Course overview
The ISTQB Advanced Test Analyst Course provides the skills needed to perform structured and thorough software testing across the software development lifecycle. It details the test analyst’s role and responsibilities at every step of a standard test process and expands on important test techniques. It mainly focusses on functional testing, but also discusses user-focussed, non-functional testing.
The three-day tutor-led course includes lectures, discussions and practical work. It is fully accredited by UKITB on behalf of ISTQB
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Who is the course for
The Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Analyst (CTAL-TA) qualification is aimed at people who wish to further develop their expertise in test analysis and test design techniques. The test analyst is understood as a role which:
- Focusses more on the business needs of the customer then on technical aspects of testing
- Performs mainly functional testing but also contributes to user-focussed, non-functional testing, such as usability, adaptability, installability, or interoperability testing
- Uses black-box test techniques and experience-based testing rather than white-box test techniques
Next steps in your testing career
The Advanced Level establishes a platform from which further skills and knowledge may be acquired at the Expert Level.
Holders of the Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Analyst qualification may also wish to consider the other core Advanced Level qualifications: Test Management, Test Automation Engineering, and Technical Test Analyst as well as other ISTQB specialist qualifications including Agile Technical Tester, Security Tester, Acceptance Testing, Model-Based Tester, and Mobile Application Testing.
About ISTQB and the certified tester scheme
Founded in 2002, ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) is a not-for-profit association comprising 66 national boards (including the UKITB) to provide worldwide coverage
ISTQB has defined the Advanced certification as part of their ‘Certified Tester’ scheme that, with over 240,000 certifications, has become the de facto world-wide standard for software testing qualifications.
The ‘Certified Tester’ scheme:
- Provides a set of professional qualifications widely-recognised by employers, customers and peers;
- Enables software suppliers to hire and train certified testers and thereby gain commercial advantage over their competitors by advertising their tester recruitment and development policies; and
- Enables comparison of testing skills across different countries, testers to move across country borders more easily, and multi-national/international projects to have a common understanding of testing issues.
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Entry requirements
The entry requirements for the Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Analyst qualification are that the candidate must hold the ISTQB Foundation certificate, and it is also suggested that candidates have a minimum of 3 years testing experience.
Note that it is recommended that you attend an accredited training course run by an accredited training provider, as the overall exam pass rates are notably higher for candidates attending such courses.
Exam
The exam is taken after the course and consists of:
- 45 multiple-choice scenario-based questions (the point value for each question is between 1 – 3 points, depending on the level of difficulty).
- Duration of 120 minutes (or 150 minutes for candidates taking examinations that are not in their native language).
- A candidate must score at least 65% to pass (51/78).
- Exam is included in the price
Course objectives
Advanced Level testers who have passed the “Advanced Test Automation Analyst” module exam should be able to accomplish the following Business Objectives:
- Support and perform appropriate testing based on the software development lifecycle followed
- Apply the principles of risk-based testing
- Select and apply appropriate test techniques to support the achievement of test objectives
- Provide documentation with appropriate levels of detail and quality
- Determine the appropriate types of functional testing to be performed
- Contribute to non-functional testing
- Improve the efficiency of the test process with the use of tools
- Specify the requirements for test environments and test data
Ann Shepperley| Test Analyst|TMHCC –
I really enjoyed the course and would recommend it.
Nasla Naushad| Software Test Engineer|Samsung –
Virtual course was structured well and materials provided in advance gave a brief overview of the course. Really enjoyed the teaching style of the trainer.
Daniela-Ana Luca | Senior Test Analyst |CaseWare Uk –
very knowledgeable and helpful , happy to help -always
Renjini Gopalakrishnan Unnithan | Dev Engineer- Competent |ING, Belgium –
Good explanation, lot of exercises
veena lala | Software Test Engineer |3tc software –
Very good course, lots of detail and trainer was friendly and easy to ask questions, explained well
Sandra Kupny|Quality Engineer|LBG –
Good course, good pace. Examples well explained by the presenter. Useful materials.
Julie Murphy|Quality Engineer|LLoyds banking Group –
Felt it was a bit cramped into the three days, Feel at a disadvantage not having physical copy of the workbook as you can not take corresponding notes. Screen shots not the same as can not always make out notes. In classroom always get the material. feel cost to get them excessive due to cost of course.
Sarbjeet Pandha|Test Analyst|LGT VESTRA –
Remote virtual course. Very enjoyable and lots of interaction with everyone.
Daniel Walton|Test Analyst|LGT Vestra –
I found the course really helpful i am hoping after attending this i will be able to now pass the exam. The way it was presented was great and the trainer was very knowledgeable
Ann Shepperley|Test Analyst|TMHCC –
I really enjoyed the course and would recommend it.
Nasla Naushad|Software Test Engineer|Samsung –
Virtual course was structured well and materials provided in advance gave a brief overview of the course. Really enjoyed the teaching style of the trainer.
Michael Bines-Black | Senior Product Testing Analyst | LV= –
Very informative, a lot packed into the three days but John timed everything well. Fast-paced at times but this was unavoidable.
Joshua LoveJoy | Test Analyst | University of Southampton –
Taking this course remotely in lockdown proved far more beneficial than I anticipated. I actually think there is a strong argument to take the course this way over classroom based. You take travel and potentially overnight stays out of the equation and the experience is much more relaxed and stress free. You can crack on with homework as soon as the day ends and don’t feel too tired to study or revise. My trainer was experienced and articulate enough to deliver the course to a high standard with the slides and a scratchpad to demonstrate. I don’t feel I missed out on anything by not doing this in a classroom. I would recommend virtual courses to anyone holding off booking right now due to lockdown.
Idris Khan | Senior QA | Camelot UK –
Intense and informative.
Anonymous –
In overall, it was fine.
However, I think it would be beneficial to have more example in the slides (aside from the exercices).
For testing tools, it could be beneficial to have actual tools, like Robot Framework for keyword automation tools
Anonymous –
very informative and interactive throughout the whole course. Greatly led by Karen Peters.
Richard Mason | Senior Test Analyst | Capital One (Europe) –
Course was thorough and well paced with sufficient breaks to retain effective concentration.
Very disappointing that the course materials especially the Consolidated Student Handbook cannot be printed. This makes revising and relearning difficult. I don’t feel this was pointed out up front before the course and its something I will certainly be aware of in the future and will deter me from attending further additional courses if there is the same restriction.
Lizzy Hamilton| Test Manager| Capita Resourcing –
John was very thorough, and was patient when explaining items to me that I often didn’t understand. He could provide versatile examples outside of the scenarios provided to help highlight his point, and also offered some advice in how I could apply various techniques to my live situation/projects.
John is very knowledgeable and a great teacher.
David Cook| QA Test Analyst| Caseware –
Found it very informative and learnt lots of new things.
Joanne Nwosu| Senior Quality Control Engineer| Deltek –
Was informative, clear and easy to follow. A bit of information overload but expected given the time frame of completion.