Practice Free PRINCE2-7-Practitioner PRINCE2 Project Management Practitioner (Version 7) Exam Questions Answers With Explanation

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.

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The correct answer is C . PRINCE2 applies management by exception through a hierarchy of delegated authority. The project board establishes the management stage within which the project manager operates, whereas the project manager normally authorizes individual work packages and agrees their requirements and tolerances with the relevant team managers.

The problem in the scenario is therefore not the existence of recycling or sustainability tolerances. Such measurable constraints may legitimately be delegated to a delivery team when they are relevant to its work. The problem is that the project board bypasses the project manager and directly inserts detailed work-package tolerances without those delegated targets being agreed through the normal work-package authorization relationship.

Option A incorrectly creates a direct routine control relationship between the project board and team managers. Option B similarly conflicts with the normal reporting structure: team managers report work-package progress to the project manager, while the project manager provides appropriate progress information to the project board. Option D is incorrect because sustainability performance can be translated into delegated targets and tolerances at lower management levels when appropriate.

The project manager should therefore authorize the relevant work packages, agree achievable delegated tolerances with team managers, and monitor performance against them within the overall stage tolerances authorized by the project board.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Progress practice; management by exception; work packages; tolerances; project manager/team manager interface; delegated authority.

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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.

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The correct answer is A . Manage by exception is based on delegating authority within explicitly agreed tolerances. Higher management sets boundaries within which the lower management level may make decisions without repeatedly seeking approval. Escalation becomes necessary when a tolerance is forecast to be exceeded.

In this scenario, the desired scope is 15 rapid-charging spaces, while the project board has accepted a lower limit of 10. That creates a defined permissible range for the scope of the relevant product or work package. The project manager can therefore delegate delivery within that range to the team manager. As long as the forecast remains within the agreed scope tolerance, routine design decisions do not need to be referred back upward. PeopleCert summarizes the principle by stating that authority should be delegated within agreed tolerances, avoiding both micromanagement and uncontrolled exceptions.

Option B incorrectly categorizes the tolerance as quality tolerance . The number of charging spaces concerns the extent of what is being delivered and is therefore a scope parameter. Options C and D undermine the fundamental purpose of management by exception by requiring unnecessary precision and escalation where authorized flexibility has deliberately been provided.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Manage by exception; tolerances; scope performance target; delegation; work packages; exception escalation.

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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.

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The correct answer is C . PRINCE2 requires project roles, responsibilities, authority, accountability, and working relationships to be sufficiently clear for the people performing those roles to understand what is expected of them. A standard organizational role description can provide a useful baseline, but it does not remove the need to establish how the role applies within the particular project context.

The project manager is responsible for day-to-day management within the authority delegated by the project board. Consequently, the Regeneration Manager must understand the specific responsibilities, decision rights, interfaces, tolerances, reporting expectations, and relationships relevant to this project. Urgency does not justify leaving those matters ambiguous. PeopleCert describes clear roles and responsibilities as fundamental to accountability, reduced ambiguity, effective communication, and project success.

Option A incorrectly treats a generic portfolio description as sufficient in every circumstance. Option B identifies a legitimate project initiation responsibility but does not justify refusing clarification. Option D is incorrect because portfolio management does not replace the PRINCE2 project-level organization and governance responsibilities.

The principle is therefore being applied incorrectly: standardized descriptions may support implementation, but the individual performing the project management role still needs a clear, project-specific understanding and acceptance of the responsibilities assigned.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Principles — Define roles, responsibilities and relationships; Organization practice; Starting up a project; role clarity and accountability.

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The correct answer is A — Project executive . Within the directing a project process, the project board provides ongoing direction throughout the project. When that direction principally concerns the business interest , the project executive is the appropriate board member to lead it.

The scenario concerns additional funding and the continuation of advertising beyond project closure so that the wider business objective of attracting more businesses to Louistown can be supported. These matters relate directly to organizational investment, business justification, and the relationship between the project and the business layer. The project executive represents the business interest on the project board and maintains the principal interface between project governance and the commissioning organization.

Option B is incorrect because the project manager receives direction from the project board and manages the project on a day-to-day basis; the project manager does not replace the board’s business governance role. Option C is incorrect because project assurance independently evaluates whether the project is being conducted appropriately; it does not lead business direction. Option D represents the user interest, ensuring that the project products meet user needs and support expected benefits, but additional investment and business-layer direction fall primarily within the executive’s domain.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Directing a project; give ongoing direction; project executive; business interest; business layer; project-board responsibilities.

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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.

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The correct answer is D . PRINCE2 7 recognizes that successful change depends on understanding and actively engaging people who can influence the project, its outputs, and the eventual adoption of those outputs. The Chief Technology Officer is explicitly described as an influential stakeholder. Limiting that person’s involvement simply because some preferred technologies are unproven would sacrifice potentially valuable organizational influence instead of managing the disagreement constructively.

The appropriate response is to maintain engagement while separately assessing the technical and delivery risks associated with the proposed technologies. Stakeholder engagement and risk management are complementary activities: an influential stakeholder can remain involved even when particular proposals require challenge, evaluation, or risk responses. Continued engagement also helps the project understand expectations, build support, and facilitate adoption of the eventual solution across the wider organizational ecosystem.

Options A and B treat stakeholder exclusion as a risk-control technique, which is inconsistent with effective change leadership. Option C is too narrow because merely recording technological concerns as risks does not address the people and stakeholder dimension. Risks should be managed, but the stakeholder relationship should also be deliberately maintained.

The scenario therefore distinguishes between managing the uncertainty attached to an idea and excluding the person advocating it . PRINCE2 supports the former, not the latter.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: People; leading successful change; stakeholder engagement; organizational ecosystem; relationships and communication.

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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.

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The correct answer is B — Prepare the next stage plan . The managing a stage boundary process ensures that the project board receives sufficient information to review the current stage and make an informed decision about authorizing the next one. Preparing the next stage plan includes determining how the forthcoming stage will be organized, resourced, managed, and controlled.

The replacement subcontractor will perform important utilities and systems work during stage 3. Consequently, the project manager must consider whether the existing project management team remains appropriate for the forthcoming stage. Recommending the subcontractor’s account manager as the new senior supplier is directly connected with establishing appropriate supplier representation and governance for the work that will be undertaken in that next stage.

Option A concerns revising the higher-level project plan using current information and forecasts; it does not primarily establish stage-specific project management team arrangements. Option C concerns assessing how the current stage performed, including achievements and lessons. Option D occurs after the necessary stage-boundary information has been prepared and is used to request authorization from the project board.

The recommendation should therefore be developed while preparing the next stage plan , so that the required organization and supplier representation are clear before authorization of stage 3 is requested.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Managing a stage boundary; prepare the next stage plan; organization; senior supplier; supplier representation; project management team.

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