PRINCE

PRINCE2 started out in the 1970s as a method called PRINCE (stands for PRojects IN Controlled Environments). PRINCE was a UK government method for managing IT projects. It contained IT-specific terminology.

PRINCE 2nd version

In 1996 the 2nd version of PRINCE – or PRINCE 2 – was released as a generic project management method. All of the IT terminology was removed. From then, it started to be used to manage all types of projects.

AXELOS and PRINCE2

Prior to 2013, PRINCE2 was Crown Copyright. It was owned by H.M. Government in the UK. In 2013, AXELOS was formed by H.M. Government and Capita plc as a joint venture. PRINCE2 is now owned by AXELOS which contracts the accreditation of training organizations and trainers to PeopleCert - the exam board.

Modern trends in project management

The guidance is updated every few years to reflect recent developments in project management. The most recent changes were in 2017 when the official manual was updated. All related training courses on this web site are based upon the 2017 version.

PRINCE2 Agile

One example of how the method has been updated to reflect recent trends in project management include the launch in 2015 of PRINCE2 Agile guidance. This described how the governance and control provided by PRINCE2 could be integrated with popular Agile development methods such as Scrum.

AXELOS now has 2 PRINCE2 Agile qualifications – Foundation and Practitioner – which candidates working in Agile environments can study towards.

Popularity of PRINCE2

Since 1996, PRINCE2 has established itself as the world’s most popular project management methodology and certification. More than 1.6 million examinations have been sat worldwide. Of these, approximately 2/3rds are Foundation-level exams, and 1/3rd are Practitioner-level exams.

On this page you can see an infographic showing statistics about the popularity of PRINCE2.

PRINCE2 (PRojects IN Controlled Environments) is a project management methodology.

It provides a step-by-step procedure to deliver projects. Guidance is described in the official PRINCE2 manual (Managing Successful Projects Using PRINCE2® 2017 Edition).

It is used widely in all sectors – public, private, and third sector – and in many different countries.

PRINCE2 is a methodology – it is not a project management standard. It does not provide many of the most common project management tools and techniques which are found in other bodies of knowledge. It describes who takes decisions and when on a project. It does not describe how a project manager performs a technique.

APM

In the UK, the Association for Project Management (APM) publishes the APM Body of Knowledge (APMBoK) which does contain many tools and techniques not covered by PRINCE2. APM also provides 2 project management qualifications. These are highly recommended as a compliment to PRINCE2.

You can take an APM project management course online. See this page for details of APM Qualifications.

PMI^®

In the US, the PMBOK® Guide from the American Project Management Institute (PMI®) is a project management standard. Qualifications which are based upon the PMBOK® Guide include Project Management Professional (PMP®) and Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM®). This article describes the differences between PRINCE2 and the PMBOK® Guide.

Both the APM and the PMI qualifications are a great compliment to a PRINCE2 qualification.

“PMI”, “PMP”, “CAPM” and “PMBOK” are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

Become qualified to get these great benefits:

1. Career boost - PRINCE2 qualifications can boost your job prospects. Read Lisa Gobell's interview or listen to Dan Morgan about how they landed project management roles after getting PRINCE2-qualified on one of our training courses.
2. Salary boost - Gaining PRINCE2 certification can boost your earnings. In 2019, jobs in the UK requiring PRINCE2 ranged between £30-75k (according to www.indeed.co.uk).
3. Skills boost - Studying PRINCE2 will give you some core project management skills to take part in or manage projects.
4. Confidence boost - Your PRINCE2 knowledge can boost your confidence to apply it at work.

Adopting PRINCE2 provides an organization with numerous benefits including the following.

1. Best practices - it is a proven approach to managing projects based upon project management best practices.
2. Generic - it can be used on any project in any industry or sector.
3. Communication – by providing a common vocabulary it promotes better communication.
4. Accountability - by defining roles and responsibilities it makes people accountable for what they do on a project.
5. Outputs - it focuses stakeholders’ minds on how the outputs will benefit the organisation.
6. Adaptable – the methodology can be adapted to suit the needs of each project.
7. Saves senior managers’ time – there is no need for regular progress meetings. Instead regular progress reports save the time of busy senior managers.
8. Business-focused – because it focuses on achieving benefits it avoids a project becoming an end-in-itself.
9. Involves stakeholders - it encourages the involvement of stakeholders in decision-making, thereby ensuring their needs are met.
10. Continuous improvement – by learning lessons during a project, it enables an organization to continuously improve its project management practices.
11. Consistency – by using a common language it promotes consistency and re-use of assets

All these benefits are great reasons to get your boss to fund your training course. This article has plenty of advice if you need to persuade your boss to fund your training.

You can see an infographic about the benefits of PRINCE2 on this page.

All our accredited PRINCE2 training courses come with exams. The two certification levels are:

Foundation

• Suitable for aspiring/current project support staff
• 60 minutes
• 60 multiple-choice questions
• Score 33 or more to pass
• This qualification is a pre-requisite for taking the Practitioner training course and exam.

Practitioner

• Suitable for aspiring/current project managers
• 150 minutes
• 68 multiple-choice questions
• Score 38 or more to pass.

For more information about PRINCE2 certification, visit the AXELOS web site.

Click one of the training course options below for certification costs.

Weekday classes

Choose one of these weekday PRINCE2 training London options:

• Foundation & Practitioner course
• Foundation course
• Practitioner course
• PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner course
• View all weekday training courses

Weekend classes

Choose one of these weekend PRINCE2 training London options:

• Foundation & Practitioner course
• Foundation course
• Practitioner course
• View all Weekend training courses

Online options

• Foundation & Practitioner Online course
• Foundation Online course
• Practitioner Online course
• View all online training courses

Foundation 

Pre-requisites: none.

Practitioner

Pre-requisites: 

• PRINCE2 Foundation Certification; or,
• PMI® Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)®; or,
• PMI® Project Management Professional (PMP)®; or,
• IPMA®, IPMB®, IPMC® or IPMD®.

The marks IPMA®, IPMB®, IPMC® and IPMD® are registered trademarks of IPMA in Switzerland and other countries.

Foundation

• Mon-Tue 9:30am to 5:00pm

Practitioner

• Wed-Thur 9:30am to 5:00pm
• Fri 9:00am to 12:00

Foundation & Practitioner

• Mon-Thur 9:30am to 5:00pm
• Fri 9:00am to 12:00

• Official manual (Managing Successful Projects using PRINCE2 (except Practitioner-only course);
• Tuition from expert instructors;
• Course materials in a variety of formats to suit different learning styles;
• Exams taken on paper on completion of the course;
• Certificate issued by the exam board after passing the exam(s).

Foundation course

The Foundation training course covers the following subjects.

• Essential terminology;
• The 7 principles of PRINCE2;
• The 7 themes of PRINCE2;
• The 7 processes of PRINCE2; and,
• Prepares students to sit the Foundation exam.

The first 1.5 days of the Foundation training course covers the themes:

Business case theme

On any project, it is important that the organization gets a return on its investment of time, money and resources in the project. This is done by performing a cost-benefit analysis which weighs up the costs, timescales and risks of the project, versus the benefit.

Students learn how and when a business case is used on a project.

Organization theme

It is important that everyone involved in a project clearly know who takes decisions and their level of authority.

Students learn about the 9 different project management team roles and responsibilities.

Quality theme

The project must deliver outputs which meet the user’s specifications. Quality therefore must be planned.

Students learn how quality is planned and managed throughout the project.

Plans theme

Plans are used by each level of the project management team. Plans describe what will be delivered, at what cost, when and by whom.

Students learn about the different levels of plan who uses them, and how they are created.

Risk theme

Lots of things can go wrong on projects. Anything which is uncertain about a project is a risk.

Students learn how to identify, estimate, respond to, manage and report on risks.

Change theme

Not managing changes effectively is a common reason for projects to fail. Changes are inevitable on projects, so there must be systematic approach for managing them.

Students learn a procedure for effective change management on projects.

Progress theme

Projects never go according to plan. Therefore, plans and forecasts must be revised as the project progresses. Revised forecasts are used to justify the continued investment in the project.

Students learn about the different project controls, how and when they are used on the project.

Processes

On day 2 of the Foundation class students learn about the 7 processes.

For each process, students learn:

• Who performs the process;
• When the process occurs;
• The inputs and outputs of each process;
• The decisions which occur in each process.

Practitioner course

The Practitioner-level training course provides students with a deeper understanding of:

• How the principles relate to the themes and processes;
• The composition and use of the recommended management products;
• How to tailor the themes and processes; and,
• Prepares students to sit the Practitioner exam.

How long does it take to complete a PRINCE2 course?

• Foundation – 2 days classroom, or 20 hours online;
• Practitioner – 2.5 days classroom, or 15 hours online.

How much does it cost to do PRINCE2?

• Foundation certification with exam - £599 upwards (classroom), £429 upwards (online);
• Practitioner certification with exam - £699 upwards (classroom), £449 upwards (online);
• Foundation & Practitioner certification with exam - £899 upwards (classroom), £699 upwards (online);
• All prices exclude VAT.

What is a PRINCE2 course?

A PRINCE2 course is either a classroom, online or virtual course which teaches students the PRINCE2 methodology - a de-facto standard for project management in the UK.

Foundation courses focus on students learning the method. Practitioner courses focus on students learning to apply the method.

How do I get PRINCE2 certified?

1. If you hold one of these qualifications, sit the Practitioner exam straightaway:
   • PRINCE2 Foundation;
   • Project Management Professional (PMP)^®;
   • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)^®;
   • IPMA Levels A^® to D^®;
2. Otherwise, sit and pass the PRINCE2 Foundation exam (1-hour, 60 questions, 55% pass mark);
3. Sit and pass the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam (2.5-hours, 68 questions, 55% pass mark).

Are PRINCE2 exams difficult?

The best way to judge if PRINCE2 exams are difficult is by looking at exam pass rates. In the UK, the national average pass rates are:

• Foundation - 97%;
• Practitioner - 73%.

So, approximately 1 person in 30 will fail Foundation, and 1 person in 4 will fail Practitioner.

What is the pass rate for PRINCE2 Practitioner?

The UK national average pass rate for PRINCE2 Practitioner is 73%. However, several factors can affect this including:

• Quality of the learning experience and training materials;
• Experience and skill of trainer;
• Commitment and preparation of student;

Since 2012, Knowledge Train’s Practitioner exam pass rates have averaged 83%.

Is the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam multiple-choice?

The Practitioner exam contains two styles of multiple-choice questions:

• ‘Standard classic’ – select one answer from a range of options;
• ‘Matching’ – link each item in one list to the correct item in a second list.

Questions are based upon a fictional project case study.

How many questions are on the PRINCE2 Foundation exam?

The Foundation exam contains 60 multiple-choice questions. The candidate must select one of 4 options. There is only one correct answer. There are 3 question styles:

• ‘Classic’ – e.g. “Which is the purpose of the risk theme?
• ‘Missing word’ – e.g. ‘Identify the missing word. The [?] is responsible for approving stage plans.’
• ‘List’ – e.g. ‘Which two statements about tailoring are CORRECT?’

What is PRINCE II certification?

People often confuse the spelling of PRINCE2. We’ve seen all the following ways of spelling:

• PRINCE TWO;
• PRINCE ii;
• PRINCE2 II;
• PRINCE 2;

PRINCE2 certification refers to the qualifications at Foundation and Practitioner levels.

What is PRINCE2 Agile?

PRINCE2 Agile is a recent development in that it combines the governance and structure of PRINCE2 with the flexibility of Agile.

Certification is similar to PRINCE2 in that it contains 2 qualifications - Foundation and Practitioner. Foundation is a pre-requisite for sitting the PRINCE2 Agile Practitioner exam.

Is PRINCE2 agile or waterfall?

PRINCE2 can be either agile or waterfall depending upon how it is tailored. It is often assumed that PRINCE2 project management is waterfall because it is seen as a traditional project management method. However, it can be used alongside Agile development methods which on their own, do not provide the project management aspects.

What is the difference between PMP and PRINCE2?

PMP^® (Project Management Professional) is a qualification popular in the USA from the Project Management Institute. It tests a student’s knowledge of the PMBOK^® Guide, the American project management standard.

Compared to PRINCE2 which requires no experience, PMP certification requires considerable hours of previous project management experience.

“PMP“ and the “PMBOK” are registered marks of Project Management Institute, Inc.

Where are your PRINCE2 courses?

Our PRINCE2 course London venue is: 14 Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6AX. It's the same venue for both weekday and weekend PRINCE2 training courses. 

What's the best PRINCE2 course in London?

We'd like to think our PRINCE2 courses are the best in London, but you'd be foolish to take our word for it. Instead read what our students say about us by reading their Google reviews. 

We put together an article about how to select the best PRINCE2 training so that you make the best choice.