PRINCE2 7th Edition: What You Need to Know

If you’re serious about developing your project management career, you’ve probably already started to look at the potential qualifications that you should study to enhance your skills and build your professional capacity.

One of the most highly regarded of these is the PRINCE2 set of qualifications: a comprehensive set of courses designed to suit professionals at every stage of their career development.

Recently, PRINCE2 released an update to the qualification, launching its 7th edition. In this article we’ll look at what’s changed, what’s stayed the same and what you can expect from studying a PRINCE2 7th Edition qualification.

What is PRINCE2?

PRINCE2 is a project management qualification that was developed by the UK government back in the early 1990s. It’s short for PRojects IN Controlled Environments and it’s a process-based project management methodology.

PRINCE2 qualifications are highly sought-after by employers from around the world and there are over 1 million certified professionals with a PRINCE2 qualification. The incredible versatility of the qualification is one of the reasons for its continuing popularity with employers and employees alike.

There are three types of PRINCE2 qualification:

PRINCE2 Foundation

Best for: Professionals learning about project management for the first time

The PRINCE2 Foundation is aimed at project managers without any prior experience or knowledge of the PRINCE2 framework. It’s also well suited to people who are taking their first steps into the world of project management and who want to improve their skillset with a widely-respected qualification.

PRINCE2 Practitioner

Best for: Experienced project managers who have previously completed a PRINCE2 Foundation

The PRINCE2 Practitioner aims to take your understanding of PRINCE2 to the next level, helping you build a sophisticated understanding of the project management framework. Building on the knowledge that you developed with the PRINCE2 Foundation, the Practitioner qualification will help you to use the PRINCE2 framework at a more strategic level.

PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner Combined

Best for: Professionals who want to improve their project management skills from scratch, quickly

This qualification is just a combination of the Foundation and Practitioner. You’ll study the Foundation and then the Practitioner qualification afterwards. The fact that the qualifications are combined means that you’ll be able to save money and potentially complete the qualification quicker too.

The PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner is ideal for people who plan on completing both qualifications and would rather get all of their study done in one big block, as opposed to having to wait.

What’s new?

The 7th Edition of PRINCE2 is focused on helping professionals meet the challenges of the modern workplace. It’s been refined and updated to reflect the ways that the workplace has changed, and project management has evolved, since the 6th Edition was published (way back in 2017).

A stronger focus on people

In the years since the 6th Edition was published, there’s been a move in the industry towards recognising how integral people are to the project management process. This reflects a wider move in many organisations towards recognising the value that employees add. The 7th Edition reflects this renewed focus, with ‘People’ now being added to the core, integrated elements that define the methodology. PRINCE2 7th Edition qualifications explore how people play a crucial role in the delivery of a successful project.

A new approach to sustainability

With society pivoting towards a more sustainable way of living and working in the face of a climate crisis that clearly isn’t going away any time soon, the 7th Edition now explores how sustainability fits into the project management process.

Sustainability can be a tricky concept to pin down. The United Nations has described it as an approach that is focused on ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ It’s ultimately an approach to working and living which seeks to reduce our impact on the environment and the world that we live in.

The new 7th Edition reflects the fact that the way we manage projects is changing as we move towards making our organisations and our society more environmentally-friendly and aware of the impact that we have on the wider world.

Changes to pass marks

One of the key changes to this edition of PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioners comes in the form of pass marks.

Previously, the pass mark for both qualifications was 55%. In PRINCE2 7th Edition, the pass mark for both qualifications is now 60%.

Updated terminology

The way that the course is structured has changed slightly too. Previously in the PRINCE2 6th Edition, the core concepts that you would cover over the qualification were known as ‘Themes’.

In the 7th Edition, these have now been renamed as ‘Practices’ – reflecting the fact that they are rooted in practical actions, rather than abstract concepts. Some of the practices have been updated and a few more have been added too, reflecting the changes in priorities that organisations have experienced since COVID-19.

What’s staying the same?

The short answer is, most things.

The ways that the PRINCE2 7th Edition differs from previous editions are quite small. The essential knowledge and skills that you’ll develop throughout the qualification is staying the same and so is the core syllabus and information that you’ll learn – the thing that makes PRINCE2 such a versatile qualification to study.

At the time of writing (and a big caveat coming:  we obviously can’t predict the future) –  the price of a PRINCE2 qualifications is likely to stay the same too, so you don’t have to worry about paying more for the updated qualification.

PRINCE2 7th Edition: Looking forward to the future

As we hope we’ve outlined above, the PRINCE2 7th Edition is focused firmly on equipping you with the skills for the future. The changes in the 7th Edition are intended to reflect the trends and realities of the rapidly evolving area of project management. Whilst, it’s fair to say, that the changes to the 7th Edition are fairly slight, it’s clear that what has changed will strengthen the existing qualification and add to its versatility.

Develop your project management career from scratch with a 100% online professional qualification. Download your free course guide today. 

There are three types of PRINCE2 qualification:

PRINCE2 Foundation

Best for: Professionals learning about project management for the first time

The PRINCE2 Foundation is aimed at project managers without any prior experience or knowledge of the PRINCE2 framework. It’s also well suited to people who are taking their first steps into the world of project management and who want to improve their skillset with a widely-respected qualification.

PRINCE2 Practitioner

Best for: Experienced project managers who have previously completed a PRINCE2 Foundation

The PRINCE2 Practitioner aims to take your understanding of PRINCE2 to the next level, helping you build a sophisticated understanding of the project management framework. Building on the knowledge that you developed with the PRINCE2 Foundation, the Practitioner qualification will help you to use the PRINCE2 framework at a more strategic level.

PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner Combined

Best for: Professionals who want to improve their project management skills from scratch, quickly

This qualification is just a combination of the Foundation and Practitioner. You’ll study the Foundation and then the Practitioner qualification afterwards. The fact that the qualifications are combined means that you’ll be able to save money and potentially complete the qualification quicker too.

The PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner is ideal for people who plan on completing both qualifications and would rather get all of their study done in one big block, as opposed to having to wait.

What’s new?

The 7th Edition of PRINCE2 is focused on helping professionals meet the challenges of the modern workplace. It’s been refined and updated to reflect the ways that the workplace has changed, and project management has evolved, since the 6th Edition was published (way back in 2017).

A stronger focus on people

In the years since the 6th Edition was published, there’s been a move in the industry towards recognising how integral people are to the project management process. This reflects a wider move in many organisations towards recognising the value that employees add. The 7th Edition reflects this renewed focus, with ‘People’ now being added to the core, integrated elements that define the methodology. PRINCE2 7th Edition qualifications explore how people play a crucial role in the delivery of a successful project.

A new approach to sustainability

With society pivoting towards a more sustainable way of living and working in the face of a climate crisis that clearly isn’t going away any time soon, the 7th Edition now explores how sustainability fits into the project management process.

Sustainability can be a tricky concept to pin down. The United Nations has described it as an approach that is focused on ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.’ It’s ultimately an approach to working and living which seeks to reduce our impact on the environment and the world that we live in.

The new 7th Edition reflects the fact that the way we manage projects is changing as we move towards making our organisations and our society more environmentally-friendly and aware of the impact that we have on the wider world.

Changes to pass marks

One of the key changes to this edition of PRINCE2 Foundation and PRINCE2 Practitioners comes in the form of pass marks.

Previously, the pass mark for both qualifications was 55%. In PRINCE2 7th Edition, the pass mark for both qualifications is now 60%.

Updated terminology

The way that the course is structured has changed slightly too. Previously in the PRINCE2 6th Edition, the core concepts that you would cover over the qualification were known as ‘Themes’.

In the 7th Edition, these have now been renamed as ‘Practices’ – reflecting the fact that they are rooted in practical actions, rather than abstract concepts. Some of the practices have been updated and a few more have been added too, reflecting the changes in priorities that organisations have experienced since COVID-19.

What’s staying the same?

The short answer is, most things.

The ways that the PRINCE2 7th Edition differs from previous editions are quite small. The essential knowledge and skills that you’ll develop throughout the qualification is staying the same and so is the core syllabus and information that you’ll learn – the thing that makes PRINCE2 such a versatile qualification to study.

At the time of writing (and a big caveat coming:  we obviously can’t predict the future) –  the price of a PRINCE2 qualifications is likely to stay the same too, so you don’t have to worry about paying more for the updated qualification.

PRINCE2 7th Edition: Looking forward to the future

As we hope we’ve outlined above, the PRINCE2 7th Edition is focused firmly on equipping you with the skills for the future. The changes in the 7th Edition are intended to reflect the trends and realities of the rapidly evolving area of project management. Whilst, it’s fair to say, that the changes to the 7th Edition are fairly slight, it’s clear that what has changed will strengthen the existing qualification and add to its versatility.

Develop your project management career from scratch with a 100% online professional qualification. Download your free course guide today.