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.
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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
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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
Nava Anisetti | Test Manager | Sogeti UK Ltd. –
It was very interesting, the samples questions are very useful.
Rich Cahill | Calculations Analyst | Abrdn –
Very detailed, and the trainer was very helpful through out the course.
Always happy to go through reasons behind the theory and help with the test examples.
Ben Barrett | QA Software Engineer/ QA Software Tester | S2Partnership –
I have felt like I have been given a great experience in learning the Theory behind being a Certified Tester.
John was very encouraging and didn’t hesitate to provide further explanation.
I would recommend TSG Training to anyone wanting to learn the right way!
Paul McGowan | qa engineer | SQA –
course went into great detail
David Rhys Shingler | Embedded Tester | RARE –
Very interesting and learnt a lot in a short amount of time, feel prepared for the exam
Chris Barlow | Junior qa engineer | Lumi global –
Well structured and informative.
Grace Marsey | QA Engineer | Moneybox –
I thought the days have been well paced and I liked how we did real exam questions at each stage and then went through them methodically.
Hope Busby-Saywood | Test Analyst | Glasswall Solutions –
Very helpful, with lots of information, and a thorough explanation of exam questions that helped me understand why each option is or isn’t correct. Great experience for my first training course and first online training course. Thank you!
Max McRae Gibson | Test Analyst | LV= –
Great course run by John! It has been very detailed, and a lot of time and effort has been put in by John. It has been intense, and my only critique would be that it would possibly be better spread over a slightly longer time to take in information.
Pawandeep Singh | Test Engineer | Capgemini –
Overall very satisfied, the tutor made it easier to acquire the knowledge by going through a mixture of lectures, explanations, questions and answers. All of these were very well explained.
Matthew Colin Cockerell | Senior Software Tester | Lloyds Register –
Really enjoyed the course especially Rosemary presenting and course management style. There is a lot of content which is understandle, so there isn’t much time for wider debate we fellow course members which is what I was expecting. Perhaps using breakout rooms (MS teams) would improve course member interactions.
Patryk Zmijewski | It Systems Support Adminstrator | Decora –
Very beneficial and helpful
Dario Guzzetta | Senior Software QA | Lloyd Register –
Good and dense.
Emma Amess | QA Test Analyst | CaseWare –
I felt John explained each section in great user friendly details. The explanations helped my understanding. I feel very positive
Prince Agyei Frimpong | Test Analyst | Capgemini –
Although it was an Intensive course John made it very engaging with his examples and also explained every details properly . Having classroom and homework examples also helped a lot
Vicky Li | Graduate trainee | KPMG LLP UK –
The course trainer has explained the concept well and has good interactions in the classes.
Dayne Lucas | system support administrator | Decora –
quite intense and for me feel like i need to revise over again so i can lock in the information. but overall i believe this will help me in my role even if i do not pass the test. trainer was very good.
Callum Nightingale | Software Engineer | Capgemini –
Very good course
Nikki Dodsworth | Process Expert | Siemens Plc –
The first time I have completed a remote course and was anxious about how it would work, but the sessions were well structured and organised. John allowed plenty of time for discussion which worked well and made the session interactive with knowledgeable clear explanations
Alexander Hendrick | Apprentice Software Test Engineer | IBM –
The course content was good and contained a lot of useful information. The trainer spoke clearly and was very helpful. My only issues are that I think the course would be better suited to a 4-5 day course rather than 3 as it did feel like we were rushing through a lot of it. Also, I feel that the way the exam is written is intentionaly misleading as it feels most questions catch you out not on the content but in the language it is written.