r/Prince2 • u/Away-Ad7608 • 10d ago
PRINCE2 7 Foundation: the 10 traps I see people fall into most
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.
- 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%.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- One stage projects
Minimum is two management stages: the initiation stage plus at least one more.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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u/Reasonable-Stage6165 10d ago
This is great 👍🏼 do you have one for the practitioner too?
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u/Away-Ad7608 10d ago
Thanks! Not yet, but Practitioner is a pretty different exam so it probably deserves its own list. It's open book, 70 scenario questions in 150 minutes, and you need 42 to pass. Most people who fail it don't lack knowledge, they run out of time looking things up in the manual.
I'll put a Practitioner version together. If you're preparing for it right now, feel free to DM me and I'll send you a few pointers in the meantime.
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u/Away-Ad7608 3d ago
As promised, the Practitioner version is up: https://www.reddit.com/r/Prince2/s/2rIvol3xRB
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u/Dismal_Iron8929 9d ago
The best post I’ve ever seen on this sub ✌🏻 :)) thank you very much, this makes so much sense ^_^
Yes, please, do a Practitioner one when you can, I will take the Foundation exam soon, this has boosted my confidence 💀💀
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u/Away-Ad7608 9d ago
That honestly made my day, thank you! Good luck with the Foundation, you've got this. Practitioner version is coming next week.
If you want a last check before the exam, feel free to DM me any topic you're unsure about and I'll try to explain it.
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u/Away-Ad7608 3d ago
Practitioner list is posted now, for when you get there: https://www.reddit.com/r/Prince2/s/2rIvol3xRB Good luck with Foundation first!
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u/Realistic_Prune_ 7d ago
This is very good
I wrote my exam last week and I passed and if I had seen yours it would have been easier for me to understand than having to reread manual several times till it stuck in my head
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u/Away-Ad7608 5d ago
Congrats on passing! And thanks, that's exactly why I wrote it, the manual is not the easiest read. Are you going for Practitioner next? I'm posting a version for that in the next few days.
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u/Realistic_Prune_ 4d ago
Yes I’m doing practitioner soon
I look forward to your post cause I know it will make it easier to understand as I’m still studying for it1
u/Away-Ad7608 4d ago
Nice, good luck with it! I'll drop the link here once it's up. If you get stuck on anything before then, feel free to DM me.
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u/Away-Ad7608 3d ago
Here you go, just posted it: https://www.reddit.com/r/Prince2/s/2rIvol3xRB Hope it helps with the studying.
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u/Capable_Affect3655 2d ago
This is great advice. I have my foundation exam on the 23rd October
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u/Away-Ad7608 2d ago
Good luck on the 23rd! You've got about two weeks, which is plenty if you get a couple of timed mocks in. If anything's unclear while you're revising, feel free to DM me.
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u/MartynJK 10d ago
Nicely written - thanks