How Hard is the PRINCE2 Practitioner Exam?

Posted on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 by Simon Buehring

In a series of posts, of which this is the second, I present the facts about the 2009 version of the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam, in addition to thoughts on what they might tell us about the future of PRINCE2 project management professional qualifications. If you are considering PRINCE2 training, read on for insight into the process of becoming a Registered PRINCE2 Practitioner…

Is the new PRINCE2 Practitioner exam harder than the old one?

It could be argued that the amount of contextual material presented in the 2009 version of the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam poses more of a challenge to candidates – particularly those who struggle with spelling and grammar or for whom English is not their first language – than the quantity included in the 2005 exam. When advising students on Knowledge Train’s PRINCE2 courses about approaches to mock exam questions, I am sometimes reminded of the English comprehension exercises of my schooldays! Despite the volume of material, it should be remembered that the two-and-a-half hours allotted for completion of the exam paper does not include a period of reading time. Whereas it may be tempting to consider the Scenario Booklet (containing the case study on which questions are based) at length, carefully highlighting key words and phrases, candidates must not allow themselves to be sidetracked: a neatly annotated case study is not a substitute for a completed answer sheet.

Should candidates be concerned about their language skills?

Mindful of the demands that the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam can make upon candidates’ language skills, the trainers at Knowledge Train make every effort to ensure that everyone feels well prepared to sit the paper, and we are proud of our students’ achievements. Many people hoping to become Registered PRINCE2 Practitioners may be reassured to realise that, since essay-based questions were replaced by the multiple-choice format in 2007, the exam no longer requires candidates to write at length. It should also be remembered that the exam board permits candidates who are not native-speakers of the language in which their exam is written to use a bilingual dictionary. Having a dictionary at hand should help our international students to remove any ambiguity associated with the meaning of questions or terminology.

If you would like to receive PRINCE2 training at Practitioner level (either as part of the PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner or PRINCE2 Conversion courses) and are at all worried about the prospect of the accompanying exam, please do not hesitate to contact one of our training advisors, who will be happy to help: 020 7148 5985.

See the next post in the series for more information about the 2009 exam.

To discuss your project management training needs with Knowledge Train, simply call an advisor on 020 7148 5985 or email info@knowledgetrain.co.uk.