2.2 What Changed in PRINCE2 7

Headline Changes from v6 to v7

PRINCE2 7 is the first major rewrite since the 2017 edition. The structural changes are not cosmetic — they signal a shift from a controls-heavy method toward one that treats people, sustainability, and data as first-class concerns.

Renaming Themes to Practices

The seven v6 themes are now called practices. The rename is more than wording: a theme suggested a cross-cutting topic, whereas a practice signals a recurring discipline that must be actively worked throughout the project. The content moved too — most notably the Change theme became the Issues practice.

Why 'Issues' instead of 'Change'

In v6, the Change theme conflated every unintended deviation with a formal change request. v7 separates concerns: not every issue is a change. A team member raising a concern, a supplier problem, or a misunderstanding may need communication and resolution without ever becoming a formal change to a baseline. The Issues practice puts communication before control — talk first, then decide whether a change request is warranted.

Worked example: Issues practice in action

A supplier notifies the Project Manager that a key component will arrive two weeks late. Under v6's Change theme, the immediate question was often "raise a change request?" — forcing every deviation into a formal control route. Under v7's Issues practice, the Project Manager first communicates: they talk to the supplier to understand the cause, assess whether the delay affects stage tolerance, and check whether alternative components or partial deliveries can bridge the gap. Only if the issue requires a change to an approved baseline — say, moving a milestone in the stage plan — does a formal change request follow. If instead the delay is absorbed by float in the plan, the issue is captured in the Project Log and resolved without a change request. The practice thus separates issue resolution (communicate, assess, act) from change control (formally re-baseline). This distinction is a frequent exam topic: candidates who assume every issue becomes a change are applying v6 thinking to a v7 practice.

The New People Element

People is the most visible addition. It covers those working on the project and those affected by it. Content spans:

• Leadership styles and behaviours appropriate to the project context
• Organisational culture and how it helps or hinders delivery
• Communication — purposeful, two-way, audience-aware
• Change management — preparing and supporting people through transition
• Team performance — motivation, capacity, competence

This element carries roughly 9% of the Practitioner exam (and 14% of the Foundation exam), so it is not a footnote — expect direct questions on leadership styles, communication principles, and change management concepts.

Sustainability as a Seventh Performance Target

v6 tracked six project performance targets: benefits, cost, time, quality, scope, risk. v7 adds sustainability — recognising that projects are accountable for environmental, social, and economic impact, not just delivery metrics. Sustainability is also supported by a dedicated sustainability management approach, one of three new approaches alongside digital and data and commercial.

Management Products Consolidated

v6 defined 26 management products (logs, registers, strategies, reports, plans). v7 consolidates these to 15. The most significant consolidation is the new Project Log, which absorbs:

• The daily log
• The lessons log
• The issue register
• The quality register
• The risk register
• The product register — new in v7, and the replacement for v6's configuration item record and product status account

A useful mnemonic for the six records is DILPQR: Daily log, Issue register, Lessons log, Product register, Quality register, Risk register.

This does not mean risks and issues are no longer tracked — they are, but inside one living log rather than six separate registers. Tailoring still allows splitting them out on a large or high-risk project.

Scenario: the Project Log in use

On a medium-sized project, the Project Manager opens a single Project Log at project initiation. Each entry is tagged by type — risk, issue, lesson, product status, quality check, daily note — so the log remains one searchable record rather than six separate registers. A risk entry might read: "R-014: Integration API rate limit may delay UAT — probability 3, impact 4, owner: Tech Lead." An issue entry might read: "I-007: Supplier delivered component B without certification — raised 12 Aug, action: request replacement certificate." A lesson entry: "L-003: Early supplier site visits reduced delivery defects by 40% — feed into supplier selection checklist." Tailoring still permits splitting the log into separate registers on a large or regulated project where auditors expect a dedicated risk register, but the default is one consolidated log. Exam questions test the consolidation directly: know that the Project Log holds six records (daily log, issue register, lessons log, product register, quality register, risk register) and that the former issue register and risk register are the most commonly tested in v7 questions.

Principle Renames

Two of the seven principles were reworded for clarity and emphasis:

• 'continued business justification' → 'ensure continued business justification' — the verb makes clear the obligation is active, not passive.
• 'defined roles and responsibilities' → 'define roles, responsibilities, and relationships' — relationships matter; a role description is not enough if the working dynamic is broken.

Exam Pass Marks Raised

Both exams moved from a 55% pass mark to 60%:

• Foundation: 60 marks, 60 minutes, closed book, pass = 36 of 60 (60%).
• Practitioner: 70 marks, 150 minutes, open book, pass = 42 of 70 (60%).

This raises the floor for candidates and reflects the broader syllabus rather than harder questions per se. Any study materials quoting 55% are stale.

Traps for v6-prepared candidates

• Quoting 55% as the pass mark — v7 requires 60% (Foundation: 36 of 60; Practitioner: 42 of 70).
• Calling the recurring aspects themes — v7 calls them practices.
• Treating every issue as a change — the Issues practice puts communication before control.
• Listing six performance targets — v7 has seven (sustainability added).
• Naming 26 management products — v7 has 15, with the Project Log holding six records.
• Reaching for a Configuration Item Record, a Product Status Account, or a Change Control Approach — all three are PRINCE2 6 products that v7 withdrew.
• Assuming "minimum requirements" still frame tailoring — the phrase was dropped in v7 and replaced by techniques guidance.
• Overlooking the People element — at roughly 9% of the Practitioner weighting (14% at Foundation), it generates direct questions on leadership styles, communication principles, and change management that a v6 candidate would not have studied.