PRINCE2 Foundation & Practitioner Course – Day 5

When you can walk the ricepaper and leave no path, Grasshopper, it will be time for you to leave

Apologies for being a little late with this entry, but I have been enjoying the feeling of release that comes with the completion of any course. Day 5 was, of course, the final day – a final morning, actually, of tuition, and then the Practitioner exam in the afternoon.

The day started with a review of the previous night’s homework – several Practitioner-level “questions”. I did badly – my brain was frazzled by the time I even got to try these at home. Course fatigue was setting in. I checked I had my Pro-plus ready for the afternoon.

Homework review over, we then proceeded to cover Controls once more, with the emphasis on different forms of tolerance and when they should be used. Then, a bit more on Configuration Management, then back to Processes again for Managing Stage Boundaries, Controlling a Stage and Managing Product Delivery. These all seemed like old friends now.

Post-coffee, and we whizzed through the PRINCE2 Techniques once more, with stress being placed upon Product Based Planning, as probably the most obscure of the three. And, finally, back to Processes again for my favourite bit – Closing a Project. End of story.

And then lunch – the usual excellent cold buffet spread. The mood was subdued – a lot of mental preparation was going on. I simply made sure I had a coffee ready, my two Pro-plus downed, and a ready supply of mints to hand. We all received our special soft pencils (for filling in our answers). A hint to obsessive-compulsives like myself – take along a sharpener, so you can be sure of having the pleasure of using a nice, sharp pencil throughout the exam. Then, the sealed exam packs were handed out, the lecturer got us to mark the time, and … we were off.

Once actually underway, the Practitioner Exam itself was a relief. I read the overall scenario briefing – a straightforward situation, with clear and present dangers which a diligent PRINCE2 Project Manager could now address. Quickly, I fell into a routine for each of the nine question areas:

• Check the syllabus area noted at the top of the page
• Open the PRINCE2 manual at the corresponding section
• Check Appendix A for any document structures mentioned in the question
• Check for any additional information re this question in the scenario booklet
• Give it my initial best shot and move on, marking the question paper where I was ambiguous

And, after an hour and a half, I was finished. Well, I had at least answered everything. Other heads were still bowed, scribbling away. Time for a break – we had been told we could simply get up to visit the toilet, which I didn’t really need, but I did need some air. So, I simply walked outside for a few minutes, stretched and took in some air, then went back.

Time to review the answers marked for ambiguity. I changed about half of my initial responses.

Then, time to quickly run through everything – only a couple of changes made.

Finally, I ran a very careful check on the numbering sequence of the questions and answers – my greatest fear being that I had managed to get out of sequence somewhere, rendering the remainder of my answers hopelessly wrong.

After that, enough was enough. I do not believe in continuously rechecking your own work – you simply begin to doubt your own convictions. So, with about forty minutes still left, I handed in my papers (you have to return everything – questions, scenario booklet and all), and left.

A bit of an anti-climax, really – no sense of grand triumph at completion. Already, I was thinking ahead to a busy weekend, and having to catch up on real life again. Oh well, roll on the results!!!