INDUSTRY NEWS: PRINCE2 2009 UPDATE

The APM Group, which is the accreditation body responsible for the PRINCE2® qualification scheme, recently announced the appointment of Emma Jones as Chief Examiner for the PRINCE2 Qualifications. Emma Jones was nominated for the role by the previous incumbent, Colin Bentley, who has decided to stand down after 12 years in the job. The role holds a great amount of responsibility, especially during the current refresh which has given her the opportunity to overhaul the PRINCE2 course qualification scheme in line with the new manual to be released in 2009.

“The new PRINCE2 qualifications will be launched at the same time as the new manual. The process of devising the new scheme has provided us with an opportunity to ensure all the qualification schemes for OGC’s best practice products are fully aligned,” Emma says.  “Consistent standards will be applied to both the new PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner qualifications.”

The new qualifications will also align with other industry standards, Emma says: “We’re working closely with other exam institutes to ensure the pass marks for the PRINCE2 exams are set correctly.”
Emma is responsible for a team of examiners who will deliver the new qualifications. Work on designing the new exams has commenced following an extensive mapping exercise.

“The exam design is being managed by me and Liz Berryman, who is simultaneously working with Nicola Kelly at The APM Group on a project to align APM Group qualifications and apply the lessons learned from the introduction of the new M_o_R course and MSP course examinations,” Emma says.

Having worked with PRINCE2 for eleven years, Emma is enjoying the role of Chief Examiner. “It is a privilege to be working with team of professional exam developers and writers – they have been pulling out all the stops to ensure we’re on track to deliver the new scheme early next year. Our aim is to give the training community ample time to draw up their new training materials and have time to assimilate the new qualifications.”

Emma says candidates who want to take PRINCE2 should not wait for the new scheme to be released, however.

“Although the new PRINCE2 manual will simplify the presentation of the method, the fundamental content hasn’t changed. If your organisation is using PRINCE2 then it’s far better to gain understanding of that as soon as you need to. There will be no difference between the current qualifications and the 2009 qualifications.  There will be no requirement to retrain or upgrade. All the enhancements will be easy to digest and understand simply by reading the new manual.”

Further information about PRINCE2 2009 is available at www.best-management-practice.com