PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner Course – Day 4

The examination board considered a number of alternatives to the old essay-based paper

A new dawn, a new day, a new course, really. While most of us have opted for the one-week “bootcamp”, some delegates have chosen only to do the 3-day Foundation course (and have now left), while we also have a couple of joiners, for what is a two-day Practitioner course. It seems these new delegates have opted for CBT-based Foundation training, and have sat the Foundation exam alone, then choosing to come along for the Practitioner instruction only. Alternately, I suppose you could split it into separate three and two day course, but personally I think that’s to be avoided – much better to get through both exams with all the information fresh in your mind.

It soon becomes apparent that the focus of the Practitioner course is very much on getting us all through the exam. How could it be otherwise, as there is only really a day and a half of tuition, with the exam itself on Friday afternoon? And, it becomes apparent, the Practitioner exam is something of a subject in itself.

So, topic one is all about the Practitioner exam – the PRINCE2 Objective Test Examination, to give it its full title. Did I mention it is now multiple choice? Oh, yes, none of the old three-hour essay grind, just tick the boxes and you’re away, except … this isn’t your momma’s multiple choice. Oh, no, nor is it the sort of multiple choice you know and love from the Foundation exam (choice of four answers; tick one box; retarded chimpanzee gets 25%).

No, this is multiple choice with intellectual rigour. You still get three hours, but now there are nine separate topics, referred to as “questions”. Now, this is another example of PRINCE2-speak, as I initially thought “Three hours to answer nine multiple choice questions? Can I leave after ten minutes?” But, the truth is that each “question” actually consists of up to 4 parts (A through D), within which there are up to twelve actual questions to be answered (as normal human beings understand the term). So, in reality, we are talking about three hours to answer over three hundred questions.

What PRINCE2 calls a “question” is really a topic; the exam you sit will consist of nine topics selected from a possible list of eleven, viz.:

• Business Case
• Organisation
• Management of Risk
• Plans
• Product Based Planning
• Controls
• Configuration Management
• Change Control
• Quality in a Project Environment
• Quality Review
• Processes
  

The good news is that it is all based upon a single scenario; the idea is to demonstrate that you can apply your knowledge of PRINCE2 (gained by achieving the Foundation qualification) to a specific situation. So, what you get in the exam is a pack containing three separate booklets:

• The scenario booklet, containing an overall description of the Project Scenario (e.g., The Programme Manager, Mr A. Hitler, has as part of his programme of world domination assigned you the mission of managing the invasion of Russia. The project has to be completed before the arrival of winter, and you will be assigned the resources of Army Groups North, Centre and …etc …) as well as supplemental information for each of the questions (e.g., It is now autumn 1941. Despite Army Group South’s successful encirclement and destruction of Red Army units around Smolensk, the Russians refuse to surrender, and appear to have more reserves than was originally estimated. The main objective of the project has now changed to the seizure of Moscow, to achieve a political victory before the coming winter calls a halt to offensive operations).
  
• The question booklet, containing (surprisingly enough) the nine “questions”. Helpfully, each is labelled with the relevant syllabus topic listed above, so you can turn straight to the relevant section in the OGC manual.
  
• The answer booklet, the layout of which corresponds to the question booklet, and which contains stacks of little ovals for you to colour in.
  

The reason retarded chimpanzees will not get 25% in the Practitioner exam is because the format changes from question to question. For example, “Question” 1 might be about the Business Case. Part A might then make a statement about the Business Case, followed by eight questions each consisting of further statements, where you have to select the answer as either “A” (the statement is correct) or “B” (the statement is false). Part B might then consist of six questions, each of which requires you to select two true statements from a list of six (A to F). Part C might then consist of eight statements, and you have to select from a list of five categories (A to E) which one applies to each.

Many of the “questions” will include a section with a real brain-teaser of a format – the Assertion/Reason matrix. This is where each question requires you to identify whether an assertion is true or false; whether a reason is true or false; and, if they are both true, whether the reason explains the assertion. For example:

All swans are white - Assertion

BECAUSE

Only white swans have been observed - Reason

Depending on the scenario information, you might decide that both the assertion and the reason are correct; however, in this case the reason does not support the assertion (No amount of observations of white swans can allow the inference that all swans are white, but the observation of a single black swan is sufficient to refute that conclusion. John Stuart Mill).

You see what I mean about the Practitioner exam being a subject in itself? What is helpful to learn is that the pass mark is only 50%, and that this is to compensate for the subjective nature of the subject and the different possible interpretations of the scenarios.

Other exam points:

• There’s no reading time allowed, but the first “question” is apparently simplified to compensate – so, plan on spending twenty minutes per “question”.
• The supplemental information for each of the questions applies only to that question.
• The 2009 PRINCE2 revision will split the OGC manual into two – one for Project Managers and one for the Project Board.
• There will be an advanced PRINCE2 qualification for Project Board members from next year.
  

Exam technique aside, we then proceeded into a review of the key elements of PRINCE2, and start to review the Processes. Yes, it’s time for Starting Up a Project all over again, with the emphasis on the project structure and roles, followed by a big section on the Business Case. After lunch, it’s all about Risk, Initiating a Project, and Quality in a Project Environment.

Throughout the sessions, we are encouraged to highlight and makes notes directly into our OGC manuals. This is vital, because the OGC manual is the only document you are allowed to take into the exam. So, there’s not a lot of point buying any of those other PRINCE2 guides then.

And, we also do lots of sample exam questions. At the end of the day, there is more homework – guess what? More sample Practitioner exam questions.