Passed PRINCE2 Practitioner! Here's what helped me.
I really appreciated all the posts in this sub while I was studying, so I wanted to share my experience in case it helps someone else.
I decided to change careers in my early 40s, and fortunately my employer has given me opportunities to take on more responsibility. Over the last three years I've gone from a Junior PM to a PM role, and I was encouraged to get a project management certification. I also wanted something that would make me more marketable in the future.
I originally started studying for CAPM because I wanted a cert that would be relevant if I worked in either North America or Australia/New Zealand. Along the way, I decided PRINCE2 was a better fit for my current role and career goals, so I changed direction. I signed up for a 5 day Prince2 intensive course.
Honestly, the course itself was a terrible experience for me.
I'm neurospicy and a fairly slow learner. By the end of the five days I felt completely overwhelmed and nowhere near ready to sit the Foundation exam. The instructor kept encouraging everyone to sit Foundation within a couple of days and Practitioner within a week. Maybe that works for some people, but it definitely wasn't realistic for me.
The weekend after the course I decided to read the entire PRINCE2 book cover to cover. (Side note: as someone who also enjoys editing, I was surprised by how many typos I noticed!)
Reading the book was what finally made everything click. Once I understood the concepts, I could see what the course had been trying to teach.
From there I started working through the two mock exams and studying every evening after work.
Seven days after completing the course, I sat Foundation and passed with 73%.
Then I switched my focus to Practitioner.
These were my mock exam scores over time:
36/70
43/70
46/70
54/70
52/70
55/70
55/70
55/70
I eventually hit a plateau. I wasn't getting into the high 80s, but I was consistently passing the mock exams.
What I couldn't tell was whether I actually understood the material or whether I was just becoming familiar with the mock questions.
I also had access to one official online mock exam through my PeopleCert membership. I took that and did not do well at all (I actually posted in this sub afterwards because I was pretty disappointed).
After that, I just kept studying every evening.
I also found this video really helpful:
https://youtu.be/7Re3QbdydyA?si=lbVGT25-UrynMPdA
Six weeks after passing Foundation, I decided to stop waiting until I felt 'ready' and just book Practitioner.
The exam was hard.
While I was taking it, I genuinely wasn't sure whether I was passing. At one point I started getting into my own head, so I just kept reminding myself:
One question at a time.
I did try using AI for extra exam prep, but I found it wasn't particularly useful for replicating the long, scenario-based questions that appear in the actual exam.
I also had the eBook and added heaps of notes, but honestly I didn't spend much time looking at them during the exam.
The biggest things I kept asking myself during the exam were:
Does this follow PRINCE2?
Has the Project Manager exceeded their authority?
Is this the next logical PRINCE2 action?
TL;DR: I passed Practitioner with 48/70 (69%).
If you're not one of those people who can do Foundation and Practitioner back-to-back in a week, don't panic. It took me six weeks of consistent study after Foundation, and there were plenty of moments where I doubted myself.
Thanks to everyone who has shared their own advice and experiences in this community. A lot of the tips I picked up here genuinely helped me get over the line.