PrepFree PRINCE2 practice test
20 original questions written by our editors against the official PeopleCert exam domains. They are not real exam questions. Pick an answer to see why it is right or wrong.
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Question 1 of 20Principles
Halfway through a project to build a customer app, a competitor releases a free product that removes most of the expected revenue. The updated business case shows the project is no longer worth its remaining cost. According to PRINCE2, what should happen?
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Answer: C. The principle of continued business justification requires a valid business case throughout the project, not just at the start. If the justification disappears, the project board should stop the project in a controlled way. An approved plan does not override that, and cutting quality or waiting for the stage to end wastes more money.
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Question 2 of 20Principles
The project manager forecasts that the current stage will finish three weeks later than planned, which is beyond the time tolerance the project board set for the stage. What should the project manager do?
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Answer: A. Under manage by exception, the project manager works within agreed tolerances and escalates as soon as a forecast breach is identified, using an exception report to the project board. Hiding the delay or changing plans without authority breaks the control model, and closing the project is a board decision, not a first response.
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Question 3 of 20Principles
A new project to move a company's payroll to a cloud service is being started. Before planning in detail, the project manager reviews what went well and badly in two similar migrations the company ran before. Which principle is being applied?
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Answer: B. Learn from experience means seeking lessons at the start, recording and applying them during the project, and passing them on at the end. Reviewing earlier migrations at the start is a direct example. The other principles cover defining outputs, dividing work into stages, and adapting the method.
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Question 4 of 20Principles
Before any work starts on a training manual, the project manager insists on agreeing what the manual must contain, who it is for and the quality criteria it must meet. Which principle does this best reflect?
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Answer: B. Focus on products means defining the outputs and their quality expectations, usually in product descriptions, before the work begins. Defining roles is about who does what, business justification is about whether the project is worth doing, and manage by exception is about tolerances and escalation.
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Question 5 of 20People
On a PRINCE2 project board, which role is ultimately accountable for the project and owns the business case?
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Answer: D. The executive is ultimately accountable for the project and for ensuring it remains justified, which includes owning the business case. The senior user represents those who will use the outputs, the senior supplier represents those who provide the resources and expertise, and the project manager runs the project day to day for the board.
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Question 6 of 20People
A project is replacing the warehouse system used by 300 staff. The outputs are on time and pass all tests, but staff keep using old spreadsheets. What does PRINCE2 7's emphasis on people suggest the project should have done?
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Answer: B. PRINCE2 7 makes people an integrated element because projects deliver change that people must adopt for benefits to appear. Engaging users and communicating throughout helps the change stick. More testing or less scope does not address adoption, and leaving it all until after closure puts the benefits at risk.
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Question 7 of 20Practices
Which project board role is responsible for specifying the benefits the users expect and for demonstrating, after the outputs are in use, that those benefits are being realized?
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Answer: A. The senior user specifies the needs and the expected benefits and is accountable for showing that the benefits are realized. The executive owns the business case overall, the senior supplier is responsible for the quality and delivery of what suppliers provide, and project support offers administrative help.
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Question 8 of 20Practices
The project board asks the project manager to set up project assurance to check that the project is being run properly. Who should NOT perform project assurance?
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Answer: A. Project assurance must be independent of the project manager, because it checks on the project manager's work on behalf of the board. Board members carry assurance responsibilities and can delegate them to others, including user representatives. The project manager therefore cannot assure their own project.
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Question 9 of 20Practices
A stage is forecast to exceed its cost tolerance. The project board reviews the situation and asks for a new plan to replace the current stage plan. What is this plan called in PRINCE2?
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Answer: C. An exception plan is produced when a plan is forecast to exceed tolerance and the board asks for a recovery path; once approved, it replaces the plan it covers. A team plan is optional and covers a team's work, the benefits management approach covers benefits reviews, and the project brief is created at the very start.
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Question 10 of 20Practices
An auditor asks where the project records the quality activities that have been planned and carried out for each product, including dates and results. Which PRINCE2 management product should the project manager show?
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Answer: B. The quality register holds a summary of planned and completed quality activities and their results, providing an audit trail. The issue and risk registers track formally managed issues and risks, and the daily log is the project manager's informal diary.
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Question 11 of 20Practices
A project depends on shipping expensive equipment overseas. To deal with the threat of damage in transit, the project buys an insurance policy that pays out if the equipment is damaged. Which type of risk response is this?
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Answer: A. Buying insurance passes part of the financial impact of a threat to a third party, which is a transfer response. Avoid would remove the threat altogether, for example by not shipping. Exploit and enhance are responses to opportunities, not threats.
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Question 12 of 20Practices
During testing, a delivered report module is found to be missing two fields that its product description requires, and it cannot be fixed within the current work package. How should the project manager classify this issue?
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Answer: C. An off-specification is something that should be provided but is not, or is forecast not to be, which matches a product failing its agreed specification. A request for change proposes changing a baseline. A problem/concern covers other matters the project manager must resolve or escalate, and a risk is an uncertain future event.
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Question 13 of 20Practices
A team manager reports progress on a work package to the project manager at the frequency agreed in the work package. What is this report called?
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Answer: B. A checkpoint report goes from the team manager to the project manager on the progress of a work package. A highlight report goes from the project manager to the project board. End stage reports summarize a stage for the board, and exception reports escalate a forecast tolerance breach.
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Question 14 of 20Processes
A senior manager has issued a project mandate for a new customer portal. Which process comes first, and what does it produce for the project board to decide whether to initiate the project?
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Answer: C. Starting up a project is triggered by the project mandate and answers whether the project is viable and worthwhile, producing the project brief and appointing key roles. The board then decides whether to authorize initiation. The project initiation documentation is produced later, in initiating a project.
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Question 15 of 20Processes
The project board has authorized initiation. During initiating a project, which output pulls together the project plan, the detailed business case and the management approaches into one set of information for the board to approve?
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Answer: B. The PID is the set of documents created in initiating a project that defines the project and forms the basis for the board's decision to authorize the project. The lessons log records lessons, highlight reports update the board on progress, and a product status account reports on the state of products.
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Question 16 of 20Processes
During a stage, the project manager authorizes work packages, reviews progress, captures issues and risks, and takes corrective action within tolerance. Which process is this?
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Answer: D. Controlling a stage covers the project manager's day-to-day management of a stage, including authorizing work packages and taking corrective action. Managing product delivery is the team manager's side of the work, directing a project is the board's process, and managing a stage boundary prepares the end of a stage.
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Question 17 of 20Processes
A team manager agrees a work package with the project manager, has the team build the products, and hands back completed products once their quality checks are done. Which process describes this work?
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Answer: C. Managing product delivery controls the link between the project manager and the team manager: accepting, executing and delivering work packages. Controlling a stage is the project manager's process, while closing a project and starting up a project happen at the end and beginning of the project.
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Question 18 of 20Processes
Near the end of a stage, the project manager prepares the plan for the next stage, updates the project plan and the business case, and reports on how the current stage went. Which process is being carried out?
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Answer: C. Managing a stage boundary gives the board the information to decide whether to continue: the next stage plan, the updated project plan and business case, and the end stage report. Initiating a project happens once at the start, directing a project is the board's own process, and closing a project happens at the end.
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Question 19 of 20Project context and tailoring
A small, low-risk internal project is being tailored to keep management overhead low. Which combination of roles is acceptable in PRINCE2?
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Answer: D. PRINCE2 allows some roles to be combined when tailoring, and the executive can also act as senior user, for example when the sponsor's own department will use the output. The project manager must not be a board member or perform project assurance, because that removes the independent oversight the board provides.
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Question 20 of 20Project context and tailoring
A software delivery team wants to use two-week sprints. The organization requires PRINCE2 for project governance. How does PRINCE2 7 handle this?
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Answer: B. PRINCE2 is designed to be tailored to the delivery approach and works with agile methods: the team manages its own work in sprints within work packages, while the project board steers through stages, tolerances and the business case. Principles such as continued business justification are never dropped, and the board does not micromanage individual backlog items.
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