TheoryPRINCE2 Practitioner Practice Questions
Free PRINCE2 Practitioner practice questions with answers and plain-English explanations. Browse the PDF, video and online mock test.
PRINCE2 Practitioner Questions
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Q1A new transport ticketing system project sets detailed quality criteria for each product before any development work starts. Which statement explains why this supports governance?
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✓ Correct answer: It ensures outputs meet agreed quality standards
Defining quality criteria before work starts ensures that outputs can be tested and accepted objectively. Why the other options are incorrect: • It avoids the need for supplier involvement: Suppliers may still be involved in delivery. • It prevents the project manager from delegating work: Delegation is still possible once criteria are set. • It removes the need for highlight reports: Highlight reports are still required for progress tracking. • It guarantees the project will finish early: Setting criteria supports quality, not guaranteed early delivery.
Q2A team member documents a new risk management technique discovered during the project for future use. Which principle is this?
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✓ Correct answer: Learn from experience
Capturing new techniques for future use demonstrates the 'learn from experience' principle. Why the other options are incorrect: • Focus on products: Product focus is about defining deliverables, not capturing techniques. • Tailor to suit the project: Tailoring is about adapting methods, not recording new ones for future. • Manage by exception: Exception management is about tolerances, not learning. • Ensure continued business justification: Business justification ensures viability, not recording lessons.
Q3During stage boundary assessment, the project manager updates the business case. Which statement explains why this is appropriate?
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✓ Correct answer: To confirm the project remains viable before authorising the next stage
Stage boundaries are key points to reassess viability and update the business case accordingly. Why the other options are incorrect: • To ensure product descriptions are up to date: Product descriptions may be updated, but the key point is viability review. • To meet the senior supplier’s reporting needs: Supplier reporting needs are addressed in communication management, not business case updates. • To reduce the number of highlight reports: Highlight reports are unrelated to business case updates. • To comply with corporate budgeting cycles: Corporate budgeting cycles may influence timing but are not the primary reason.
Q4Which principle requires that a project be stopped if it can no longer be justified?
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✓ Correct answer: Ensure continued business justification
The 'ensure continued business justification' principle requires that projects without valid justification should be stopped. Why the other options are incorrect: • Manage by stages: Manage by stages defines review points, not the decision to stop. • Learn from experience: Learning from experience is about applying lessons, not viability decisions. • Tailor to suit the project: Tailoring is about adapting processes, not stopping projects. • Focus on products: Focus on products is about defining deliverables, not continuation decisions.
Q5Who is responsible for maintaining the lessons log during the project?
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✓ Correct answer: Project manager
The project manager maintains the lessons log and ensures lessons are shared and acted upon. Why the other options are incorrect: • Executive: The executive provides overall direction, not day-to-day log maintenance. • Senior user: The senior user contributes lessons but does not maintain the log. • Senior supplier: The senior supplier contributes technical lessons, not the log upkeep. • Project assurance: Assurance checks the process; it does not own the log.
Q6An international conference project shortens its initiation stage to two weeks instead of the usual month, arguing that much of the planning was completed by the event sponsor in advance. Governance products are still produced, but with less formality. Is this consistent with PRINCE2, and why?
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✓ Correct answer: Yes, because tailoring can shorten stages when justified
Tailoring allows adjusting stage durations as long as governance requirements are met and justification is documented. Why the other options are incorrect: • Yes, because initiation can be skipped if sponsor work is complete: Initiation cannot be skipped entirely; tailoring must retain governance. • No, because the initiation stage length is fixed in PRINCE2: Stage length is not fixed; it can be adapted. • No, because shortening stages removes governance: Shortening does not remove governance if controls remain. • No, because the project manager cannot change initiation: The project manager can propose changes with approval.
Q7The project board instructs the project manager to capture lessons from an ongoing project and feed them into a similar project starting soon. Which principle is this?
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✓ Correct answer: Learn from experience
Sharing lessons during a project allows them to be applied immediately elsewhere, demonstrating the 'learn from experience' principle. Why the other options are incorrect: • Manage by exception: Exception management is about controlling deviations, not sharing lessons. • Tailor to suit the project: Tailoring is about adapting the method, not knowledge transfer. • Ensure continued business justification: Business justification relates to viability, not lessons. • Focus on products: Product focus is about deliverables, not lessons learned.
Q8During a supplier-led stage, the project manager notes that quality issues may cause a delay exceeding time tolerance. They alert the project board before the impact is certain. Which statement explains why this is correct under PRINCE2?
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✓ Correct answer: To escalate as soon as a tolerance breach is forecast
Manage by exception requires escalation when a tolerance breach is forecast, not only after it occurs. Why the other options are incorrect: • To give the board more regular updates: Regular updates are useful but not the primary reason for escalation. • To ensure the supplier receives instructions: Supplier instructions are managed through the project manager, not escalation triggers. • To avoid completing a checkpoint report: Checkpoint reports are separate from tolerance escalation. • To transfer accountability to the senior supplier: Escalation does not transfer accountability to the senior supplier.
Q9A project to modernise the city’s street lighting network is expected to last 18 months and involve multiple suppliers. At the initiation meeting, the project board decides to approve the entire budget and delivery schedule for the whole project. They argue that breaking the work into stages would slow progress and introduce unnecessary bureaucracy. Is this aligned with PRINCE2, and why?
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✓ Correct answer: No, because stages provide control points for review and decision-making
The 'manage by stages' principle provides control points where the project board can review progress and decide whether to continue, change, or stop the project. Why the other options are incorrect: • Yes, because it avoids delays caused by stage boundaries: Avoiding stage boundaries may reduce oversight and governance control. • Yes, because the project board has confidence in the plan: Confidence in the plan does not remove the need for stage reviews. • No, because all projects must have exactly three stages: PRINCE2 does not mandate an exact number of stages. • No, because stages are only required for projects longer than a year: Stage boundaries apply regardless of project length.
Q10The project manager discards a three-year-old lesson as 'outdated' without review. Is this appropriate, and why?
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✓ Correct answer: No, because older lessons may still be relevant
Lessons should be assessed for relevance; age alone is not a reason to ignore potentially useful insights. Why the other options are incorrect: • No, because lessons must never be archived: Outdated lessons can be archived after review; 'never' is incorrect. • Yes, because only current projects provide valid lessons: Past projects often provide valuable, transferable learning. • Yes, because reviewing old lessons risks bias: Bias is controlled by objective review, not avoidance. • Yes, because the log should only contain new content: The log should contain relevant content, new or old.
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