Free BCS Foundation Certificate in IS Project Management Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the BCS Foundation Certificate in IS Project Management practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1An organization forms a temporary team to deliver a new custom information system and disbands it when delivery is complete. What is this undertaking?

   1. A.A projectCorrect answer: A
   2. B.A program
   3. C.A portfolio
   4. D.An operation

   Explanation: PMI defines a project as "A temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result." The bounded team is creating a unique system, so its undertaking is a project.

   Reference: Practice Standard for Scheduling, Second Edition — Glossary, Project, p. 124

2. 2An IT project produces a tested data-conversion design that the team needs to build the final system. How is that design best classified in relation to the final deliverable?

   1. A.An interim deliverableCorrect answer: A
   2. B.A project milestone
   3. C.A final deliverable
   4. D.A project dependency

   Explanation: PMI explains that “A project might require multiple interim deliverables so that the project deliverable or final deliverable can be created or produced.” The design is an output used to create the final system.

   Reference: Project Management Skills for Life — What Is a Project?, p. 7

3. 3A project team updates its schedule using work completed through a specified reporting date. What is that date called in scheduling terminology?

   1. A.The baseline date
   2. B.The data dateCorrect answer: B
   3. C.The milestone date
   4. D.The target date

   Explanation: PMI defines the data date as “The date through which the project status and progress were last determined and reported for analyses”. The team's reporting cutoff is its data date.

   Reference: Practice Standard for Scheduling, Second Edition — Glossary, Data Date

4. 4An IT project needs to identify controlled system components, track their versions, and manage changes to them. Which management discipline addresses this need?

   1. A.Configuration managementCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Change control
   3. C.Requirements management
   4. D.Quality management

   Explanation: NASA describes configuration management as “identifying and defining the configuration items in a system, controlling the release and change of these items throughout the system life cycle”. That directly addresses controlled components and their changes.

   Reference: NASA Software Engineering Handbook: Software Configuration Management Plan — Section 2, Rationale

5. 5An IT project reviews whether its development processes are designed and managed to prevent defects. Which quality activity does this primarily illustrate?

   1. A.Quality control
   2. B.Quality assuranceCorrect answer: B
   3. C.Acceptance testing
   4. D.Integration testing

   Explanation: ISO describes quality assurance as “process-oriented and preventive” and explains that it focuses on managing work to prevent defects. That is the emphasis of this review.

   Reference: Quality Assurance: A Critical Ingredient for Organizational Success — What is the difference between quality assurance and quality control?

6. 6Three analysts will each work full time for four working days on a task, with no idle time. What is the estimated effort for the task?

   1. A.3 staff-days
   2. B.4 staff-days
   3. C.7 staff-days
   4. D.12 staff-daysCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: NASA defines effort as “The amount of work, or the number of work-time units used to complete an activity.” Three analysts working four days each contribute 3 × 4 = 12 staff-days.

   Reference: NASA Project Planning and Control Glossary — Effort

7. 7A project team identifies that a supplier might miss a future delivery date, which would delay deployment. The delivery date has not yet arrived. How should this possible event be classified?

   1. A.An issue
   2. B.A riskCorrect answer: B
   3. C.A milestone
   4. D.An assumption

   Explanation: NASA defines risk using “the likelihood (i.e., probability of occurrence) and the consequence(s) (i.e., impact) of a future undesired event or scenario”. The supplier delay is a possible future event with an adverse project consequence.

   Reference: NASA Project Planning and Control Glossary — Risk

8. 8An organization coordinates several related IT projects together to obtain benefits unavailable if they were managed separately. In PMI terminology, what is this grouping called?

   1. A.A programCorrect answer: A
   2. B.A project portfolio
   3. C.A project management office
   4. D.A project steering committee

   Explanation: PMI defines a program as “A group of related projects and program activities managed in a coordinated manner to obtain benefits not available from managing them individually.” The coordinated projects fit this description.

   Reference: PMI Lexicon of Project Management Terms — Program, p. 20

9. 9Before an information-system project starts, the manager creates a schedule for its deliverables. What planning purpose does the schedule serve?

   1. A.It shows why the deliverables justify the investment
   2. B.It shows how and when the deliverables will be producedCorrect answer: B
   3. C.It shows whether the deliverables meet quality criteria
   4. D.It shows which deliverables need changes to requirements

   Explanation: The scheduling standard says that “Scheduling provides a detailed plan that represents how and when the project will deliver the products, services, and results defined in the project scope”. The schedule provides this delivery plan.

   Reference: Practice Standard for Scheduling, Second Edition — Section 1.2, Why Scheduling?, p. 1

10. 10A project team must produce and verify a requirements specification before completing a development phase. What project planning term describes that specification?

    1. A.A dependency
    2. B.A milestone
    3. C.A deliverableCorrect answer: C
    4. D.An activity

    Explanation: PMI defines a deliverable as “Any unique and verifiable product, result, or capability to perform a service that must be produced to complete a process, phase, or project.” The required specification is a verifiable product of the phase.

    Reference: Practice Standard for Scheduling, Second Edition — Glossary, Deliverable