PRINCE2F PRINCE2 Processes Practice Question
What should the Project Manager do when a stage is forecast to exceed its tolerance?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is thinking that a forecast overrun can be handled by simply reporting it later or adjusting the plan locally, when PRINCE2 requires immediate escalation via an Exception Report.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Raise an Exception Report to the Project Board
In PRINCE2, when a stage is forecast to exceed its tolerance, the Project Manager must escalate the issue to the Project Board by raising an Exception Report. The Project Board then decides how to proceed, which may involve authorizing a change, adjusting the Business Case, or stopping the project.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Raise an Exception Report to the Project Board
Why this is correct
Tolerance deviation must be escalated to the Project Board, which owns stage boundaries and can authorise corrective action. Raising an Exception Report triggers the board's exception plan decision, satisfying PRINCE2's principle that management by exception only holds if breaches are formally reported upward.
- ✗
Continue with the plan and inform the Project Board at the next Highlight Report
Why it's wrong here
Tolerance breach requires escalation to the Project Board for a decision, not deferral to the next Highlight Report. It tempts because Highlight Reports are the normal progress route, and minor variances are reported there — but forecast breach of stage tolerance demands exception handling now, not routine reporting later.
- ✗
Ask the Team Manager to reduce the scope of work
Why it's wrong here
Reducing scope is a Project Board decision, not something a Project Manager may direct a Team Manager to do unilaterally. It tempts because scope reduction genuinely restores tolerance, and Team Managers control work packages — but the Project Manager lacks authority to change scope without an exception decision.
- ✗
Revise the stage plan and continue
Why it's wrong here
Revising the stage plan and continuing bypasses the exception process, which requires Project Board authorisation once tolerance is forecast to be breached. It tempts because replanning is a normal Project Manager activity within tolerance — but exceeding tolerance removes that delegated authority, so the Board must decide.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This PRINCE2F question is part of Courseiva's 1,189-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official PeopleCert exam blueprint
This PRINCE2F practice question is part of Courseiva's free PeopleCert certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PRINCE2F exam.