This ITIL4F practice question tests your understanding of itil management practices. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
An organization has a change policy that requires all changes to be assessed and authorized by the Change Authority. A pre-approved change that has a low risk and follows a defined procedure is known as which type of change?
Normal change
Why wrong: Normal changes require authorization, but are not pre-approved.
Emergency change
Why wrong: Emergency changes are for urgent issues and may have expedited authorization.
Service request
Why wrong: Service requests are for standard services, not changes.
Standard change
Standard changes are pre-approved, low risk, and follow a defined procedure.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Standard change
A standard change is a pre-approved, low-risk change that follows a defined procedure, such as a password reset or server patch cycle. The ITIL 4 framework defines it as a change that does not require individual assessment or authorization by the Change Authority because its risk is well-understood and the implementation steps are documented in a standard operating procedure (SOP). This matches the description in the question exactly.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
Normal change
Why it's wrong here
Normal changes require authorization, but are not pre-approved.
Emergency change
Why it's wrong here
Emergency changes are for urgent issues and may have expedited authorization.
Service request
Why it's wrong here
Service requests are for standard services, not changes.
Standard change
Why this is correct
Standard changes are pre-approved, low risk, and follow a defined procedure.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates confuse 'pre-approved' with 'normal change' because they think all changes need individual authorization, but ITIL 4 explicitly separates standard changes as pre-approved by definition, not requiring per-change authorization.
Detailed technical explanation
In ITIL 4, standard changes are defined in the change model, which includes a pre-authorized procedure with specific triggers, roles, and steps (e.g., RFC 6902 for JSON Patch or a documented runbook for database schema updates). The Change Authority pre-approves the model, not individual instances, so the change can be executed without further approval as long as it stays within the defined scope and risk threshold. Real-world examples include automated OS patching via tools like Ansible or SCCM, where the procedure is tested and the risk is low, but any deviation (e.g., patching a production database without a rollback plan) would require a normal change.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
A small business has 20 workstations on the 192.168.1.0/24 network and one public IP from its ISP. The router uses PAT (NAT overload) so all 20 devices share one public address using different source ports. NAT questions test whether you understand the four address terms and which direction each translation applies.
What to study next
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FAQ
ITIL Management Practices — This question tests ITIL Management Practices — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
The correct answer is: Standard change — A standard change is a pre-approved, low-risk change that follows a defined procedure, such as a password reset or server patch cycle. The ITIL 4 framework defines it as a change that does not require individual assessment or authorization by the Change Authority because its risk is well-understood and the implementation steps are documented in a standard operating procedure (SOP). This matches the description in the question exactly.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 24, 2026
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