Try 10 focused PRINCE2 Foundation questions on PRINCE2 Practices, with answers and explanations, then continue with PM Mastery.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam route | PRINCE2 Foundation |
| Topic area | PRINCE2 Practices |
| Blueprint weight | 60% |
| Page purpose | Focused sample questions before returning to mixed practice |
Use this page to isolate PRINCE2 Practices for PRINCE2 Foundation. Work through the 10 questions first, then review the explanations and return to mixed practice in PM Mastery.
| Pass | What to do | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| First attempt | Answer without checking the explanation first. | The fact, rule, calculation, or judgment point that controlled your answer. |
| Review | Read the explanation even when you were correct. | Why the best answer is stronger than the closest distractor. |
| Repair | Repeat only missed or uncertain items after a short break. | The pattern behind misses, not the answer letter. |
| Transfer | Return to mixed practice once the topic feels stable. | Whether the same skill holds up when the topic is no longer obvious. |
Blueprint context: 60% of the practice outline. A focused topic score can overstate readiness if you recognize the pattern too quickly, so use it as repair work before timed mixed sets.
These questions are original PM Mastery practice items aligned to this topic area. They are designed for self-assessment and are not official exam questions.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
Which plan is produced only when a stage is forecast to exceed agreed tolerances, to provide the Project Board with replacement plans for approval?
Best answer: B
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: An Exception Plan is produced when an exception is forecast because tolerances for a project or stage are expected to be exceeded. Its purpose is to present a viable replacement plan to the Project Board so they can decide whether and how the project should continue. The other plans are created as part of normal planning horizons rather than triggered by a forecast tolerance breach.
PRINCE2 uses different plan horizons and purposes. An Exception Plan is the only plan that is created reactively, triggered by an exception situation: when it is forecast that agreed tolerances for a stage (or the project) will be exceeded. In that case, the Project Manager escalates and prepares an Exception Plan to replace the plan that would be broken, for the Project Board’s decision.
By contrast, a Project Plan provides the overall baseline for the whole project, Stage Plans provide the basis for control of each management stage, and Team Plans (optional) are used by team managers to deliver work packages. Key takeaway: exception planning is driven by forecast tolerance breach, not normal stage-based planning.
An Exception Plan is created to replace the current plan when a tolerance breach is forecast and approval is needed to proceed.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A project is in the Starting up a Project process. The Executive asks what each product is for before authorizing initiation.
Which statement best distinguishes the Business Case from the Project Brief in PRINCE2?
Best answer: D
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: In PRINCE2, the Business Case exists to justify the project and is reviewed and updated so the project remains desirable, viable, and achievable. The Project Brief is produced in Starting up a Project to give the Project Board enough high-level definition (including an outline Business Case) to decide whether to authorize initiation.
The key difference is purpose and lifecycle use. The Business Case is the project’s justification: it captures why the project is worth doing (options, expected benefits, costs, timescales, risks, and likely dis-benefits) and is maintained and reviewed to support continued justification through the project.
The Project Brief is an early definition produced in Starting up a Project to support the decision to authorize initiation. It summarizes what is being proposed and how it is likely to be delivered at a high level (e.g., project product description, outline Business Case, project approach, and initial plan/role structure).
A common confusion is swapping their content: the Project Brief can include an outline Business Case, but it is not a substitute for the Business Case practice product.
The Business Case focuses on ongoing justification, while the Project Brief is the early definition used to decide whether to initiate.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A project will deliver a new customer self-service portal. The senior user states the conditions that must be met before they will accept the finished solution (for example, accessibility compliance and maximum page-load times).
In PRINCE2, which management product should document these acceptance criteria to link the project’s scope and quality expectations to formal acceptance?
Best answer: D
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: Acceptance criteria define what must be true for the project product to be accepted by the customer/senior user. In PRINCE2, these criteria are captured in the Project Product Description, which describes the overall project product and ties required scope (what will be delivered) to quality expectations (how it must perform).
PRINCE2 distinguishes between scope, quality, and acceptance by using product-based definitions. Scope is defined by the set of products to be delivered, quality is expressed through measurable criteria and methods for those products, and acceptance is the formal confirmation that the project product meets the agreed needs.
The acceptance criteria for the overall project product are documented in the Project Product Description. This provides a clear, testable basis for final acceptance and helps ensure that quality expectations are agreed early and aligned with what is in scope.
Product-level quality criteria belong in individual Product Descriptions, whereas the project-level acceptance criteria belong in the Project Product Description.
The Project Product Description defines the project product and includes the acceptance criteria used to confirm it meets required scope and quality for acceptance.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A project will deliver a public-facing online application portal. The Project Product Description includes:
During the final stage, the Senior User says they will only accept the portal if it supports 8,000 concurrent users. Impact analysis shows this would add 3 weeks and $30,000.
Stage tolerances are time +2 weeks and cost +$20,000.
What should the project manager do?
Best answer: B
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: The Senior User is effectively changing what must be delivered to gain acceptance, which is a change to requirements/acceptance criteria. Because the impact exceeds the stage time and cost tolerances, the project manager must escalate rather than decide unilaterally. PRINCE2 governance expects a formal decision on the options and trade-offs.
Requirements describe what the product must do (e.g., concurrency), while quality criteria describe how well it must perform (e.g., response time) and quality tolerances set the permitted deviation from those criteria. Acceptance criteria define the conditions under which the customer/Senior User will accept the project product.
Here, increasing from 5,000 to 8,000 concurrent users changes the requirement and therefore the acceptance expectations. Since delivering it would exceed the stage tolerances (+3 weeks, +$30,000 vs allowed +2 weeks, +$20,000), the project manager must escalate to the Project Board using an Exception Report (supported by an issue/change request) so the board can decide the best trade-off (e.g., approve more time/cost, reduce scope elsewhere, or reject the change).
This is a change to acceptance/requirements that is forecast to exceed stage tolerances, so it must be escalated for a decision.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A project manager has produced a Quality Management Approach for inclusion in the PID. It describes the quality standards to use and the quality methods (reviews and testing), but it does not define who is responsible for quality activities/sign-off or what quality records will be kept.
If the project board authorizes the next stage anyway, what is the most likely near-term impact on stage progress and governance?
Best answer: C
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: A Quality Management Approach should cover standards, methods, responsibilities, and the records to be produced/retained. If responsibilities and records are missing, people will be unclear who plans, performs, and approves quality activities and what evidence is needed. The immediate consequence is slower quality control and acceptance decisions, which can delay work within the stage.
The Quality Management Approach explains how quality will be planned, assured, and controlled, including the standards to apply, the methods to use, who is responsible for quality activities and acceptance, and what quality records will provide objective evidence. In the scenario, standards and methods exist, but responsibilities and records do not. That creates immediate governance friction: quality reviews, approvals, and acceptance can’t proceed smoothly because sign-off authority and required evidence are unclear. The near-term impact is delay to product acceptance (and therefore stage progress), as the team and project manager must agree roles and record-keeping before decisions can be made with confidence. Longer-term impacts may occur, but the most likely immediate effect is slowed acceptance and control within the stage.
Without defined responsibilities and quality records, quality reviews and sign-off are likely to stall, slowing acceptance within the stage.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A PRINCE2 project is delivering a new online customer portal. The approved Business Case forecast benefits of $1.2m per year from reduced call-centre demand. Midway through the current stage, new market data indicates the portal will only achieve $0.9m per year. The PID sets a benefits tolerance of no more than 10% reduction for the project.
As project manager, what is the BEST next action to measure whether the project remains worth doing?
Best answer: C
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: In PRINCE2, continued business justification is tested by keeping the Business Case up to date and comparing forecasts against agreed benefits tolerances. Here, the revised benefit forecast breaches the project’s benefits tolerance, so it must be escalated. The Project Board then decides whether the project remains worth doing or needs direction.
The Business Case practice is used to assess whether the project remains desirable, viable, and achievable as forecasts change. When updated information shows that expected benefits have reduced, the forecast should be reflected in the Business Case and compared to the agreed tolerances for benefits.
Because the revised benefits are outside the delegated tolerance, the project manager must escalate rather than “manage within stage”. In PRINCE2 this is done by raising an exception to the Project Board (so they can decide to continue, change direction, or stop), using the updated Business Case as key decision information. Waiting for a later review delays governance action when the project may no longer be justified.
Reforecasting shows benefits are outside agreed tolerance, so the Business Case must be updated and the Project Board asked to decide on continued justification.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A project is delivering a new customer self-service portal. A technical issue means the planned solution will need an extra 3 weeks and $40,000, exceeding the stage tolerances of +1 week and $20,000. The Senior Supplier proposes a workaround that stays within stage tolerances but reduces expected benefits by 30%, breaching the project’s benefit tolerance of a maximum 10% reduction.
Who on the Project Board should take the lead in deciding what to do next to best protect continued business justification and PRINCE2 governance?
Best answer: C
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: A forecast breach of tolerance must be escalated for Project Board decision-making. Here, the workaround breaches the project’s benefit tolerance, and the alternative breaches stage time and cost tolerances, so the decision is not within the Project Manager’s delegated authority. The Executive leads the Project Board in deciding whether the project still has a viable Business Case and what direction to take.
In PRINCE2, the Project Board is accountable for directing the project and making key decisions when tolerances are forecast to be exceeded. The Executive is specifically accountable for continued business justification, so when options involve a material trade-off between time/cost and benefits (and a breach of benefit tolerance), the Executive should lead the Project Board’s decision based on the updated Business Case.
In this scenario, both options trigger escalation:
The Project Manager should therefore escalate (typically via an Exception Report) for Project Board direction, with the Senior User advising on benefit impact and the Senior Supplier advising on feasibility and implications.
The Executive is accountable for continued business justification and leads Project Board decisions when tolerances (including benefits) are forecast to be exceeded.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
During Stage Plan preparation, the project manager asks for a Product Description for a new management product: a “Monthly Performance Dashboard”. Which information should be included in the Product Description to enable planning and quality control?
Best answer: B
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: A PRINCE2 Product Description specifies what the product is, how it will be judged, and how approval will be gained. This includes the product’s composition, its quality criteria, and the method of acceptance so it can be planned, built, and verified consistently.
In PRINCE2, a Product Description is created to make the required product unambiguous and controllable. For planning, it clarifies the product’s composition (what it consists of and any interfaces). For quality control, it states the quality criteria (the standards/characteristics the product must satisfy) and the method of acceptance (how the product will be reviewed/tested and who will confirm acceptance).
These elements allow the plan to identify the right activities (create, review, test) and provide objective checks that the “Monthly Performance Dashboard” is complete and fit for purpose. Details like schedules, risks, and role assignments are managed in other management products.
A Product Description defines the product’s composition, its quality criteria, and the method of acceptance needed to confirm it is fit for purpose.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A project is approaching the end of Stage 2. The Project Board will decide whether to authorize Stage 3 and wants evidence of what was delivered compared with the Stage Plan, plus an updated forecast for the remainder of the project.
Which management product is the best evidence to provide this validation?
Best answer: D
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: The End Stage Report is produced at a stage boundary to show how the stage performed against the Stage Plan and to provide an updated view of expected project performance. This supports PRINCE2 control by enabling the Project Board to make an informed decision on whether to authorize the next stage and commit further resources.
The plans practice enables effective delivery and control by providing agreed targets (in plans) and then comparing actual performance against those targets at the right management level and time horizon. At a stage boundary, PRINCE2 needs formal evidence of stage results and a refreshed forecast so the Project Board can decide whether continued investment is justified and whether to authorize the next stage.
The End Stage Report provides this by:
This is more appropriate than routine, in-stage progress reporting.
It summarizes stage performance against the Stage Plan and provides updated forecasts to support the next stage authorization decision.
Topic: PRINCE2 Practices
A project to implement a new HR platform was approved based on an initial investment appraisal. Midway through delivery, the supplier proposes a design change that will add $80,000 to costs and reduce the expected time savings (benefits) due to extra manual checks.
Before deciding whether to proceed with the change and continue the project, what should the project manager verify first?
Best answer: A
What this tests: PRINCE2 Practices
Explanation: PRINCE2 separates the initial investment appraisal (used to justify starting) from ongoing Business Case maintenance (used to justify continuing). When costs increase and benefits reduce during delivery, the first clarification is whether the Business Case has been updated and still demonstrates continued business justification. That verification informs whether escalation and re-approval are needed.
Initial investment appraisal supports the decision to start the project by comparing expected costs, risks, and benefits. During delivery, PRINCE2 requires ongoing Business Case maintenance so the project can be shown to remain desirable, viable, and achievable as circumstances change.
In this scenario, a proposed change alters both costs and benefits, so the decision must be based on an up-to-date Business Case forecast. If the updated Business Case no longer supports continued justification (or would exceed agreed tolerances), it should be escalated for direction rather than judged on the original appraisal method or delivery convenience.
Key takeaway: initial appraisal justifies starting; Business Case maintenance justifies continuing.
During delivery, the key check is whether the updated costs/benefits keep the Business Case viable, not whether an initial appraisal was done.
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