PRINCE2 Practitioner exam pass mark

The PRINCE2 Practitioner exam is as follows:

• Duration: 2.5 hours;
• Questions: 68 multiple-choice;
• Pass mark: 55% (38 out of 68).

Questions relate to a project scenario provided as part of the exam. All parts of the PRINCE2 method are tested, with specific questions about the PRINCE2 principles, themes and processes.

Since this article is all about the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam (2017 version). For information about the PRINCE2 Foundation exam please go here.

Non-native speakers

Prior to 2017, the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam required considerable reading. That is no longer the case. Therefore, for non-native English speakers the exam should now be easier than previously.

AXELOS, the PRINCE2 accreditation body, permits non-native English speakers to use a bilingual paper dictionary (electronic ones are not allowed). This should help international students to remove any ambiguity associated with the meaning of questions or terminology.

Also, non-native English speakers are always given 25% extra time to complete the exam. This means you will get 3 hours 8 minutes for the exam.

Students from all backgrounds

Given that Knowledge Train delivers PRINCE2 training in the heart of London our students are drawn from a wide range of cultural backgrounds. Furthermore, a significant proportion of our students are non-native English speakers. With these factors in mind, the trainers at Knowledge Train ensure that the interpretation of sample Practitioner questions from the mock exam papers forms an important part of our training courses.

On average, the pass rates of our international students are not so different from the pass rates of our UK students which, as we said already, is 10% higher than the UK national average.

Trainers to help you

If some of the exam questions are rather wordy, working out the best way to negotiate them can prove invaluable, boosting students’ confidence before sitting the exam. We keep our class sizes small, helping to ensure that each student has sufficient opportunity to interact with both the trainer and fellow students. Approachable and friendly, Knowledge Train’s trainers are happy to help and enjoy developing a rapport with students.

Exam question styles

The PRINCE2 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.

The questions are based upon a fictional project scenario which is presented usually as one A4 sheet of text.

PRINCE2 Practitioner syllabus

If you want to read the details, the PRINCE2 Practitioner syllabus is available for download from the AXELOS web site.

In short, what the exam is testing you on is your ability to apply the PRINCE2 principles, themes and processes in context, and be able to tailor relevant aspects of the themes and processes in context.

Preparing for the exam

Preparation is the key to doing well in your PRINCE2 Practitioner exam. At Knowledge Train, our pre-course materials have been carefully written in easy-to-understand language to introduce you to the essential ideas and terminology of PRINCE2 before you even set foot in our classroom.

This is available online, via our pre-course study platform and you are given access to this as soon as you have registered for a course. It only takes 3-4 hours to complete and the materials can be downloaded as PDF’s.

Exam technique

Careful preparation and good exam technique are both key to passing the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam. If you are attending one of our PRINCE2 Practitioner courses, then you will get all the help and advice you need from our experienced trainers. If you’re self-studying, or studying online, then you can get more help about exam questions by reading PRINCE2 Practitioner exam tips.

Introduction

Since 2005, Knowledge Train has helped over 10,000 people gain PRINCE2 Practitioner certification. Since 2012, our pass rate for the PRINCE2 Practitioner exams has been 10% above the UK national average at 83%.

With thorough training methods and understanding about exam techniques our delegates consistently achieve their PRINCE2 Practitioner certification.

Practitioner exam purpose

The purpose of the exam is to assess whether you can apply and tailor PRINCE2 in context. If you pass the exam you should, with suitable direction, be able to start applying the method to a real project. However, you but may not be sufficiently skilled to do this appropriately in all situations.

Some factors which may affect your ability to apply PRINCE2 on a real project includes your project management expertise, the complexity of the project and the support provided to you in the use of PRINCE2 in your work environment.

Assessment criteria

The PRINCE2 Practitioner exam assesses whether you are able to:

• apply the PRINCE2 principles in context
• apply and tailor relevant aspects of PRINCE2 themes and processes in context
• assess whether an approach to applying the themes or processes is effective and fit for purpose in a given context
• apply the PRINCE2 requirements for a theme, demonstrating an understanding of the management products and recommended roles and responsibilities of the theme
• carry out the activities of the processes and their recommended actions, demonstrate an understanding of the recommended roles and responsibilities, and how the themes may be applied within the processes.

Syllabus areas examined

• The 7 principles
• The 7 themes (business case, organization, quality, plans, risk, change, progress)
• The 7 processes (starting up a project, directing a project, initiating a project, controlling a stage, managing product delivery, managing a stage boundary, closing a project)

Pre-requisites

You are required to have any one of the following:

• PRINCE2 Foundation
• Project Management Professional (PMP)
• Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
• IPMA Level A® (Certified Projects Director)
• IPMA Level B® (Certified Senior Project Manager)
• IPMA Level C® (Certified Project Manager)
• IPMA Level D® (Certified Project Management Associate)

What's in the PRINCE2 Practitioner exam?

Scenario booklet

This contains a fictional project scenario which describes an organization investing in a project and is normally about 1 page of A4 text. It is this scenario upon which all the questions are based.

Question booklet

This contains all 68 questions, divided into 17 topics. Each topic will be clearly labelled e.g. PRINCIPLES, ORGANIZATION, DIRECTING A PROJECT etc.. The sequence of questions follows the chapters in the PRINCE2 manual i.e. first the principles, then the themes, then the processes.

Answer sheet

Question styles

After attending a course, or studying online, practice papers are the best way to prepare for the types of questions used during the exam. Even when the training day is over, you should practice at home to fully ensure you get to grips with the type of questions used.

‘Standard classic’ OTQs

This question style is where you must choose one from a range of 4 options, like this:

As an example, take a look at this:

Tip: for a question such as this where you have 2 ‘Yes’ and 2 ‘No’ answers to choose from, first decide whether it is yes or no. Then from the 2 options remaining, choose which one sounds the most appropriate.

‘Matching’ OTQs

This question style is where you must link items in one list to items in a second list. There is only one correct response to each question item, but options from the second list may be used once, more than once (in most cases), or not at all. Look at this:

As an example, take a look at this:

How to prepare

Sample exams

Trying the 2 sample exams which comes as part of the course will help you enormously. Timing yourself whilst completing practice papers is also crucial so that you become used to working at a speed required to pass all questions. We’ll talk about exam time-management a little later.

Free sample papers are worthless

There are only 2 official sample PRINCE2 Practitioner exams. Both are written by AXELOS.

All other PRINCE2 Practitioner exam questions and answers found on the internet are worthless for 2 reasons:

• Only experienced and accredited PRINCE2 trainers have the knowledge to write PRINCE2 Practitioner exam papers. Even then, they will not be accredited.
• There is no guarantee of their quality – writing an exam paper takes a long time. You will likely be misled if you base your revision on these. They will do you more harm than not.

Tabbing the manual

The key sections I recommend to students to tab are: the contents page, the 7 theme chapters (chapters 6-12), the 7 process chapters (chapters 14-20), appendix A, appendix C and the glossary.

Highlighting the manual

Highlighting key parts of the manual will help you as well. Too much highlighting will hinder you, however, so make intelligent decisions when deciding which parts to bring to your attention. Your trainer will advise you on the best sections to highlight.

Mindmaps

Learning about a new subject requires you to engage your brain with the material. Having to think about the different elements forces your brain to process the information and make connections between them. A good way to do this is to draw mind-maps – one for each theme and process.

Within our pre-course study we already have mind-maps, but if you draw your own on a blank piece of paper it will help you enormously. After you finish you can compare yours against ours. Just remember, there is no ‘perfect’ mind-map so although yours might not look the same as ours it doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

Sleep

Ensure you get a good night’s sleep the night before your exam. You want to arrive at the exam venue bright and alert, not sleepy after a late night.

Time management

The exam lasts for 2.5 hours (or 3 hours 8 minutes if you’re a non-native English speaker).

Read the scenario first

When the exam starts, spend 5 minutes reading the scenario booklet. Underline or highlight things which appear significant. For example, if it tells you the reason why the project is happening, write “reason” next to the sentence. This will help you when answering the questions later.

It will usually explain the number of management stages in the project and will probably say which products are delivered in each stage.

There will then be a further 145 minutes left. There are 2 time management strategies you can consider.

Strategy 1: equal time per question

Strategy 2: two pass approach

Starting at the beginning go through the entire exam paper twice. The first time through you will answer the easy questions and you will fill in your answer sheet with those answers. “Easy” questions might be the ones which take little time to answer, or the ones which you are confident that you know the answer for.

Skip any questions which you think are too difficult or take a lot of time to read.

What to bring with you

Further reading

If you want to see a detailed PRINCE2 Practitioner syllabus it’s available for download from the AXELOS web site.