Study PRINCE2 Practitioner v7 Directing Exceptions and Closure: key concepts, common traps, and exam decision cues.
Directing a Project and Closing a Project come into play when Practitioner questions move beyond ordinary delivery management. One is about board-level decisions and direction. The other is about controlled closure after acceptance, handover, and review.
| If the scenario is about… | Think… |
|---|---|
| authorizing, redirecting, or deciding on an exception | Directing a Project |
| confirming acceptance, handover, and final performance review | Closing a Project |
Exception questions often test whether the board should now decide. Closure questions often test whether the project is really closure-ready or merely close to finishing work. The stronger answer usually restores governance discipline at those endpoints.
flowchart TD
A["Scenario reaches endpoint pressure"] --> B{"Forecast outside tolerance or governance redirection needed?"}
B -->|Yes| C["Directing a Project logic"]
B -->|No| D{"Products delivered and acceptance, handover, and review complete?"}
D -->|Yes| E["Closing a Project logic"]
D -->|No| F["Project is not yet closure-ready"]
| If the scenario says… | The stronger response usually… |
|---|---|
| the forecast exceeds delegated authority or needs board decision | uses Directing a Project |
| delivery activity is complete but acceptance or handover is still open | keeps the project open until closure conditions are met |
| the board must authorize, redirect, or respond to exception | restores board-level governance rather than treating it as routine management |
| work looks nearly finished | checks closure readiness instead of assuming the project can close now |
If a forecast outside tolerance requires a decision about whether to proceed under revised conditions, the board-level process logic matters first. If all products are delivered but handover and acceptance are incomplete, closure is not yet properly ready.
A project appears to be almost finished, but one scenario feature says the board must decide how to respond to a forecast outside tolerance, while another says final acceptance and operational handover are still incomplete. The stronger Practitioner answer does not blur those endpoints together. It asks whether the immediate need is board direction or whether closure conditions are genuinely complete.
A scenario says the project has delivered its final products, but formal acceptance and operational handover are not yet complete. Which Practitioner interpretation is strongest?
A. The project should close immediately because delivery work is finished B. The project should remain open until controlled closure conditions are met C. The team manager should close the project informally D. The board should skip closure review because the work is already complete
Best answer: B
Why: PRINCE2 closure depends on controlled acceptance, handover, and governance completion, not just finished delivery activity.
Why the others are weaker: A, C, and D all bypass the formal closure discipline Practitioner is testing.