Exam Tips

After delivering PRINCE2 and MSP courses for many, many years and advising hundreds of delegates sitting Foundation, Practitioner and Re-Registration exams, here are our top 10 exam tips:

1. Take one of the many professionally run courses.  Most people would find a Practitioner exam challenging without the guidance of an experienced trainer.
2. Read the manual before and during the course.  Learn and use the correct terminology.  Highlight any aspects of the method that you find peculiar and ask your trainer to explain why the method does it that way.  Apply the method correctly when answering the questions.
3. Read the questions and the answer options carefully.  Every word counts and is there for a reason - understand what is being asked. 
4. Follow your instincts – they will serve you well. If you think something is correct, it usually is!
5. Remember these are exams of your knowledge of one of the Best Management Practice products – they are not tests of general knowledge or competence. If your organisation doesn’t do it the way described in the reference manual - forget your organisation until after the exam. If you're an expert in a different way of doing things - forget that way.  Eat, drink, breathe, sleep, dream the Best Management Practice way. After the exam, reconsider the ways you or your organisation have been working.
6. Likewise, don't get frustrated if the scenario suggests something that if it was your project in real life you’d do things differently.  Just park common sense, and apply the method to the situation as given in the scenario.
7. If you don’t know the answer – MOVE ON! Don’t dwell over an answer – a later question may help you answer the ‘one that got away’.  Do NOT change your mind – unless you are absolutely certain your original answer is wrong. And then seriously question your motives.
8. Manage your time.  Practice answering the questions in exam conditions. Make sure you have entered your answer in the correct place on the answer grid – it is easy to miss a question and get your answers ‘out of synch’.  Make sure you provide an answer for EVERY question.
9. Turn up on time with the correct materials.  Don't forget your photographic id.  Don't forget your Manual for the Practitioner exam.
10. Don’t Panic !