- Why ISTQB® Certification
- Benefits for Professionals
- Benefits for Companies
- Benefits for Accredited Training Providers
- ISTQB® Product Portfolio
- The Architecture of the new ISTQB® Product Portfolio
- Core, Agile and Specialist Streams
Why ISTQB® Certification
- High quality syllabi: all syllabi are developed and reviewed by leading testing professionals from academia and industry.
- Global recognition: certifications are recognized globally because of the consistent application of ISTQB® policies and procedures by the member boards.
- Common language: the ISTQB® Glossary provides a common vocabulary for the profession.
- Objectivity: the assessment of tester capabilities is conducted independently by ISTQB® and provides objective verification of competencies.
- Adherence to a Code of Ethics: all ISTQB® certified testers adhere to the Code of Ethics defined by ISTQB®.
- Public Availability: ISTQB® glossary and syllabi is made freely available on the ISTQB® website and on the Member Board websites in local languages.
- Openness: ISTQB® materials are developed on a voluntary basis and are open to contributions from anybody interested in joining ISTQB® working groups.
- Independence: the non-profit nature of ISTQB® ensures that content is not constrained by particular methodologies or technologies, and is able to draw on best practices from a wide variety of sources.
- Continuous improvement: syllabi and other documents are continuously being improved to meet the needs of Business Organizations around the world and to keep pace with the development of the profession.
- Professional standing: being certified provides advantages for individuals and organizations by ensuring that testing professionals meet the high standards set by the ISTQB®.
"As a Test Engineer, what was your motivation in obtaining your ISTQB® CTFL certification?"
(Source: ISTQB® Effectiveness Survey 2020)
Similar to previous ISTQB® Effectiveness Surveys, the main motivations for obtaining Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certification are career path and test skills development.
"As a Test Manager, what was your motivation to have your employees achieve ISTQB® Foundation Level (CTFL) certification?"
(Source: ISTQB® Effectiveness Survey 2020)
The Employee career path development and company image improvement are still the main motivations for managers to have their employees achieve ISTQB® CTFL certification. These motivations are followed by employee incentive, customer’s demand, and company policy.
ISTQB® Certified Tester is the most widespread qualification scheme in the world, and the syllabi contents and glossary have become the de facto industry reference for the software testing profession.
Benefits for Professionals
ISTQB® is the international standard in the field of software testing certification. Whether you are just getting started in a career in testing or have been in the field for years, earning an ISTQB® certification offers significant benefits:
- An independent, internationally recognized, validation of skills that employers trust
- Portable proof of ability for both current and future employment
- Builds and extends skills to support career progression
- Enhances professional credibility (certificate holders have authorized use of the applicable ISTQB® “Certified Tester” logo)
"Would you recommend ISTQB® certification to your colleagues?"
(Source: ISTQB® Effectiveness Survey 2020)
This result demonstrates a high level of satisfaction of test professionals with ISTQB® certification.
Benefits for Companies
- ISTQB® certification can provide a competitive advantage by giving your clients greater confidence in your business giving a higher level of reliability of the applications being developed due to efficient and cost effective testing practices
- Consulting companies with certified staff can offer higher-level services to customers, increasing revenues and brand value
- Access to the ISTQB® Partner Program
- As the majority of the managers see the importance of the ISTQB® certification this shows that there is huge importance to gain the certification when it comes to common understanding in the company (between parts of the company/departments) as well as using the ISTQB® as a marketing advantage
Benefits for Accredited Training Providers
- Educational institutions and consulting companies may become an ISTQB® Accredited Trainer Provider according to processes and rules defined at the international level
- Accreditation offers current and prospective customers reassurance and enhances credibility
- Accredited Training Providers ensure a high standard of training is delivered through having:
- certified trainers
- the content, quality and syllabus coverage of training materials checked by ISTQB® Boards
- advance notice of changes to the ISTQB® Glossary and syllabi
- Accredited Training Providers are entitled to use relevant logos and are listed in the ISTQB® Website
ISTQB® Product Portfolio
In this section, you can learn everything about ISTQB® Certification.
Click on the diagram to learn more about different certifications.
AGILE
advanced level
FOUNDATION LEVEL
CORE
expert level
ADVANCED LEVEL
FOUNDATION LEVEL
The product portfolio has been developed based on several market studies, the outcomes of the ISTQB® Effectiveness Surveys and feedback from stakeholders in the ISTQB® ecosystem.
The Portfolio has evolved to:
- Maintain the mission and vision of ISTQB® and keep the high quality of deliverables that has underpinned the success of the scheme world-wide
- Maintain the focus on software testing
- Maintain the validity of certifications already obtained
- Extend the coverage of ISTQB® certifications to additional specific topics
- Make the scheme more modular
- Make it easier for professionals to obtain the specific certifications they are interested in
- Provide an overall framework in which existing, as well as future modules, will fit in a coherent way
The Architecture of the new ISTQB® Product Portfolio
The new ISTQB® product portfolio follows a Matrix approach characterized by
- Levels, that identify progressively increasing LOs
- Foundation
- Advanced
- Expert
- Streams, that identify clusters of certification modules:
- Core
- Agile
- Specialist*
*Specialist is the exception that does not have levels anymore.
| AGILE | CORE | |
| EXPERT | X | |
| ADVANCED | X | X |
| FOUNDATION | X | X |
Core, Agile and Specialist Streams
ISTQB® streams focus on:
- Core – these modules correspond to the “historical” ISTQB® certifications and so they:
- Cover software testing topic in a breadth- first, broad, horizontal way,
- Are valid for any technology/ methodology/ application domain
- Allow for a common understanding
- Agile – these modules address testing practices specifically for the Agile SDLC
ISTQB® recognizes the importance of Agile practices that have become a de facto standard in many contexts; taking also into account the outstanding success of the Agile Tester Foundation certification module, ISTQB® complement the existing module with Advanced modules, covering both organizational and technical specificities of testing in Agile contexts
- Specialist – these modules address specific topics in a vertical way, meaning that:
- They are built using a drill down / deep-dive approach
- They can address specific quality characteristics (e.g.: Usability; Security; Performance; etc.)
- They can address technologies that involve specific test approaches (e.g.: model based testing; mobile testing; etc.)
- They can also be related to specific test activities (e.g.: test automation; test metrics management; etc.)
- They can also cluster testing know-how for application domains that deserve or require a specific approach (e.g.: automotive; pharma & medical devices; gambling; etc.)
- Specialist modules are potentially numberless; ISTQB® has defined an initial set of Specialist modules(see the ISTQB® Product Portfolio) on the basis of the outcomes of its surveys; additional Specialist modules will be defined in future on the basis of market needs, emerging technologies and new paradigms in software development
In any stream, there may be modules that heavily rely on the content of the Core Foundation.