PRINCE2-7-Practitioner PRINCE2 Project Management Practitioner (Version 7) Question and Answers

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 B — Project executive . Selecting the project approach is an activity within the starting up a project process. The approach establishes the overall way in which the project’s products will be created and delivered, including considerations such as delivery method, sourcing, specialist techniques, and relevant organizational or commercial constraints.

The project manager performs substantial analysis and coordination in developing the proposed approach, drawing on specialist advice where required. However, the question specifically asks which role is accountable . Accountability rests with the project executive , who is ultimately accountable for the project’s success and for ensuring that the chosen approach is compatible with the business justification, organizational environment, and project mandate.

Option C is attractive because the project manager has operational responsibility for preparing and developing many elements of the project approach. However, responsibility for performing an activity and accountability for ensuring its appropriate outcome are distinct concepts. Option D is also too narrow: the senior supplier provides important specialist expertise concerning feasibility and delivery, but represents the supplier interest rather than holding overall accountability. Option A establishes the wider organizational direction but does not own this project-level decision.

The executive therefore remains accountable while drawing on the project manager and specialist supplier expertise to establish a viable approach.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Starting up a project; select the project approach; project executive accountability; project manager responsibility; supplier expertise.

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The correct answer is B . PRINCE2 distinguishes quality control from quality assurance . Quality control consists of project-level activities used to examine products and determine whether their defined quality specifications and acceptance criteria have been achieved. Quality assurance, by contrast, provides confidence independently of the project that appropriate quality standards, policies, and procedures are being applied.

The scenario explicitly states that the portfolio office is operating independently of the LouisShopping project team and has been asked by the City Council to provide confidence that delivery will preserve the historic setting while incorporating the required technology. This is characteristic of independent quality assurance performed on behalf of the business layer.

Option A is incorrect because the portfolio office is not being asked to perform the project manager’s operational quality-control activities. Option C incorrectly restricts assurance information to the project board; the business layer may require independent assurance over projects it commissions or funds. Option D is also too restrictive. A portfolio office may support independent assurance of individual projects where organizational arrangements permit it.

The key distinction is independence: the activity provides organizational confidence in how quality is being managed rather than carrying out the project’s own product inspections and tests.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Quality practice; quality assurance; quality control; business layer; independence of assurance; organizational quality standards.

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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 B . The principle define roles, responsibilities and relationships requires more than assigning job titles. Individuals need to understand their delegated responsibilities, their authority, their interfaces with other participants, and what they can reasonably expect from those relationships.

The Heritage Director may delegate assurance activity provided accountability and authority remain appropriately structured. In this scenario, the Heritage Manager is expected to coordinate with the BuildyBrick CEO and project manager and report on whether the proposed inspection arrangements provide adequate assurance. For this arrangement to work, the Heritage Manager must understand precisely what the Heritage Director expects, the scope of the delegated review, and the contributions expected from the other parties.

PRINCE2 7 explicitly strengthens its treatment of relationships and recognizes that project effectiveness depends on deliberate interaction between people rather than merely documenting roles. PeopleCert describes clear responsibilities and good relationships as important foundations for governance, assurance, collaboration, and successful change.

Option A is too absolute: the principle does not impose an unrestricted requirement for every communication channel to remain open to everyone at all times. Options C and D incorrectly assume the activity cannot be delegated. PRINCE2 permits delegation while retaining appropriate accountability.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Define roles, responsibilities and relationships; Organization practice; delegation; assurance; project relationships.

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The correct answer is A . The learn from experience principle requires learning to occur throughout the project lifecycle, not merely during initiation or closure. Lessons should be sought, recorded where appropriate, communicated to those who can use them, and incorporated into current or future decisions and ways of working.

The fortnightly cross-team session directly addresses the project manager’s concern that lessons emerging in one work package may otherwise remain isolated. Sharing them across teams allows corrective knowledge to be applied while it can still prevent rework, delay, cost escalation, or repeated mistakes. Official PeopleCert material emphasizes that lessons should be considered before starting, captured during delivery, and actively applied; simply recording a lesson without changing future behavior does not constitute effective learning.

Option B describes another legitimate source of lessons—previous projects—but does not explain the specific benefit demonstrated in the scenario, which concerns lessons arising across teams during the current stage . Option C contradicts PRINCE2’s expectation that lessons improve project performance rather than being regarded as non-productive overhead. Option D incorrectly postpones learning until the end of the stage, when the opportunity to prevent immediate repetition may already have passed.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Learn from experience; lessons log; knowledge sharing; applying lessons throughout the project lifecycle.

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The correct answer is B . PRINCE2 7 is designed to be tailored to the organizational environment in which a project operates. It specifies the purpose and required governance of the business case rather than requiring every organization to use identical terminology or documentation structures.

The City Council already has a mature and standardized procedure. Its strategic business case provides the early justification during starting up a project, and the more detailed business case is then developed during initiating a project. Functionally, this follows the PRINCE2 lifecycle in which an initial justification is established early and subsequently refined into a sufficiently detailed business case for project authorization and ongoing decision-making.

Option C treats the label “outline business case” as mandatory. PRINCE2 tailoring allows established corporate terminology and management products to be used where they fulfil the required purpose and preserve the necessary controls. Option A refers to multiple analytical perspectives but does not address the central issue in the scenario: whether the Council’s established business-case procedure may legitimately be used. Option D is incorrect because the existence of a portfolio office does not transfer all project-level responsibility for developing and maintaining the project’s business justification away from the project organization.

The key consideration is equivalence of purpose and control, not rigid terminology.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Business case practice; tailoring; organizational standards; starting up a project; initiating a project; continued business justification.

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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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The correct mapping is Action 1 — A; Action 2 — E; Action 3 — C .

For Action 1 , the appointment of an additional contractor exceeds the project manager’s delegated authority. Although both options remain within overall stage cost and time tolerances, the project manager cannot authorize a decision that falls outside their defined authority. The matter must therefore be referred to the appropriate project-board authority, with the project executive responsible for leading the decision.

For Action 2 , maintaining project records is part of the project manager’s day-to-day management responsibility. Once a decision has been taken, the project manager should ensure that the issue record is updated with the authorized response and decision so that there is an accurate audit trail.

For Action 3 , the senior supplier represents those providing specialist resources and expertise to create the project’s products. Confirming that appropriate supplier resources can be made available for additional site-clearance work consequently aligns with the supplier interest.

This question illustrates that issue management must operate within the project’s governance and delegation arrangements. Remaining within tolerance does not automatically permit the project manager to take an action specifically outside their delegated authority.

PRINCE2 7 reference topics: Issues practice; delegated authority; issue report; issue register; project executive; project manager; senior supplier.

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