1.2 Exam Strategy & Open-Book Technique
Key Takeaways
Read the shared Project Scenario and any Additional Information supplied for the question; distinguish the management stage, process, roles and decision authority.
In Yes/No-because questions, both the judgement and its reason must fit the scenario; a partly correct option does not earn the mark.
Matching options may be used once, more than once or not at all; evaluate each one-mark response independently.
Standard time averages about 2.14 minutes per mark. A suggested 15-minute review reserve leaves 135 minutes for the first pass; adjust this practice budget to the questions.
Distinguish uncertain risks from occurred issues, escalate forecast exceptions to the proper authority, and tailor the detail while retaining the method’s principles and practice purposes.
Exam Strategy & Open-Book Technique
Quick Answer: Apply the method to the shared Project Scenario and any Additional Information supplied for the question. Know where to find relevant official guidance, evaluate the whole answer and manage the 150-minute budget. A statement can be true about PRINCE2 yet fail to address the particular situation.
Practitioner requires knowledge and application. Familiarity with definitions matters, but the question asks how the method should work in a specific context. An open book helps you check a detail; it does not supply a decision without considering the project facts. The following strategies are revision suggestions, rather than additional PeopleCert examination rules.
1. Build the Project Context
Read the Project Scenario, which gives background for the questions. Then read any Additional Information identified for the particular question. The syllabus distinguishes these: additional material is relevant to at least one question, rather than a separate block guaranteed for every item. Do not invent missing information or assume a fact from a different question still applies.
Before comparing responses, establish:
- Who holds the relevant responsibility? Identify the executive, senior user, senior supplier, project manager or team manager. Recording an issue is different from having authority to approve a change.
- What management stage is active, and which process applies? A process name is not itself a management stage. Starting up a project establishes prerequisites for initiation; directing a project continues across the project, while other processes operate in the relevant stages or delivery work.
- What practice is involved? An uncertain future event points to risk; a proposed baseline change points to issues; a forecast tolerance exception also requires the progress controls and proper escalation.
- What information changes the decision? Look for the approved baseline, tolerances, acceptance criteria, assigned authority and the specific question being asked.
Use this context to test each option. For example, a team manager may record a proposed extra deliverable, but maintaining a log does not by itself authorize additional scope. An answer that names the right document can still assign the decision to the wrong person.
2. Evaluate the Whole “Because” Answer
Classic questions can use a “Yes/No, because…” structure. Both parts must be appropriate:
- A correct judgement supported by the wrong reason does not earn the mark.
- A valid statement about PRINCE2 does not rescue an incorrect judgement about this project.
Read the reason separately, then connect it back to the decision. Does the cited management product serve that purpose? Does the named role have authority at this level? Does the action respond to the stated facts? Avoid choosing an option solely because it repeats a familiar definition or process name.
3. Recognize Application and Analysis
| Thinking level | Syllabus-style task | Practical reading approach |
|---|---|---|
| Level 3 — Apply | Apply the relevant method element in context | Identify the guidance that addresses the stated situation |
| Level 4 — Analyse | Analyse or assess whether an approach is effective and fit for purpose | Compare the proposed action with the scenario’s objectives, constraints and responsibilities |
For application questions, connect the project facts to the appropriate method element. For analysis questions, consider why an apparently sensible action may be ineffective in this context. Plausible alternatives can contain valid ideas, but the selected answer must best meet the question’s requirements. Do not turn a verb alone into an answer-selection rule.
4. Handle Matching Responses Independently
Matching questions present three pieces of information and a list of five or six options. Each option may be used once, more than once or not at all. The three responses account for three marks, one per part.
- Solve a response you understand, then consider the others on their own facts.
- Do not cross an option off merely because you already used it.
- Do not force every option to appear or spread responses evenly across the list.
- A repeated option is appropriate only when it fits each relevant situation; repeated wording is not sufficient evidence.
An uncertain match need not determine the other two. Use the scenario and the method for each response, rather than assuming either compulsory reuse or compulsory uniqueness. This is different from a matching exercise whose instructions explicitly require each option to be used exactly once.
5. Prepare the Permitted Guidance
Learn the official Version 7 guidance’s structure before exam day. Under the current printed-book rules, annotation and tabulation are permitted, while sticky notes and loose-leaf papers are prohibited. The proctor may inspect the book. If using the official eBook route, check current access instructions; PeopleCert permits a second portable device and provides electronic guidance in the examination interface.
Build a revision index around:
- Practices: business case, organizing, plans, quality, risk, issues and progress.
- Processes: the seven processes and their activities, decisions, inputs and outputs.
- Management products: the Project Brief, Project Initiation Documentation, Work Package Description, reports and the records grouped within the Project Log.
- Tailoring: how the guidance applies to different contexts, risks and delivery arrangements.
Practise brief, targeted lookups, then return to the actual question. A 30-second lookup can be a useful rehearsal goal for a familiar reference, but it is not an examination limit or a guarantee for every question. Reading a long chapter during the test consumes time that is also needed to interpret and answer the other questions.
6. Use a Flexible Time Budget
The standard examination gives 150 minutes for 70 marks, averaging about 2.14 minutes per mark if the whole period is allocated to responses. That is an overall average, not a separate official timer for each question.
One suggested practice budget is to reserve 15 minutes for review. This leaves 135 minutes for the first pass, or about 1.93 minutes per mark:
| Part of the attempt | Suggested practice allocation |
|---|---|
| One-mark response | About 1.9 minutes on average |
| Three-response Matching group | About 5.8 minutes across its three marks |
| Review reserve | 15 minutes |
These rounded averages help planning; adjust the time spent on a question to its demands and move on when a lookup stops being productive. They do not establish a fixed count of either question format. Eligible extra time, when awarded, changes the available budget; use the duration confirmed for your booking.
Answer every part because there is no negative marking. Flag uncertain responses for later review where the interface permits, and use the remaining time to revisit the reasoning. When reviewing, ask whether new evidence changes your answer rather than switching solely because you feel uncertain.
7. Keep Risks, Issues and Changes Distinct
An issue is an unplanned event that has occurred and requires management action. A risk concerns an uncertain event or set of events that would affect objectives if it occurred. An issue can reveal new risks, but “could happen” is not interchangeable with “has happened.”
A request for change proposes a change to a baseline. A change modifies an approved product; receiving a request does not mean implementation has been authorized. Capture and assess the issue, consider its effect and refer the decision to the authority appropriate to the project’s agreed arrangements. Do not confuse the person recording a request with the person permitted to approve it.
8. Escalate Forecast Exceptions Correctly
Management by exception acts on a forecast deviation beyond tolerance; do not wait for an actual overspend or delay when the forecast already indicates an exception.
| Forecast exception | Escalation route |
|---|---|
| Work-package tolerance | Team manager raises the issue with the project manager |
| Stage tolerance | Project manager reports the exception to the project board; the board decides the appropriate response |
| Project tolerance | Project board refers the decision to the business layer that set the project tolerance |
A project manager who identifies a threat to project-level tolerance still informs the board. The board’s involvement does not give it authority to exceed the business-set project tolerance on its own.
For a worked example, suppose the business sets a project cost target of GBP 500,000 with an allowed overspend tolerance of 10%. The upper limit is GBP 550,000. A forecast of GBP 560,000 exceeds that limit by GBP 10,000, so the board must refer the project-level exception to the business. A forecast exactly at GBP 550,000 is within this stated cost tolerance; other performance tolerances must still be considered. These are illustrative inputs, not a standard PRINCE2 budget or mandatory tolerance percentage.
9. Tailor Without Discarding the Method
Tailoring suits the method to the project’s environment, scale, complexity, capability, delivery approach and risk. Preserve the principles and the purposes of the practices while making the detail proportionate. A small project can combine compatible records, simplify a reporting arrangement or avoid an unnecessary duplicate control. That does not justify deleting the quality practice or ignoring agreed acceptance requirements.
Quality still needs proportionate planning, assurance and control. Decide what evidence will show that a product meets its criteria, who is responsible and how acceptance will be established. Requiring every large-project document unchanged can be as inappropriate as abandoning the quality work entirely. Combine roles only where the guidance allows; tailoring does not erase accountability or authorize otherwise incompatible role combinations.
Watch for context errors, rather than rejecting a word merely because it also appeared in an earlier edition. Version 7 uses practices and the People element, but terms such as daily log, issue register and quality register remain relevant within the Project Log. Ask whether the proposed use is correct in the current method.
Strategy Checklist
- Read the Project Scenario and any Additional Information supplied for the question.
- Identify the stage, process, practice and decision authority.
- Evaluate both the judgement and its reason in a “Yes/No, because…” answer.
- Treat Matching responses independently and allow permitted option reuse.
- Use only permitted official guidance and proportionate, targeted lookups.
- Follow a flexible time budget, answer every part and preserve review time.
- Separate risks, occurred issues, change requests and approved changes.
- Escalate forecast exceptions to the correct level of authority.
- Tailor detail while preserving principles, practice purposes and necessary governance.
An item describes a requested new deliverable. Before choosing the best method response, what should a candidate establish?
Which change request form is named, then select the response that begins implementation of the proposed deliverable.
Where the glossary defines a change, then choose the option whose wording most closely repeats that definition.
Who maintains the Project Log, then treat that administrative responsibility as authority to approve the requested scope change.
The shared project context and any supplied Additional Information, including the stage, roles and decision authority.
In a matching item with three items and six options, which rule about option reuse is correct?
Each option can be used once, more than once, or not at all
Each option must be used at most once across the three items
Each option must be used exactly once across the three items
Options used for the first item cannot be reused for the third item
A manager proposes omitting all quality work because a project is small. Which response applies tailoring appropriately?
Require every quality document and reporting activity from a large project to remain unchanged.
Scale the quality arrangements while retaining appropriate quality planning, assurance, control and acceptance evidence.
Obtain executive approval to remove the quality practice and its responsibilities from the small project.
Replace planned quality criteria with an informal user review after all project products have been delivered.
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.