ISTQB - CTFL Guide

Hi Folks, It's been quite a long time posting in our blog.

Someone rightly said "Learning is a never-ending process", for the past few months got busy with my ISTQB-CTFL Certification preparation, a long time to do the task. With 3 months of continuous study and preparation happy to share that I cleared the exam and now can proudly say that I'm a Certified Testers 😊

There would be many Tester's around who would be in the pace of ISTQB preparation, so thought of sharing some key points from my learning phase.

1. Know about ISTQB Certification

Software testing certification demonstrates your knowledge and skill. The leading software testing standard is ISTQB software testing certification. That’s why ISTQB software testing certification is used in more than 100 countries making it by far the #1 software testing certification in the world.

Before we start let's check out the steps towards this ISTQB certification 😊

5 Steps to ISTQB Certification:

1. Start by learning about ISTQB Foundation Level Certification.

2. Then study for the ISTQB exam using the free ISTQB syllabus, sample exam questions & answers, and glossary of software testing terms. Or you can choose taking an accredited (proven) software testing training course.

3. Next, register for your exam through ISTQB exam provider. 

4. Finally, pass the exam. Excellent! Once you clear the exam you will be added to the ISTQB successful candidate registry. You can now proudly display your software testing certificate and include your certification on your resume, stating that you are on the official ISTQB Certified Software Tester.

5. Keep moving up. Look at the Software Testing Career Path to see where you should take your career.

Pictorial view of the certification path:

2. Marks Distribution in ISTQB - CTFL exam

Here you can find the chapter-wise mark distribution. Based on the above statistic we can decide on the time to be given while preparing each chapter.

3. Knowledge Levels in the Syllabus

ISTQB syllabus is divided into majorly 3 levels as described in the picture above:

1. K1 (Remember): The candidate should remember or recognize a term or a concept. The question will be straightforward to answer.
2. K2 (Understand): The candidate should select an explanation for a statement related to the question topic.
3. K3 (Analyse and Apply): The candidate can separate information related to a procedure or technique into its constituent parts for better understanding and can distinguish between facts and inferences. The candidate should select the correct application of a concept or technique and apply it to a given context.

4. ISTQB - CTFL Exam Pattern

Exam Structure

The Foundation Level exam is comprised of 40 multiple-choice questions, with a pass mark grade of 65% to be completed within 60 minutes. Participants that take the exam, not in their spoken language, will receive an additional 25% time, for a total of 75 minutes.

Module	Number of questions	Exam length (minutes)	Exam length +25% (minutes)
Foundation Level	40	60	75

For more details: Please check here

5. Know about the ISTQB Boards

There are in all 66 Board Members under ISTQB:

Sr. No	Board Members
1	American Software Testing Qualifications Board (ASTQB)
2	Armenian Software Testing Qualifications Board (ArmSTQB)
3	Australia and New Zealand Testing Board (ANZTB)
4	Austrian Testing Board (ATB)
5	Bangladesh Software Testing Board (BSTB)
6	Belarus Software Testing Qualifications Board (BySTQB)
7	Belgium and Netherlands Testing Qualifications Board (BNTQB)
8	Brazilian Software Testing Qualifications Board (BSTQB)
9	Canadian Software Testing Board (CSTB)
10	Caribbean Testing Board (CTB)
11	Chinese Software Testing Qualifications Board (CSTQB)
12	Comité Français des Tests Logiciels (CFTL)
13	Comité Marocain des Test Logiciels (CMTL)
14	Cuban Software Testing Board (CuTB)
15	Curaçao Testing Qualifications Board (CTQB)
16	Czech and Slovak Testing Board (CaSTB)
17	Danish Software Testing Board (DSTB)
18	Egyptian Software Testing Board (ESTB)
19	Estonian Testing Board (ETB)
20	Ethiopian Software Testing Qualifications Board (ESTQB)
21	Finnish Software Testing Board (FiSTB)
22	Georgian Software Testing Qualifications Board (GeoSTQB)
23	German Testing Board (GTB)
24	Greek Software Testing Board (GRTB)
25	Hispanic America Software Testing Qualifications Board (HASTQB)
26	Hungarian Testing Board (HTB)
27	Icelandic Software Qualifications Testing Board (ICE-STQB)
28	Indian Testing Board (ITB)
29	Indonesia Software Testing Board (IDSTB)
30	Iranian Testing Qualification Board (ITQB)
31	Israeli Testing Certification Board (ITCB)
32	Italian Software Testing Qualifications Board (ITA-STQB)
33	Japan Software Testing Qualifications Board (JSTQB)
34	Jordan Software Testing Qualifications Board (JOSTQB)
35	Kazakhstan Software Testing Qualifications Board (KazSTQB)
36	Kenya Software Testing Association (KENYA-STA)
37	Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Testing Qualification board (KSATQB)
38	Korean Software Testing Qualifications Board (KSTQB)
39	Latvian Software Testing Qualification Board (LSTQB)
40	Luxembourg Testing Board (LTB)
41	Madagascar Software Testing Qualifications Board (MadaSTQB)
42	Malaysian Software Testing Board (MSTB)
43	Mauritian Software Testing Qualifications Board (MSTQB)
44	Nepal Software Testing Qualification Body (NSTQB)
45	Nigerian Software Testing and Qualifications Board (NGSTQB)
46	Norwegian Testing Board (NTB)
47	Pakistan Software Testing Board (PSTB)
48	Philippines Software Testing Qualifications Body (PhSTQB)
49	Polish Testing Board (PTB)
50	Portuguese Software Testing and Qualifications Board (PSTQB)
51	Russian Software Testing Qualifications Board (RSTQB)
52	Singapore Testing Qualifications Board (SGTQB)
53	Southern African Software Testing Qualifications Board (SASTQB)
54	South East European Testing Board (SEETB)
55	Spanish Software Testing Qualifications Board (SSTQB)
56	Sri Lanka Software Testing Board (SLSTB)
57	Swedish Software Testing Board (SSTB)
58	Swiss Testing Board (STB)
59	Thailand Software Testing Board (THSTB)
60	Tunisian Software Qualifications Board (TSQB)
61	Turkish Testing Board (TTB)
62	UK and Ireland Testing Board (UKITB)
63	Ukrainian Software Quality Board (USQB)
64	Vietnamese Testing Board (VTB)
65	West Africa Software Testing Board (WASTB)
66	Zimbabwe Software Testing Qualifications Board (ZIMSTQB)

Can find the list on ISTQB official site as well: Click Here

If you cannot see your location in the above list, it means that ISTQB does not yet have a Member Board representative where you are. However, you can approach any of the ISTQB accredited training providers, for any training you require, approach the marketing team on marketing@istqb.org for any other related issue, or take the ISTQB exams through the Exam Providers that act globally providing online exams.

Personal Experience: I gave my ISTQB-CTFL exam from ITB (Indian Testing Board) it was online and the process was quite smooth.