Course Overview

The ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) v4.0 course is your gateway to advancing your software testing career. This fully accredited programme provides a solid foundation in software testing principles, preparing you for the globally recognised ISTQB CTFL certification.
Tailored for professionals in the UK and beyond, it covers best practices aligned with modern methodologies, including Waterfall, Agile, DevOps, and Continuous Delivery.
Read More
Course Highlights
- Duration: 3-day intensive training. (9am – 5pm)
- Format: Available in Virtual, Classroom and E-learning
- Online Pre-Course: Approximately four to five hours to complete
- Exam Simulator: Our simulator is designed to prepare you for success in the CTFL exam
- Content: Covers the latest ISTQB syllabus, exam preparation, and revision.
- Accreditation: Fully accredited by UKITB on behalf of ISTQB
- SFIAplus Level: Rated at level 3 by the BCS.
E-Learning Course
Our e-learning ISTQB Software Testing course includes:
- 12 months access to accredited online materials
- ISTQB® CTFL v4.0 exam (valid for 12 months)
- Exam simulator for practice
Why Choose ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) v4.0 Certification?
- Globally recognised qualification: Achieve the ISTQB CTFL certification, a benchmark in software testing excellence.
- Career Advancement: Enhance your prospects in the UK and international markets.
- Comprehensive Curriculum: Gain in-depth knowledge of software testing concepts and terminology.
- Versatile Application: Apply learned skills across multiple software development approaches.
Who Should Attend This Course?
This ISTQB Certification course is ideal for:
- Software testers and test analysts
- Test engineers and consultants
- Test leads and managers
- User acceptance testers
- Software developers
- Project and quality managers
- IT directors and management consultants
About ISTQB and the Certified Tester Scheme
ISTQB® (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) established the globally recognized Certified Tester scheme to:
- Provide internationally acknowledged professional qualifications
- Enable software companies to hire and train certified testers
- Facilitate global understanding and comparison of testing skills
Read Less
Entry Requirements
Important note regarding pre-course
There is mandatory online pre-course work that must be undertaken prior to attending this course. It is expected that it will take approximately four to five hours to complete. You will be sent full instructions with a link to the online pre course three weeks prior to course commencement.
On arrival at the course candidates should have read the provided Syllabus in preparation for the course. The course is intensive and those delegates who have prepared achieve a higher exam success rate.
CTFL Exam
To qualify as an internationally recognised Certified Foundation Level Tester and be issued with an ISTQB® Foundation Level Certificate, delegates must successfully pass the exam:
- The examination consists of a one-hour exam with 40 multiple choice questions.
- It will be a ‘closed book’ examination i.e. no notes or books will be allowed into the examination room.
- Duration of 60 minutes (or 75 minutes for candidates taking examinations that are not in their native language)
- The pass mark is 65% (26 out of 40).
Learning Objectives
The Business Outcomes expected of a candidate who has achieved the new Foundation Level certification are as follows:
- Understand what testing is and why it is beneficial
- Understand fundamental concepts of software testing
- Identify the test approach and activities to be implemented depending on the context of testing
- Assess and improve the quality of documentation
- Increase the effectiveness and efficiency of testing
- Align the test process with the software development lifecycle
- Understand test management principles
- Write and communicate clear and understandable defect reports
- Understand the factors that influence the priorities and efforts related to testing
- Work as part of a cross-functional team
- Know risks and benefits related to test automation
- Identify essential skills required for testing
- Understand the impact of risk on testing
- Effectively report on test progress and quality
ISTQB Foundation Level Syllabus
- Fundamentals of Testing
- Testing Throughout the Software Development Lifecycle
- Static Testing
- Test Analysis and Design
- Managing the Test Activities
- Test Tools
E-Learning – Key Points
- Fundamentals of testing
- Test activites, testware and roles
- Essential skills and good practices
- Testing in context of software development lifecycles
- Test levels, test types and maintenance testing
- Static testing basics
- Feedback and review process
- Test techniques overview
- Black box testing
- White box testing
- Experienced based testing
- Collaboration-based test approaches
- Test planning
- Risk Management
- Test monitoring, control and completion
- Configuration and defect management
- Test tools
- Exam hints and tips
Next steps/Follow on courses
The Certified Tester Foundation Level certification is the prerequisite to the other modules within the Certified Tester Scheme.
The “Core” stream modules are valid for any technology/ methodology/ application domain and build on the Foundation Level:
- Advanced Test Manager
- Advanced Test Analyst
- Advanced Technical Test Analyst
The “Agile” stream focuses on testing practices specifically for the Agile methodology:
- Advanced Agile Technical Tester
The “Specialist” stream provides a deep dive into areas which may be based on quality characteristics, specific test approaches and test activities, or which cluster testing know-how for certain industry domains:
- Acceptance Testing
- AI Testing
- Mobile Application Testing
- Model-Based Tester
- Security Tester
- Test Automation Engineer
Charles Lister|Software Engineer Apprentice|IBM –
I found that the information on the course was delivered in an extremely comprehensive manner as John’s explanations did well to ensure that points mentioned were explained in a manner for all to understand.
|Softwer Tester Apprentice| –
The course was really informative, everything was explained in great detail and I found the exercises really useful to put the theory in to pratice. I appreciate that we discussed all the questions after we tried to resolve them. I also found it really useful that John added notes in the presention as we went along and also used the Whiteboard tool to illustrate what he was explaining. The course was nicely structured, the explanations were clear.
Cameron Gough|Software Engineer|Capgemini –
Really useful to expand my agile knowledge
Brad Smith|Software Engineer|Capgemini –
I thought everything was presented very well and I feel I’ve learnt a lot, thanks Angelina!
Adam Williams|QA Trader|Derivco –
Course was very thorough and the numerous mock questions/exercises helped me to understand the syllabus.
Edward Jukes-Jones|Software Developer|Capgemini –
Great course and learnt a lot from Angelina
Tom Dipple|Software Engineer|Capgemini –
Angelina was very engaging and was keeping everyone involved an d this really helped in the afternoons when you get tired
Luke Goring|Software Engineer|Capgemini –
Well run course with plenty of detail and a good experience.
Ellen Venn|Scrum Master/Software Engineer|Capgemini –
The course was well delivered and structured in a good way. It was highly beneficial for learning about testing and I would recommend this course to peers.
Luke Mason|QA Engineer|Focusrite Audio Engineer Ltd –
A++, super engaging, regular breaks, nice breakdown of the exam paper. John is a clear and concise teacher that has filled myself with confidence in passing the exam.
Ali Guler|Software Test Engineer Apprentice|IBM –
I think John did a great job delivering the course itself, explained the topics and the methods very well and it is obvious he has a lot of experience and knowledge regarding software testing. My criticism would be with the ISTQB exam and the questions themselves, but John did his best to explain it to us and help us all understand it.
Manda Gray|Test Analyst|KR Group –
I found this course excellent. Although I am already an experienced tester, I learned the formal theory behind what I do every day as well as new theories that I do not typically employ in my current position. The course was well paced and the material was presented in a way which was easy to follow and understand.
PAul Donegan|Junior Dev/Tester|Strawberry UK Ltd –
A dense topic covered clearly and with lots of help. It. Was. Clear
Gupta Gurung|Test Engineer|IDBS –
Course helped understand many unexplored areas of software testing. Wide range of testing terminologies to get familiar with. Engaging exercises are helpful in checking your understanding as well as prepare for exam type questions.
Sipon Majumder|Associate|PwC SDC, Kolkata –
Very much Informative and learned a lot of new things about Testing
Souvik Karmakar|Associate|PwC SDC,KOLKATA –
Very much informative and learn lots of new things from the course.
Sandra Obi|Data and Tech Consultant|KPMG –
Well presented course material by John with a lot of clarification. Also online course has been beneficial as you save approximately 3 hours for getting ready and travel and feel refreshed at the start of the course.
Oliver Ingleby|Tester|Companies House –
John was a very engaging, helpful and knowledgeable trainer. He provided real life examples from his career which help bring the subject to life. The regular screen breaks really helped my concentration as did the regular exercises for us to complete.
Madhu Mahadeva|Test Consultant|NEST Corporation –
Well paced course, trainer was very knowledgeable and friendly.
Konstantina Zioga|software tester| –
Very informative, better than I thought it was going to be given it was a virtual course.