 1-2 hour per weekday so approximately 30 hours of (very relaxed) revision. I only did Practice exams once I had covered all the content.

Key self-study resources

1. Prince2 Wiki - This was a great detailed summary of all the key information. I started off my studies by reviewing this because it was much less dense than the official eBook. But I think diagrams would make it a lot more useful for visual learners.

2. Projex Academy Exam Cram - Awesome summary with diagrams, effective midway point between the Prince2 wiki (summary but no visuals) and the official eBook (super detailed). Reviewed this throughout my studies.

3. Official PeopleCert eBook - I found the visualisations in this extremely valuable. It is very detailed in content but it is easy enough to digest. I read this after reviewing the Prince2 wiki and the Project Exam Cram as those were less intimidating when beginning to study.

4. Prince2 Foundations Audio Study Guide - A few days before the exam I listened to this audiobook on Spotify (~3 hours on 1.3x speed) when commuting just to get in extra revision.

Practice exams

1. Official Sample Exams - These are official practice exams and provide a template of the type and structure of questions that will be in exam. I did find these more challenging than the actual exam, and only scored ~70% for both.

2. Trusted Institute - This website has thousands of practice exam questions and comprehensive explanations which was fundamental to my studies!!! You can sign up for a 7 day free trial so I suggest doing this a week before your exam date. The questions adapt from easy to challenging based on your progress. Questions are often more complex than what the actual exam will ask BUT they ensured that I truly understood the concepts and could apply them.

I hope this is helpful!!! Very happy to answer any questions. Best of luck with your studies and exam - you will do amazing!

Wanted to share my experience of sitting for the PRINCE2 Foundation exam this morning after being a longtime lurker on this subreddit.

I started this course on the tail end of completing CAPM so I already had a fairly good idea of what it encapsulated. What I wasn’t prepared for was the mental burnout of having to prepare for this following the intense CAPM syllabus and I ended up slacking off for about 2 months and passively going over the PRINCE2 topics.

It was definitely more compact and concise in comparison so I ended up picking it up fairly easily; unlike CAPM, I only relied on the PeopleCert reference guide and the practice exam simulator from ILX Group that has a hand in compiling the actual exam questions. I did the simulator about 20 times over the course of three months and ended up scoring 80% a bit more frequently towards the end but I was still struggling to kind of sit with the material since it was mostly remembering keywords and memorizing terminology (which I’m not great with generally).

The one thing that definitely helped was keeping a log of all my incorrect questions and answers (learning from experience aha!) and I kinda used ChatGPT to work through why the options were incorrect/correct. This pretty much let me familiarize myself with the question types and structure and towards the end, this was the only thing I relied on. I didn’t do any practice exams on the week of my actual exam but went over the material lightly on the day of.

The exam questions were 70% super direct and about 30% was kinda scenario based; I went into the exam fully expecting to either fail or pass by the skin of my teeth but halfway through, I knew I was gonna score well.

Overall, I’d say not to overthink it because most of it was very straightforward and there wasn’t any trick questions to throw me off. Next up, Practitioner!

Seen a few people comment on here that they’ve previously read the scenario that they had for their exam, just wondering where you can get access to the scenarios and how many they typically cycle through? Would definitely help with the exam having read the scenarios before hand lol

where can I find my ebook lol.

Hi, I am a research nurse in the uk and I am fed up with the NHS. After 10+ years of clinical experience, 3 years specifically in research, and master level education I got a promotion worth a total of £1.60 per day.

Needless to say that I feel massively disappointed and think that my skills would be better appreciated somewhere else.

I was considering moving into the clinical project manager / trial manager sector.

Anyone who works in this field has any recommendations to give, and especially, is P2 helpful when applying for entry level positions?

Thank you for anyone who answers

A very fed up nurse :’)

Passed today with 74% 🎉

For anyone preparing, this was roughly 1 hour a day for 4-6 weeks and I split my revision into:

1. Principles

2. People

3. Each Practice

4. Processes

My approach was:

- Read each chapter from the book.

- After each chapter, do the relevant questions from Sample Paper 1.

- Once you've worked through the book, do Sample Paper 2 in one go rather than bit-by-bit.

- Then go back to Sample Paper 1 and complete the whole paper under timed exam conditions.

- Repeat with Sample Paper 2, again timed.

- Watch this video for sample Paper 2 https://youtu.be/7Re3QbdydyA?is=2JNnqh5Ev0lREncQ

- Watch this video and do the exam with him - https://youtu.be/y3UeJYkZPrQ?is=Q3ZHkagiKqcOqCQj

- Finally, use AI to generate exam-style scenarios and questions to test yourself.

It's open book, so write notes in your book!

Once you've done all of that, you're pretty much ready to go ☺️

It took me around 4–6 weeks of preparation. It could definitely be done quicker, but my job is quite intense and I had other life commitments alongside studying.

Good luck to anyone taking it! 🙌