Free Practice Questions for the PRINCE2 Certification PRINCE2-7-Practitioner Exam (2026 Updated)

The correct answer is A — Prepare planned closure . A project can be operationally complete before all of its intended benefits have been realized. Many benefits emerge only after project products have been transferred into business-as-usual operation. Consequently, closing arrangements need to establish how outstanding benefits will subsequently be measured and reviewed.

In this scenario, the anticipated increase in business opportunities will be assessed after LouisShopping has entered operational use. The project manager therefore needs to update the relevant post-project benefit-review arrangements during prepare planned closure , identifying what is to be measured, when measurement should occur, and who will be responsible. The Head of the Portfolio Office is identified as the person who will perform that subsequent measurement.

Option B concerns obtaining confirmation that the project’s products have been accepted and that appropriate handover has occurred. Option C focuses on evaluating overall project performance and producing closure information such as the end project report and lessons. Option D is the formal request to the project board to authorize closure once the necessary closure activities have been completed.

Preparing planned closure is therefore the appropriate point to ensure that post-project measurement responsibilities remain in place after the temporary project organization is disbanded.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Closing a project; prepare planned closure; benefits management; post-project benefits reviews; operational use; business responsibility after closure.

===============

The correct answer is C — Progress . The progress practice establishes mechanisms for comparing actual achievements with planned targets, forecasting future performance, controlling deviations, and providing appropriate information to decision-makers. At project closure, this includes reviewing overall project performance against the baselines and targets that were originally authorized.

The end project report provides the project board with a consolidated assessment of how the project performed. In this scenario, the project manager records that actual cost exceeded the budget by 10% and actual duration exceeded the planned schedule by 15%. These are direct comparisons between actual and planned performance , placing the information squarely within the progress practice.

Sharing the findings with the LOB Portfolio Director also enables experience from the LouisShopping project to support organizational learning. This does not change the primary practice being demonstrated: the information being analysed and communicated is project performance against authorized targets.

Option A concerns whether continued or completed investment was justified in terms of costs, benefits, risks, and business objectives. Option B concerns creation and maintenance of plans. Option D concerns ensuring products meet defined quality requirements. Although each may contribute information to project closure, the specific evaluation of cost and time performance belongs principally to progress .

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Progress practice; end project report; actual versus planned performance; project closure; lessons and organizational learning.

===============

The correct answer is A — State characteristics . The requirement describes an attribute of the intended future operating environment: once LouisShopping has transitioned to its target state, the car park must be monitored continuously, twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. It therefore defines what the future state must be like , rather than describing an activity required to create that state.

Within the change management approach, state characteristics describe relevant features of the current, interim, or target states. The continuous-monitoring requirement is an enduring operational condition and consequently belongs under this heading.

Option B, Enabling activities , would instead describe activities undertaken to move people or the organization from the current state toward the target state—for example, training personnel, implementing a monitoring process, or preparing operational procedures. Option C, Resources , would identify the people, funding, equipment, systems, or other resources needed to support the change. Option D, Responsibilities , would define who is accountable for specific change-related activities or ongoing duties.

The distinction is therefore between describing the desired condition and describing the means of achieving or sustaining it. “The car park is monitored continuously” is a characteristic of the required target operating state.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: People; change management approach; current state, interim state and target state; state characteristics; enabling activities.

===============

The correct answer is C . PRINCE2 7’s people element emphasizes effective leadership, collaboration, capability, relationships, and understanding the people actually available to the project. A capability shortfall should therefore be diagnosed before a disproportionate organizational response is selected.

The survey team is described as generally qualified; only a specific technical capability is missing. Replacing the entire team without assessing the competency gap could discard useful knowledge, disrupt established relationships, increase transition time, and—as the scenario explicitly states—cause substantial additional delay. A better leadership response is first to establish exactly what capability is missing and then assess proportionate interventions such as specialist support, targeted training, temporary augmentation, mentoring, or bringing in one specialist rather than replacing the complete team.

PeopleCert’s PRINCE2 7 guidance stresses the importance of team skills and collaboration and explicitly cautions against assuming that successful project leadership means replacing existing people whenever difficulties arise. It emphasizes working effectively with the team available and adapting the approach to people and circumstances.

Option A jumps directly to a disruptive solution. Option B incorrectly assumes that authority alone makes the proposed response appropriate. Option D overstates co-creation: agreed ways of working do not prevent justified changes to team composition.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: People element; leading successful teams; capability and competency; collaboration; relationships; tailoring ways of working.

===============

The correct answer is A — Project product description . The project product description defines the project’s overall output and establishes the principal basis on which that output will ultimately be judged acceptable. It includes the overall purpose, composition, quality expectations, acceptance criteria, and other characteristics necessary to determine whether the final project product is fit for its intended purpose.

The original statement that the design should be “consistent with its surroundings” is high level and inherently difficult to verify. During initiation, the project manager works with relevant stakeholders to translate that broad expectation into clearer design characteristics and measurable acceptance criteria . These details refine the definition of the overall project product and therefore belong in the project product description.

Option B is incorrect because a work package authorizes and controls specific work delegated to a team manager; it does not define the acceptance criteria for the entire project product. Option C, the product flow diagram, shows the sequence and dependencies involved in creating products rather than their acceptance requirements. Option D, the project plan, describes how and when the project’s products will be delivered, but the overall acceptance definition belongs in the project product description.

This refinement also supports stakeholder alignment by turning an ambiguous requirement into objectively testable acceptance conditions.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Plans practice; project product description; quality expectations; acceptance criteria; starting up a project; initiating a project.

===============

The correct answer is A . The give ongoing direction activity within the directing a project process enables project board members to provide advice and guidance throughout the life of the project, not solely at formal authorization points. This includes raising concerns when information becomes available that could affect the interests represented by an individual project board member.

The Heritage Director is acting as senior user . The senior user represents the interests of those who will use, operate, maintain, or otherwise benefit from the project products and is responsible for ensuring that user requirements remain appropriately represented. Discovering that the previously requested heritage trail has not been addressed is therefore a legitimate concern for the senior user to raise.

Option B is incorrect because give ongoing direction does not create a standard obligation for the senior user to formally approve every specialist product produced during specific stages. Formal product approval should follow the project’s agreed quality and acceptance arrangements. Option C incorrectly assumes that ongoing direction can occur only following a request from the project manager. Option D is also incorrect because individual board members may provide guidance within their delegated area of responsibility without first obtaining a collective board position on every matter.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Directing a project; give ongoing direction; project board; senior user; delegated authority; Ref. 14.4.3.

===============

The correct answer is A . PRINCE2 management stages are governance constructs and do not have to correspond mechanically to technical phases or fixed time intervals. Their boundaries should be positioned where they provide effective control and meaningful decision points for the project board.

Aligning the end of stage 2 with the Council’s financial year-end is therefore appropriate because the continuation decision for stage 3 depends on a significant external funding decision. The boundary creates a natural point at which actual progress can be assessed, the business case can be reviewed, future funding confirmed, and the next stage authorized with current information. PRINCE2’s management-by-stages approach supports progressive planning and explicit review points rather than committing detailed authority for the entire project at initiation.

Option B is incorrect because completing a single specialist product does not automatically determine the end of a management stage. Stage boundaries are selected to provide appropriate management control. Option C is too restrictive: risk is an important consideration when determining stage length, but it is not the sole factor. Option D similarly overstates technical complexity as the determining factor. Business decisions, risk, uncertainty, planning horizon, organizational constraints, and external decision points can all influence stage design.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Manage by stages; management stage design; planning horizon; stage boundaries; authorization of the next stage.

===============

The correct answer is B — Give ongoing direction . The directing a project process is not limited to formal authorization decisions at stage boundaries. The project board also remains available throughout delivery to provide advice, guidance, and direction within its areas of responsibility. This continuing governance activity is captured by give ongoing direction .

In the scenario, the project manager informally consults the CEO of BuildyBrick in the senior supplier interest concerning testing and inspection arrangements for the forthcoming stage. This is specialist, supplier-related advice rather than a request for formal authorization. The senior supplier is appropriately positioned to provide guidance on technical feasibility, specialist resources, supplier capability, and the practical implications of planned quality activities.

Option A would apply when the project board formally reviews and decides whether to authorize a stage plan or exception plan. The scenario occurs while stage 4 is being planned, but the activity described is specifically an informal consultation , not the formal authorization decision itself. Option C concerns authorization of the initiation stage near the start of the project. Option D concerns formal authorization of the overall project following initiation.

The defining feature is therefore the provision of responsive board-level guidance during the project’s life without making a formal authorization decision.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Directing a project; give ongoing direction; senior supplier; project board advice; stage planning; formal versus informal project-board control.

===============

The correct answer is A . When preparing the next stage plan, the project manager must incorporate all relevant authorized changes that affect the products or work to be undertaken in the forthcoming management stage. The stage plan must represent the current authorized baseline rather than an obsolete version of what was originally intended.

The additional trees and seating have already been authorized by the project board, and the change can be incorporated without a forecast breach of overall project tolerance. The project manager should therefore reflect the additional products and activities in the stage 3 plan, revise affected product descriptions and product-register information, and determine whether corresponding elements of the project initiation documentation need updating.

Option B is incorrect because an exception plan is not required for every authorized change. Exception planning is used where agreed tolerance is forecast to be exceeded and the higher management level requests a replacement plan. The scenario explicitly states that project tolerance is not forecast to be breached. Option C incorrectly introduces mandatory re-authorization by the business layer. Option D is incorrect because preparing the next stage plan is a project manager responsibility; project assurance may independently review the resulting information but does not prepare it instead.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Managing a stage boundary; prepare the next stage plan; authorized changes; product descriptions; product register; PID maintenance; exception plans.

===============

The correct answer is A . The purpose of the business case is to provide the information needed to determine whether the project represents a desirable, viable, and achievable investment. Developing that justification requires the project to evaluate credible alternatives rather than assuming that the initially proposed solution is automatically the optimum investment.

The option without the underground car park is described as credible. It is therefore appropriate for the project manager to include an investment appraisal of that option so that decision-makers can compare its costs, benefits, risks, dis-benefits, and overall value with those of the preferred solution. The main contractor’s objection does not remove the project’s responsibility to examine legitimate business alternatives; supplier preferences must not determine investment justification.

Option B is incorrect because PRINCE2 does not impose a universal requirement for customer and supplier organizations to maintain completely separate business cases. Option C incorrectly treats initial scope as immutable. During development of the business case, alternative configurations can be evaluated when this helps determine the most appropriate investment. Option D similarly assumes that one anticipated benefit—parking income—precludes examination of other options. A benefit is an input to investment appraisal, not a reason to suppress alternatives.

The scenario therefore demonstrates objective option appraisal as part of sound business justification.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Business case practice; business options; investment appraisal; justification; desirability, viability and achievability; initiating a project.

===============

The correct answer is D . Under PRINCE2, the project manager is responsible for preparing stage plans , irrespective of whether most specialist delivery during a particular stage is undertaken by an external supplier. A stage plan is a management-level control document used by the project manager and project board to manage and authorize the relevant management stage.

Supplier team managers can and should contribute detailed planning information. They may prepare team plans where appropriate and provide estimates, resource requirements, dependencies, schedules, risks, and detailed information concerning their work packages. Those inputs support preparation of the stage plan but do not transfer ownership of the management-stage plan to the supplier.

Option A incorrectly equates delivery of most stage products with ownership of the stage plan. Option B introduces an unsupported distinction based on the number of suppliers involved. Option C goes even further by asserting that every external supplier should prepare the complete stage plan for the stage in which it operates. That would blur the distinction between project management control and specialist delivery responsibility.

The planning hierarchy remains important: the project manager plans and controls the management stage, while team managers plan and execute the detailed specialist work delegated through work packages.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Plans practice; stage plans; team plans; project manager responsibilities; team manager responsibilities; work packages; management versus specialist products.

===============

The correct answer is B — Appoint the project executive and manager . During starting up a project , the business layer ensures that appropriate project leadership is established and that the prospective project executive understands the mandate, organizational context, and principal business expectations attached to the proposed project.

The information described in the scenario—strategic importance to the LOB portfolio, the expectation that the project will increase business opportunities, and the required completion timeframe—is fundamental business direction. It provides context within which the executive will subsequently ensure that an appropriate project organization and initial business justification are established.

Option A occurs when the wider project management team is designed and appointed. Although role requirements and representation are addressed there, the scenario specifically concerns the initial relationship between the business layer and the prospective executive. Option C concerns deciding how the project’s products should be delivered, such as the delivery method and sourcing approach. It does not principally establish the executive’s understanding of the mandate. Option D concerns preparing the plan for the initiation stage, including the activities, resources, timescale, and controls required to perform initiation.

Therefore, clarification of the mandate and business expectations appropriately accompanies establishment of the executive and project manager roles.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Starting up a project; appoint the project executive and project manager; project mandate; business layer; initial project leadership.

===============