PRINCE2-7-Practitioner PRINCE2 Project Management Practitioner (Version 7) Questions and Answers

The correct answer is C . PRINCE2 7’s people element emphasizes effective leadership, collaboration, capability, relationships, and understanding the people actually available to the project. A capability shortfall should therefore be diagnosed before a disproportionate organizational response is selected.

The survey team is described as generally qualified; only a specific technical capability is missing. Replacing the entire team without assessing the competency gap could discard useful knowledge, disrupt established relationships, increase transition time, and—as the scenario explicitly states—cause substantial additional delay. A better leadership response is first to establish exactly what capability is missing and then assess proportionate interventions such as specialist support, targeted training, temporary augmentation, mentoring, or bringing in one specialist rather than replacing the complete team.

PeopleCert’s PRINCE2 7 guidance stresses the importance of team skills and collaboration and explicitly cautions against assuming that successful project leadership means replacing existing people whenever difficulties arise. It emphasizes working effectively with the team available and adapting the approach to people and circumstances.

Option A jumps directly to a disruptive solution. Option B incorrectly assumes that authority alone makes the proposed response appropriate. Option D overstates co-creation: agreed ways of working do not prevent justified changes to team composition.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: People element; leading successful teams; capability and competency; collaboration; relationships; tailoring ways of working.

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The correct answer is B — Project executive . Selecting the project approach is an activity within the starting up a project process. The approach establishes the overall way in which the project’s products will be created and delivered, including considerations such as delivery method, sourcing, specialist techniques, and relevant organizational or commercial constraints.

The project manager performs substantial analysis and coordination in developing the proposed approach, drawing on specialist advice where required. However, the question specifically asks which role is accountable . Accountability rests with the project executive , who is ultimately accountable for the project’s success and for ensuring that the chosen approach is compatible with the business justification, organizational environment, and project mandate.

Option C is attractive because the project manager has operational responsibility for preparing and developing many elements of the project approach. However, responsibility for performing an activity and accountability for ensuring its appropriate outcome are distinct concepts. Option D is also too narrow: the senior supplier provides important specialist expertise concerning feasibility and delivery, but represents the supplier interest rather than holding overall accountability. Option A establishes the wider organizational direction but does not own this project-level decision.

The executive therefore remains accountable while drawing on the project manager and specialist supplier expertise to establish a viable approach.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Starting up a project; select the project approach; project executive accountability; project manager responsibility; supplier expertise.

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The correct answer is C — Plans . PRINCE2 applies the plans practice throughout project delivery, including when individual work packages are defined and authorized. A work package establishes what products are to be delivered and the constraints and control arrangements governing their production.

In this scenario, the project manager agrees with the City Council purchasing team the products, time, and cost associated with preparing the contract. These are core planning elements. The work must be defined sufficiently so that the team understands what it is expected to produce, when it should be completed, what resources or expenditure are available, and the limits within which it is authorized to operate.

Option A, business case, concerns the project’s continuing investment justification and does not principally govern the detailed definition of products, time, and cost for a delegated work package. Option B, organization, defines roles, responsibilities, relationships, and the project-management structure. Although the relationship between project manager and team manager is relevant, the information explicitly being agreed here concerns planning. Option D, quality, would focus on product specifications, quality methods, acceptance arrangements, and quality control rather than the overall product/time/cost definition.

The work package therefore demonstrates application of the plans practice within controlling a stage.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Plans practice; controlling a stage; work packages; products; estimates; time and cost; delegated planning and control.

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The correct answer is A . Manage by exception is based on delegating authority within explicitly agreed tolerances. Higher management sets boundaries within which the lower management level may make decisions without repeatedly seeking approval. Escalation becomes necessary when a tolerance is forecast to be exceeded.

In this scenario, the desired scope is 15 rapid-charging spaces, while the project board has accepted a lower limit of 10. That creates a defined permissible range for the scope of the relevant product or work package. The project manager can therefore delegate delivery within that range to the team manager. As long as the forecast remains within the agreed scope tolerance, routine design decisions do not need to be referred back upward. PeopleCert summarizes the principle by stating that authority should be delegated within agreed tolerances, avoiding both micromanagement and uncontrolled exceptions.

Option B incorrectly categorizes the tolerance as quality tolerance . The number of charging spaces concerns the extent of what is being delivered and is therefore a scope parameter. Options C and D undermine the fundamental purpose of management by exception by requiring unnecessary precision and escalation where authorized flexibility has deliberately been provided.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Manage by exception; tolerances; scope performance target; delegation; work packages; exception escalation.

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The correct answer is A — Prepare planned closure . A project can be operationally complete before all of its intended benefits have been realized. Many benefits emerge only after project products have been transferred into business-as-usual operation. Consequently, closing arrangements need to establish how outstanding benefits will subsequently be measured and reviewed.

In this scenario, the anticipated increase in business opportunities will be assessed after LouisShopping has entered operational use. The project manager therefore needs to update the relevant post-project benefit-review arrangements during prepare planned closure , identifying what is to be measured, when measurement should occur, and who will be responsible. The Head of the Portfolio Office is identified as the person who will perform that subsequent measurement.

Option B concerns obtaining confirmation that the project’s products have been accepted and that appropriate handover has occurred. Option C focuses on evaluating overall project performance and producing closure information such as the end project report and lessons. Option D is the formal request to the project board to authorize closure once the necessary closure activities have been completed.

Preparing planned closure is therefore the appropriate point to ensure that post-project measurement responsibilities remain in place after the temporary project organization is disbanded.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Closing a project; prepare planned closure; benefits management; post-project benefits reviews; operational use; business responsibility after closure.

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The correct answer is D . In PRINCE2, an exception exists when it is forecast that an agreed tolerance will be exceeded. The critical point is that the breach does not have to have occurred already. Once the project manager forecasts that stage tolerance cannot be maintained, the matter exceeds the project manager’s delegated authority and must be escalated to the project board.

An issue report may contain detailed analysis of an issue, and the issue register can record the underlying matter. However, neither replaces the specific progress-control mechanism required when stage tolerance is forecast to be exceeded. The project manager must produce an exception report , explaining the cause of the forecast deviation, its consequences, available options, and an appropriate recommendation. The project board can then decide whether to request an exception plan or take another authorized course of action.

Option A therefore understates the governance consequence of the tolerance breach. Option B incorrectly treats the matter solely as an off-specification; the decisive factor for progress control is that an authorized stage-level tolerance is forecast to be exceeded. Option C is incorrect because the immediate escalation is from the project manager to the project board, not automatically to the portfolio office.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Progress practice; stage tolerances; exception; exception report; escalation; management by exception.

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The correct answer is D . A product description must define a product sufficiently clearly for its creation, review, and approval to be planned and controlled. Merely stating that the shopping centre will contain an underground car park identifies the existence of a required component, but it does not provide an adequate quality specification .

For effective quality management, measurable characteristics should be established so that the product can be objectively assessed against agreed expectations. Depending on the product, these may include capacity, dimensions, accessibility provisions, charging facilities, structural requirements, security arrangements, environmental standards, or other measurable characteristics. Appropriate quality tolerances may also be defined where controlled variation is permissible.

Option A is incorrect because existence alone does not establish whether the car park is fit for purpose. Option B similarly confuses confirmation of delivery with verification of acceptable quality. Option C is incorrect because the quality management approach defines how quality will be managed across the project; it is not the repository for all detailed product-specific quality specifications.

The product description therefore needs sufficient measurable information to enable planning of quality-control activities and objective verification that the delivered product meets its defined requirements.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Quality practice; product descriptions; quality specifications; quality tolerances; quality control; acceptance and verification.

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The correct answer is B . An effective risk management approach must be designed with an understanding of the specific project context and the objectives that uncertainty could affect. PRINCE2 does not prescribe a generic risk process that should be applied identically to every project without considering circumstances.

The LouisShopping project operates in a sensitive environment. Historic surroundings create potential heritage risks; sustainability targets introduce environmental and benefits-related uncertainty; and the requirement to minimize disruption creates stakeholder, operational, schedule, and reputational exposure. Reviewing these factors enables the project manager to determine appropriate risk procedures, responsibilities, assessment scales, escalation arrangements, review frequencies, and reporting mechanisms.

Option A is incorrect because contextual information is not itself a complete set of individually formulated risks. An individual risk should normally express the relevant uncertainty in a sufficiently clear form—commonly identifying its cause, uncertain event, and effect on objectives. Option C reverses the sequence: the overall management approach establishes how risks will be identified, assessed, treated, monitored, and communicated; specific responses are subsequently developed for identified risks. Option D is fundamentally incorrect because risk exists in relation to objectives. Without understanding what the project is trying to achieve, the significance of uncertainty cannot be assessed coherently.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Risk practice; project context; risk management approach; objectives; risk identification and assessment; tailoring risk management.

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The correct answer is B . PRINCE2 7 is designed to be tailored to the organizational environment in which a project operates. It specifies the purpose and required governance of the business case rather than requiring every organization to use identical terminology or documentation structures.

The City Council already has a mature and standardized procedure. Its strategic business case provides the early justification during starting up a project, and the more detailed business case is then developed during initiating a project. Functionally, this follows the PRINCE2 lifecycle in which an initial justification is established early and subsequently refined into a sufficiently detailed business case for project authorization and ongoing decision-making.

Option C treats the label “outline business case” as mandatory. PRINCE2 tailoring allows established corporate terminology and management products to be used where they fulfil the required purpose and preserve the necessary controls. Option A refers to multiple analytical perspectives but does not address the central issue in the scenario: whether the Council’s established business-case procedure may legitimately be used. Option D is incorrect because the existence of a portfolio office does not transfer all project-level responsibility for developing and maintaining the project’s business justification away from the project organization.

The key consideration is equivalence of purpose and control, not rigid terminology.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Business case practice; tailoring; organizational standards; starting up a project; initiating a project; continued business justification.

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The correct answer is D — Accept a work package . The first activity in the managing product delivery process ensures that the team manager fully understands the proposed work package and determines that it can realistically be delivered before accepting responsibility for it.

The BuildyBrick team manager therefore needs to examine the required products, product descriptions, constraints, tolerances, interfaces, quality requirements, reporting arrangements, available resources, and relevant issues and risks. The team manager also determines how the specialist team will be organized and controlled and, where appropriate, develops or confirms the team plan. Any concerns about achievability should be discussed with the project manager before acceptance rather than discovered after work has begun.

Option B occurs after the work package has been accepted and covers development of the products, performance of quality activities, management of delivery, and handling of issues and risks during execution. Option C occurs periodically during delivery to evaluate progress and status against the work package and team plan, including preparation of checkpoint information. Option A occurs at the end, once completed products and required approvals are ready to be handed back to the project manager.

Therefore, confirming that the work is achievable within its stated constraints is an essential part of accepting the work package .

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Managing product delivery; accept a work package; team manager; work package constraints; team planning; Ref. 17.4.1.

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The correct answer is C . PRINCE2 encourages projects to make use of established organizational standards and procedures, but these should still be assessed against the specific project context. A mature organizational issue management approach is a valuable starting point; it is not automatically appropriate in every detail for every project.

The project manager should consider characteristics such as the nature and complexity of the products, delivery method, contractual environment, project scale, stakeholder arrangements, regulatory requirements, and existing organizational controls. These factors may justify tailoring issue categories, decision authorities, reporting routes, escalation arrangements, change-control procedures, or configuration and version-control arrangements.

Option A is therefore incorrect because maturity does not eliminate the need to verify suitability. Option B incorrectly assumes that portfolio funding removes the project’s ability or requirement to tailor PRINCE2 arrangements to its context. Organizational requirements may impose constraints, but the project still needs an appropriate management approach. Option D is also incorrect because configuration and version-control considerations can form an integral part of issue and change-control arrangements; they are not matters that must be left exclusively to delivery teams.

The correct approach is to adopt where suitable and adapt where necessary , while preserving required organizational and project governance controls.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Issues practice; issue management approach; tailoring; project context; configuration management; change control; organizational standards.

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The correct answer is B — Team manager . Within the managing product delivery process, the team manager is responsible for accepting responsibility for an authorized work package and committing the delivery team to producing the specified products within the agreed constraints.

Before work begins, the team manager reviews the work package with the project manager to confirm that its requirements are understood and achievable. This includes examining the products to be delivered, product descriptions, quality requirements, tolerances, interfaces, constraints, reporting arrangements, risks, issues, and available resources. Where a team plan is required, it must also provide a credible basis for carrying out and controlling the specialist work. Acceptance therefore represents an explicit commitment by the team manager to deliver the work package.

Option A is incorrect because the project manager authorizes the work package but does not accept it on behalf of the delivery team. Option C is incorrect because the senior supplier represents the supplier interest on the project board and provides governance and specialist oversight rather than accepting individual work packages. Option D provides administrative or specialist project support but does not assume responsibility for specialist delivery.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Managing product delivery; accept a work package; team manager responsibilities; team plan; work-package authorization and acceptance.

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The correct answer is A . The learn from experience principle requires learning to occur throughout the project lifecycle, not merely during initiation or closure. Lessons should be sought, recorded where appropriate, communicated to those who can use them, and incorporated into current or future decisions and ways of working.

The fortnightly cross-team session directly addresses the project manager’s concern that lessons emerging in one work package may otherwise remain isolated. Sharing them across teams allows corrective knowledge to be applied while it can still prevent rework, delay, cost escalation, or repeated mistakes. Official PeopleCert material emphasizes that lessons should be considered before starting, captured during delivery, and actively applied; simply recording a lesson without changing future behavior does not constitute effective learning.

Option B describes another legitimate source of lessons—previous projects—but does not explain the specific benefit demonstrated in the scenario, which concerns lessons arising across teams during the current stage . Option C contradicts PRINCE2’s expectation that lessons improve project performance rather than being regarded as non-productive overhead. Option D incorrectly postpones learning until the end of the stage, when the opportunity to prevent immediate repetition may already have passed.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Learn from experience; lessons log; knowledge sharing; applying lessons throughout the project lifecycle.

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