PRINCE2® Foundation Certification
The PRINCE2 Foundation certificate is one of the most popular project management certificates world-wide. It’s also well-known in Belgium and brings Belgium to one of the first ten countries when the number of certificates is compared with its population.
Scope
The Foundation certification is about overall awareness of the method. The goal is to be familiar enough with the method, to become an effective member of the project [management] team.
Prerequisites
There’s no prerequisite for the exam. Anyone can sign up for and take the exam. However, AXELOS (the owner of PRINCE2) recommends taking accredited courses.
Preparation
Most candidates prepare for the exam with 15 to 30 hours of study. Standard classroom courses are supposed to be three days, but most providers do it in two days instead, to lower costs. Those who prefer to take eLearning courses do not have the constraints of classroom courses and usually prefer to spend more time studying to increase their chances of success, and their score in the exam.
You can self-study or take an accredited course to prepare for the exam.
Cost
The whole process of learning and taking the exam costs between ~300 and ~2000, depending on your choices. More information is available in the self-study and accredited courses pages.
Exam format
The exam can be taken online or on paper. These days, most exams are taken online. Online exams are invigilated.
There are 75 multiple-choice questions in the exam, with four choices and only one correct choice and no penalty for wrong answers. You have one hour to answer the questions, and since our mother tongue is not English, we get 15 minutes extra (75 minutes in total). The passing score is 50%.
The exam is closed-book.
Language
Besides English, the exam is also available in all Belgian official languages: Dutch, French, and German.
Certificate
When taking online exams, the result would be available immediately after the exam. If you’ve passed, your digital certificate will be available in a couple of days. You also have the option to pay extra and order a printed version, but not many people opt-in to do so.
Renewal
The Foundation certificate doesn’t expire and no renewal is required.