PRINCE2® 6th Edition

PRINCE2® 6th Edition 

The PRINCE2® 6th Edition

In January 2017, AXELOS announced the arrival of the updated PRINCE2® Guidance, and the new Foundation and Practitioner examinations. This forms the PRINCE2® 6th Edition Update and the first major revision since 2009.

Why has PRINCE2® been updated?

PRINCE2 is firmly established as the world’s most practised method for project management and is globally recognised. With the introduction of new technologies, changing practices and increased customer and stakeholder pressure to achieve more with less led to the thorough update to PRINCE2. Since its creation, at least 2 million PRINCE2 exams have been taken in 150 countries worldwide. After an extensive consultation period, AXELOS came to the conclusion that both the guidance and exams could be enhanced to provide a more practical and relevant approach to anyone managing a project in today’s environment.

What are the main changes to PRINCE2®?

The PRINCE2 6th Edition update has a new 2017 edition of the Managing Successful Projects with PRINCE2 manual, plus updated training materials and Foundation and Practitioner examinations.

The update is characterised by an emphasis on:

  • Tailoring PRINCE2 to the needs of the organizations and project environments
  • The principles that underpin PRINCE2
  • Greater clarity on the link between the themes and principles
  • The restructuring of the themes guidance to accommodate specific examples of tailoring
  • The practical application of guidance, with numerous examples, hints and tips

Why is tailoring featured so strongly in the updated version of PRINCE2?

Flexibility has always been a key factor in the success of PRINCE2: the method can be tailored to meet the needs of the organization, the project, and the person managing the project. Tailoring is a thread that runs through the guidance and the training programme. It permeates the entire thinking of the PRINCE2 6th Edition update. PRINCE2 is extremely flexible and versatile. Completely scalable: its principles remain consistent, but not all elements of the method need to be applied to all projects. To provide clarification, the PRINCE2 2017 6th Edition update provides clear guidance on the minimum requirements for a PRINCE2 project.

What are the main changes to the exams?

Foundation exam

  • AXELOS has taken steps to make the exam more efficient and focus more clearly on the core of PRINCE2. The major changes include:
  • Elements of the exam that are not part of the core have been removed (such as configuration management)
  • Assessment criteria around tailoring have been added (such as what must be applied from each theme in order to be adopting PRINCE2 in a project environment)
  • The emphasis on different parts of the syllabus has been readjusted, for example the principles feature more prominently, and there is a more equal weighting amongst the seven themes
  • Improvements to the exam design have been made, such as removing negative questions and reducing the number of missing word and list questions. The number of questions on a paper has been reduced from 75 to 60 and trial questions have been removed
  • The time allowed for the exam is 60 minutes (this is the same as the 2009 version)
  • The pass mark has been increased to 55% (from 50% in the 2009 version)
  • Therefore, to pass candidates require 33 marks out of 60

Practitioner exam

  • There is renewed focus on ensuring that candidates have the ability to apply PRINCE2 practically in a given project environment and increase the value gained from using the method. The major changes include:
  • The Practitioner exam will now test candidates on all parts of the PRINCE2 method
  • The emphasis on different parts of the syllabus has been readjusted, for example there are questions specifically around the principles, and the number of questions about management products has been reduced
  • The candidate is tested on their ability to apply the core of each theme and process (at Bloom’s level 3), and also on their practical ability to assess, in a particular context, whether a particular approach to project management is effective and fit for purpose (at Bloom’s level 4)
  • Improvements to the exam design have been made, such as reducing the amount of ‘additional information’ needed to answer the questions and removing complex question styles, such as ‘assertion-reason’. The number of marks on a paper have been reduced to 68
  • The time allowed for the exam is 2 hours and 30 minutes (this is the same as the 2009 version)
  • The pass mark for the exam is 38 marks out of 68 (approximately 55%)

In the meantime, please review the FAQ document PRINCE2-2017-Update-FAQs

Visit PEOPLECERT to watch a short video “Introducing the PRINCE2 2017 Update” http://comm.peoplecert.org/IBD/Prince2Update

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