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
krishna kriti | senior test analyst | PWC –
very helpful.great experience
Jamie MacDonald | Graduate Trainee FS Tech Enablement | KPMG –
So much to learn in so little time! The inclusion of a concise, very well thought out study guide would go a long way to help.
Anna Funnell | Software Engineer | Capgemini –
The course was very intense with lots of information over a short time, but the way it was delivered meant I was able to keep up and retain most of the details. The regular breaks helped with processing what we had learnt and made it easier to concentrate on the rest. Questions were explained really well and they weren’t rushed over either.
Tony Fairall | Test Analyst | Central England Co-operative –
Very intense, some concepts hard to understand, but simply because it was so far from any practical realworld experience I have encountered so far.
Thomas Massey | Apprentice Tester | Northern Ireland Civil Service –
Very detailed course and learned many valuable skills that I will be able to use on my working day and gives me a good foundation to build on for other courses
Huw Ward | Test Principal | Rare Ltd –
John was very good at taking the course and teaching us, only issue was it was difficult to read his handwriting at times (which he did upfront apologise for). I think the Exam questions are very tricky for a Foundation course and set out to catch you out more than I would expect for this level. I know you are teaching the course though and not setting the exam.
Rachel Livingston | Developer Technician | HSCNI – BSO –
Course was good, although I feel as a foundation course it was difficult. I feel you would need to have a good testing background before taking this course compared to other foundation courses I have been on. Rosie was a great trainer although I felt some of the scenarios that Rosie was providing had nothing to do with testing so I found it hard to pair it with a testing environment. I understand the concept just found it harder to see them in testing environments.
Emma Gander | Test Analyst | Aegon –
Information was clear and well presented. Review of sample questions very beneficial
Pete Carss | Driver QA Engineer | Focusrite Audio –
Well presented, but sequence of presentation -> mock testing doesn’t suite all learners
Ellen Tebbutt | Junior Test Analyst | Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust –
Very well presented considering it was online. Plenty of breaks with consideration for the heaviness of the material. Good prep materials provided.
Sasha Devi-Bangar | Junior Software Test Automation Engineer | Global Inkjet Systems –
The course was very interesting and everything was explained in a lot of detail, helping me to understand some of the key concepts of testing better. There was also lots of exam practice and detailed explainations of the answers which was also very useful.
Jack Walker | Software Engineer | Capgemini –
The course ran well and covered the topics in enough detail for me to understand them. For context, I’m a recent graduate and I found the content easier to pick up than some of my colleagues who have been working in the industry for a while now. This is not a reflection on the course so much as on the qualification though.
Angelina delivered the content at a good pace and allowed plenty of time for discussion/debate.
Overall I felt it was good.
jamie rolls | software engineer | capgemini –
The course content was quite heavy, but was broken down well over the 3 days. The course was delivered well and John answered all queries that people raised with integrity.
Scott Varns | Software Engineer | Capgemini –
Informative and intense, however feel I have learned alot.
Ethan Holland | Software Engineer | Capgemini –
I think some of the content is quite bloated and there is a lot of information, however the trainer was great and helped the course be interactive and enjoyable.
Sam Henry | Business Systems Tester | Moneybarn –
Extremely well delivered. Informative. Valuable. Would recommend.
Liam McClelland | Test Analyst | Capgemini –
The experience was great albeit intense and a lot of information to take in.
The mixture of lecture and class/homework excercises really does help us to apply what we’ve learnt and to test ourselves.
The benefit is that our exam is in a few days so provides us enough time to go over what we’ve learnt and to work on areas we may be weaker in.
James Freeman | Software Engineer | Capgemini –
Enjoyable and engaging course will plenty of helpful advice.
jonathan maillie | Graduate trainee | KPMG –
A lot to cover but really extremely interesting material that Angelina made much easier to get through in the time alotted
Avra Ghosh | Senior Associate II | PWC –
The course is very good and the approach to complete in short span of time is perfect.