Comments on: PRINCE2 Meets the Grumpy Old Man!

By: lindsayascott

lindsayascott — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 16:44:31 +0000

Found out today that if you sit your PRINCE2 Foundation and fail, they let you have another go again, a second chance.

What do others think about that?

Personally it shouldn’t be allowed!

By: Zifa

Zifa — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:31:03 +0000

I took a one week long course to get through both Foundation and Practitioner levels in 2005. Not only I studied but also worked on my laptop during 15 minute breaks and the lunch time: I passed it all and got more than 80%. The tutor would not tell us individual percentages but said that the group was outstanding and everybody passed with more than 80%!
How much simpler can this be?? Multiple choice questions are there for dumb people and to create more dumb people. To assume that the international version needs to be simpler is actually quite arrogant of the authors. It simply needs a high quality translation and a 17 year old in Russia will get it. People who are “unused to writing for extended periods of time” need keyboards and PCs in the examination room, and not the reduction in writing. I am one of those who is unused to writing because I am young, and my fingers and the hand suffer during written exams: when old people who design all these systems will get it and just put computers in examination rooms??? As simple as that… Pff….

By: Chandru

Chandru — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:35:52 +0000

I took the Practitioner exam recently and found it quiet challenging. The questions and answer choices were not simple or straight forward – you need to carefully consider the scenario and be able to apply Prince2 concepts to identify the right answers. It doesn’t matter what type of test is used as long as the test is wholesome enough to achieve the goals.

By: Pete Domican

Pete Domican — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:17:21 +0000

I think Gail had a perfectly valid point. Companies are sending groups of people on Prince 2 courses and they come back as ‘Prince 2 practitioners’. However when you ask them to put together a key Prince 2 document e.g. an issues and risks log or a business case, they are often totally clueless in either content or context.

By: James Beam

James Beam — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:27:12 +0000

I’m afraid that Pete Dominican’s post shows that some people who pass Prince 2 still don’t understand it.

Prince 2 is meant to be scaled to suit projects – the lack of scaling by talentless amateurs who have taken the course is what brings Prince 2 into disrepute.

I would be surprised if “company courses” cover the Prince 2 syllabus, as Prince 2 is more of an defined environment withing which project management happens and is controlled; most company courses cover project management methodologies – you won’t get instruction in Gantt charts or budget control in a Prince 2 manual

Prince 2 is not a Program management methodology – that’s MSP

The above also applies to Gail Brennan’s uninformed post. Unfortunately, many people do not understand Prince 2 and think it is like APMP.

By: Gail Brennan

Gail Brennan — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 20:41:47 +0000

I work in an organisation which sends every tom, dick and harry on the PRINCE2 5 day course and many of them come out with a practitioner qualification but none of them have a clue how to manage a project – as far as I’m concerned to have any credibility a project management qualification should include some portfolio evidence of delivery.

By: Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 21:34:07 +0000

I am a PRINCE2 trainier and have been for a number of years. It has always concerned me that the old style exam left it open for training organisation to provide sample answers during the course and therefore teach people how to pass an exam rather that understand the “framework”. I was also initially sceptical about the new format when it was marketed as “multiple choice” but when we had the chance to pilot this back in May, I and almost all the lead trainers were pleasantly surprised and now believe that this exam does test a more in depth knowledge of most of PRINCE2 topics as opposed to am maximum of 3 or 4 topics previously and provides a more worthwhile qualification than before. Those that think otherwise obviously haven’t attempted the exams or are scared of it! The world is moving on and PRINCE2 has to move with it.

By: Bernard Peek

Bernard Peek — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 12:07:10 +0000

My current project is to develop a set of objective tests, and to do that I work with the real experts on the topic – we have more doctors than Holby City.

There’s a considerable amount of real science behing well-developed multiple-choice questions. And at least I will be able to take a test without having to load myself up with pain-killers in advance.

By: Gareth Hartwell

Gareth Hartwell — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:29:33 +0000

I did my Practitioner exam a few weeks ago and was surprised to learn that the format had been changed from when my wife did the old style exam last year.

I was also sceptical at first but I would urge others to try some of the new papers before commenting. The new exam is still very hard, albeit different and testing different skills and has protections in place to ensure that candidates cannot simply guess the answers. I am sure that some people who would have failed the old exam would pass the new one but equally I am sure that there are those who passed the old one by meticulous preparation but without a thorough understanding who would fail the new exam.

By: Edward Wong

Edward Wong — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 13:20:59 +0000

I’m an accredited PRINCE2 trainer and having facilitated (and worked on) both formats, I have to say that the new “Objective Testing” format (just don’t say “Multiple Choice to APMG, they hate it) is AS HARD AS, if not, MORE difficult than the essay style.

The three hours of writing has now been replaced by three hours of thinking. A wider range of topics can be tested (practically the entire method) versus a smaller scope in the essay style. Several exam takers in my classes actually couldn’t finish on time.

Passing rates for the Essay format has been around the 50-70% range, and I’m actually thinking this will stay the same with the new format.

To anyone who thinks that APMG has “dumbed down” the exam, I will say to them that they have actually “smartened up”. My colleagues also had a similar sentiment before actually seeing the new format in action, but are now firm believers.

When the new format was presented to the trainers, some trainers actually struggled with the new format. Sadly, these are the weaker trainers. A person who knows PRINCE2 inside out can get 75-80% easily without referring to the manual. But a fresh course participant will definitely have a challenge after just 5 days of training.

By: Kary Hansen

Kary Hansen — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:59:59 +0000

Throughout my career the Prince 2 Practitioner qualification was always seen as the seal of quality in PM terms. Some of us have not been lucky enough to receive the training and exam free through our companies. When paying for it yourself it does hold more importance. It once set us apart from managers who look after projects. If the exam is made too accessible and too easy then this leaves room for the introduction of a further exam to show quality at a further cost to us all?

By: John Clark

John Clark — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 06:27:54 +0000

I’ll be taking the new exam in October. The new rules are tighter in that you can only take the PRINCE2 Manual in with you, ie no carefully prepared scenario answers in the back of your notes folder or document templates that you might have hidden away. If you’ve not seen an example of the new practitioner paper then I don’t see how you can comment on a possible ‘dumbing down’ of the exam.

By: Pete Domican

Pete Domican — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 10:42:29 +0000

It takes too much time and money to pass an exam around a methodology which is not universally recognised, over-engineered for many types of project and which is frequently scaled back in practice.

I’ve got fed up of going on different company courses for different methodologies which are all essentially the same. The key principles of Prince 2 (or any other methodology) can probably be covered on about 2 sides or less of A4 in about 1hr. The book is around 400 pages of mind numbing repetition.

Companies who fund training want people to have a qualification that proves they understand the concepts of programme management and can apply them. Training people to pass a 3 hr exam and waiting ages for the results isn’t cost effective.

I applaud them for taking a bold move in recognising the need to modernise.

By: Andrew Long

Andrew Long — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 19:39:12 +0000

I did my Practitioner exam last year and my hand ached after all that writing – I hadn’t done a 3 hour exam for over 20 years – I bet my handwriting wasn’t legible. I would like to see things kept as they are – what is the point of multiple choices for both exams ? Being grumpy all of a sudden – we seem to have lost in the UK the ability to learn material and answer questions without having to be prompted with a range of answers.

All this will do is to dumb down Prince2 and make the certificate a lot less worth having.

By: Ian McK

Ian McK — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 07:36:29 +0000

For multiple choice you could perhaps read multiple guess!

By: Mark Scott

Mark Scott — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 09:31:11 +0000

“I DON’T BELIEVEEEEEE IT!!!”

“Grumpy Old Man”, you and me both….. I have recently sat the Practioner exam (May), and believe that to allow a candidate to display their knowledge of the methodology a written exam is the only viable solution. Sure, I had to wait until August for my results but it was worth it. Whilst on the course we heard about some changes afoot. Multiple choice!!! Yes, for the Foundation to show an appreciation of the tools and techniques required but as you say, if candidates are not tasked to write out the answers what do you see? Also for those of us who have completed the exam in it’s long format how do we then view a candidate passing on multiple choice?

Methinks this not the end of this…..?