Free PECB ISO 21502 Foundation Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the PECB ISO 21502 Foundation practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1What is the purpose of a project baseline?

   1. A.To list all changes proposed but not yet assessed.
   2. B.To provide a reference for comparing actual performance.Correct answer: B
   3. C.To record benefits expected after project completion.
   4. D.To assign executive authority to the project sponsor.

   Explanation: ISO 21502 defines a baseline as a "reference basis for comparison against which performance is monitored and controlled". It supplies the comparison reference; a change log, benefits record and authority assignment serve different purposes.

   Reference: ISO 21502:2020 — public standard preview — Clause 3.1

2. 2A manager is creating a project management plan. Which approach best reflects integrated planning?

   1. A.Approve a schedule and keep the cost and risk plans unrelated to it.
   2. B.Combine benefits, scope, quality, time, resources, cost and risk planning.Correct answer: B
   3. C.Prepare only a task list and defer consideration of project resources.
   4. D.Collect departmental plans without examining their relationships.

   Explanation: Integrated planning brings together planning of "scope, quality, time, resources, cost, risk, communications". Coordinating these aspects creates the project management plan; leaving them isolated, omitted or unrelated defeats integration.

   Reference: APM — Project management glossary — Glossary, Integrated planning

3. 3A new dispatch system has been delivered and is being used. Reduced delivery costs are the positive value created for the organization. Which term describes that positive value?

   1. A.A work package
   2. B.A change request
   3. C.A benefitCorrect answer: C
   4. D.A baseline

   Explanation: A benefit is a "created advantage, value or other positive effect". The reduced costs are the value gained, rather than a package of project work, proposed alteration or performance reference.

   Reference: ISO 21502:2020 — public standard preview — Clause 3.2

4. 4A benefits management plan must make it possible to hold people accountable and track benefit achievement. Which information most directly serves both needs?

   1. A.The deliverable owners and dates for producing each project output.
   2. B.The issue owners and dates for resolving each outstanding project issue.
   3. C.The supplier account managers and dates for individual contract payments.
   4. D.The responsible benefit owners and how achievement will be measured.Correct answer: D

   Explanation: The plan specifies "who is responsible for achieving the benefits" and how achievement is measured, managed and monitored. Output delivery, issue resolution and contract payment ownership address different accountabilities; they do not by themselves identify benefit achievement measures.

   Reference: APM — Project management glossary — Glossary, Benefits management plan

5. 5Before committing funding to a proposed project, executives want a documented justification for that commitment. Which document serves this purpose?

   1. A.A communication plan
   2. B.A configuration record
   3. C.A stakeholder register
   4. D.A business caseCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: The standard describes a business case as "documented justification to support decision making about the commitment to a project". Communication arrangements, configuration records and stakeholder lists do not provide that investment justification.

   Reference: ISO 21502:2020 — public standard preview — Clause 3.3

6. 6A team keeps adding small features, and the project's scope continually expands. Which management problem does this illustrate?

   1. A.Scope creepCorrect answer: A
   2. B.Resource smoothing
   3. C.Quality assurance
   4. D.Contract closeout

   Explanation: Scope creep describes "the continual extension of the scope". The repeated feature additions expand the work; resource optimization, assurance and contract closeout are different practices.

   Reference: APM — Project management glossary — Glossary, Scope creep

7. 7A team formally documents a proposal to alter a project's agreed requirements. The proposal has not yet been approved. What is this document?

   1. A.A change requestCorrect answer: A
   2. B.An approved baseline
   3. C.A realized benefit
   4. D.An accepted deliverable

   Explanation: A change request is "documentation that defines a proposed alteration to a project". A proposal does not itself establish approval, benefit realization or acceptance of an output.

   Reference: ISO 21502:2020 — public standard preview — Clause 3.4

8. 8A customer and team want an objective basis for deciding whether a deliverable can be accepted. What should they agree?

   1. A.The expenditure and elapsed time already incurred producing it.
   2. B.The number of defects found on a previous similar product.
   3. C.The requirements and essential conditions the deliverable must achieve.Correct answer: C
   4. D.The project manager's informal opinion at the end of delivery.

   Explanation: Acceptance criteria are the "requirements and essential conditions" to be achieved before acceptance. Past expenditure and defect counts do not define the current acceptance threshold, and an informal opinion does not provide the objective basis requested.

   Reference: APM — Project management glossary — Glossary, Acceptance criteria

9. 9Which project activity illustrates the purpose of configuration management?

   1. A.Comparing project expenditure with the approved budget.
   2. B.Matching controlled specifications to the corresponding physical product.Correct answer: B
   3. C.Evaluating whether the project still justifies its investment.
   4. D.Identifying people affected by the planned project outputs.

   Explanation: Configuration management involves procedures to "correlate and maintain documentation, specifications and physical attributes". Maintaining the relationship between a controlled specification and the product illustrates that function. Cost control, investment justification and stakeholder identification address other management questions.

   Reference: ISO 21502:2020 — public standard preview — Clause 3.5

10. 10Two scheduled activities require the same specialist at the same time. The manager delays one activity to keep resource usage within the available limit. Which technique is being used?

    1. A.Benefits realization
    2. B.Resource levellingCorrect answer: B
    3. C.Configuration auditing
    4. D.Stakeholder mapping

    Explanation: Resource levelling "delays activities such that resource usage is kept below specified limits". The manager has changed timing to respect specialist capacity, rather than reviewing benefits, product consistency or stakeholder relationships.

    Reference: APM — Project management glossary — Glossary, Resource levelling