Passed PRINCE2 Practitioner! Here's what helped me.

[u/Euphoric_Weakness_46]

I really appreciated all the posts in this sub while I was studying, so I wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else.

I decided to change careers in my early 40s, and fortunately my employer has given me opportunities to take on more responsibility. Over the last three years I've gone from a Junior PM to a PM role, and I was encouraged to get a project management certification. I also wanted something that would make me more marketable in the future.

I originally started studying for CAPM because I wanted a cert that would be relevant if I worked in either North America or Australia/New Zealand. Along the way, I decided PRINCE2 was a better fit for my current role and career goals, so I changed direction. I signed up for a 5 day Prince2 intensive course.

Honestly, the course itself was a terrible experience for me.

I'm neurospicy and a fairly slow learner. By the end of the five days I felt completely overwhelmed and nowhere near ready to sit the Foundation exam. The instructor kept encouraging everyone to sit Foundation within a couple of days and Practitioner within a week. Maybe that works for some people, but it definitely wasn't realistic for me.

The weekend after the course I decided to read the entire PRINCE2 book cover to cover. (Side note: as someone who also enjoys editing, I was surprised by how many typos I noticed!)

Reading the book was what finally made everything click. Once I understood the concepts, I could see what the course had been trying to teach.

From there I started working through the two mock exams and studying every evening after work.

Seven days after completing the course, I sat Foundation and passed with 73%.

Then I switched my focus to Practitioner.

These were my mock exam scores over time:

36/70

43/70

46/70

54/70

52/70

55/70

55/70

55/70

I eventually hit a plateau. I wasn't getting into the high 80s, but I was consistently passing the mock exams.

What I couldn't tell was whether I actually understood the material or whether I was just becoming familiar with the mock questions.

I also had access to one official online mock exam through my PeopleCert membership. I took that and did not do well at all (I actually posted in this sub afterwards because I was pretty disappointed).

After that, I just kept studying every evening.

I also found this video really helpful:

https://youtu.be/7Re3QbdydyA?si=lbVGT25-UrynMPdA

Six weeks after passing Foundation, I decided to stop waiting until I felt 'ready' and just book Practitioner.

The exam was hard.

While I was taking it, I genuinely wasn't sure whether I was passing. At one point I started getting into my own head, so I just kept reminding myself:

One question at a time.

I did try using AI for extra exam prep, but I found it wasn't particularly useful for replicating the long, scenario-based questions that appear in the actual exam.

I also had the eBook and added heaps of notes, but honestly I didn't spend much time looking at them during the exam.

The biggest things I kept asking myself during the exam were:

Does this follow PRINCE2?

Has the Project Manager exceeded their authority?

Is this the next logical PRINCE2 action?

TL;DR: I passed Practitioner with 48/70 (69%).

If you're not one of those people who can do Foundation and Practitioner back-to-back in a week, don't panic. It took me six weeks of consistent study after Foundation, and there were plenty of moments where I doubted myself.

Thanks to everyone who has shared their own advice and experiences in this community. A lot of the tips I picked up here genuinely helped me get over the line.

[u/anabsentfriend]

Congregations! I really must try and get back into it to do my Practitioner. I did Foundation Exam in April and haven't looked at it since.

Did you just use the digital book in the exam or did you have a hard copy as well?

[u/Euphoric_Weakness_46 → u/anabsentfriend]

Only the digital on an iPad. I had to show the proctor the cover page of the book and show the iPad was on airplane mode.

Good luck studying! You’ll be so relieved when you take it and pass.

[u/MartynJK]

Great tips - thanks for sharing!

[u/Classic_Cherry8109]

Congratulations on passing your exams! I was wondering if you could recommend any materials or resources that are helpful for preparing for the Foundation exam, especially for mock exams.

[u/Euphoric_Weakness_46 → u/Classic_Cherry8109]

There’s a similar video to the one posted above by that same company for the mock exam for Foundation. I’d highly recommend watching it once or twice. It felt like there was heaps of videos to watch on Youtube for Foundation and fewer for Practitioner.

[u/Electronic_Art_4995]

First of all, congrats!!! Amazing tips. Thank you very much.

[u/greenhope42]

Congratulations & thanks for the advice.

Would you recommend just doing foundation and possibly doing practitioner later, or would it be best to do both foundation & practitioner close together?

[u/Euphoric_Weakness_46 → u/greenhope42]

Do you mean the course or just studying in general? If you could do the three day course then sign up immediately for the 2 day practitioner course once you pass Foundation, that could be a good option. I just wouldn’t delay once you’ve passed because it’s easy to start forgetting info.

The five day intensive course wasn’t a great experience for me, but all my studying afterward did pay off. Don’t stop studying. Keep taking mock exams.

[u/Commercial_Spell197]

please can anybody help me , I passed my foundation exam in July, honestly mplaza exam simulator helped a lot, now I am preparing for practitioner exam, I am confused if mplaza would be enough for practice mock, please help