The exam is 60 minutes long. You must get 35 out of 70 to make the 50% pass grade.
There are 75 questions in total including 5 trial ones for which the scores do not count.
The Foundation exam is aimed at establishing if you will be able to act as an informed member of a project management team using PRINCE2 in an environment that supports it. To pass you’ll need to show that you understand the principles and terminology of the method. So you must show that you’ve grasped the purpose and major content of roles, the eight components, eight processes and sub-processes and the techniques. You must state which management products are input to - and output from -the eight processes, the main purpose and key contents of the main management products, plus you must state the relationships between processes, deliverables, roles and the management dimensions of a project.
There are 8 questions per paper and 10 marks per questions. You need to get 44 out of 80 to reach the 55% pass mark in 2 1/2 hours in an objective testing format exam. You are allowed to use the annotated PRINCE2 manual.
Once you’re training, it’s all too easy to zone in on the detail and away from what the examiners want. They want to see that you know and can comment on explanations of processes, themes and techniques plus examples of PRINCE2 management products with regard to specific circumstances in a given scenario. You must show that you know how processes, themes, techniques and PRINCE2 management products interact and that you can apply that knowledge. They want evidence that you’ve grasped the reasons behind the processes, themes and techniques and can tailor PRINCE2 to different project environments.
Set up and make sure you stick your own course, revision and exam schedule and deadlines -obviously you’ll have built in risk factors. If organisation isn’t your thing then find an accredited training organisation (ATO) that’ll do most of the thinking for you.
No need to revise like crazy, there’s time to find the answers in the manual during the exam. Right? Wrong! You have 2 ½ hours to get 80 marks-that’s 0.53 marks every 60 seconds. What’s more, you need to aim to get 100% of the 80marks if you want a fighting chance of getting enough questions right to reach or even exceed that 55% pass mark, helping to give you an edge in this tough promotion and job market. Time to eat, drink and sleep that PRINCE2 manual so you can turn to what you need, when you need it, in the exam.
This is a challenging exam that’s eminently passable if you do it right. Learn the layout and question types, shoot for 100% when you sit exam simulations and sit them early and regularly to gauge progress; if you keep making the grade then the real thing should be a cinch, if you don’t then you can fix your weak areas.
The exam starts and you hit the ground running. Steady! First read through everything cover to cover. Then read each question, underline key words and finally answer the question asked. Do the simple questions first and review your answers at the end. Watch the clock, time can ebb away very quickly. And if you fail, don’t worry you can always re-take, just remember to keep calm and carry on!
