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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Why Choose ISTQB Software Testing 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.
Course Highlights
- Duration: 3-day intensive training.
- Format: Available in Virtual, Classroom and E-learning
- 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.
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.
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
Who Should Attend?
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
Invest in Your Future with ISTQB Certification
Enhance your software testing skills and career prospects with our ISTQB Software Testing Foundation course. Join over a million certified testers worldwide and open doors to exciting opportunities in the field of software quality assurance.
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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
Mandy Leonard| Test Analyst| Oxford University –
Angelina was brilliant. Made a very long detailed course enjoyable. I loved the interaction and the break up of the learning with challenging the knowledge of the group on what is being taught. The breakout rooms were great way of learning and it was nice to talk to people on the course.
Lubna Khan| Tester| BAE –
It was strictly my own company, I would have preferred other companies to attend. Also, I feel the trainer should have reviewed material before the course as there mistakes found during delivery. Otherwise, very knowledgable and enthusiastic. Thank you.
Anthony Edward Yellop| Technical Development Advisor| MPS –
5/5 – The trainer clearly was experienced and knowledgable, not everyone likes being on camera – I would encourage people to try and get on camera to help keep the course positive.
Liam Molyneux| QA Analyst| Jagex –
I went alright, felt very rushed sometimes and very slow at other times, found Angelina to be extremely passionate but I’d say the actual course should be split into 6 days rather than 3, as 3 felt too rushed, learning about a topic and then immediately moving on with no time to digest it
The breaks were also very random, having no set amount of time for breaks or lunch was not good (e.g. go have a 7 minute break at 10:53) or (e.g. go have lunch from 13:05 to 13:55)
I also struggled to apply a lot of it to my own work, often having to use e.g. chatgpt to explain a question in the context of game development / live service games – which was super useful!
Daniel Raineri| Developer| capgemini –
My facilitator was very clear and knowledgeable. and so it easy to understand and follow the content.
Gary Mortimer| Software Architect| Capgemini –
The course was interesting and informative.
Martin James| Lead SwA| Capegmini –
Course was very informative but a lot of content to digest is a short space of time.
Mike Walker| Lead QA| SmarterPay –
First two days was good, but last day felt rushed
Alina Soshko –
For me, there is a lot of information in three days, it would be better to increase the number of days in the course. It is also difficult to study all day, half a day is better.
The trainer is a very confident and a good speaker.
Will Stephenson| QA Analyst| Jagex –
Angelina was great, she was clearly passionate about teaching and wanted to engage with as many of us as possible. Unfortunately, I can only really comment on Day 1 and part of Day 3 as I was under the weather and missed Day 2, but she had a clear understanding of the content being taught and knew how to communicate that. She was polite and friendly, and wanted to encourage people to get involved as much as possible while not picking on individuals to provide answers when there was uncertainty within the group. I feel this is a trap trainers fall into too often, where they want to fill the silence by forcing a member of a group to provide an answer, Angelina recognised when that silence was present and rather than picking on someone, instead elected to give us a steer and start a conversation, which I definitely appreciated.
The pre-course reading was very helpful, it gave me a thorough understanding of the material prior to course starting. I personally found that the most effective parts of the training were the elements of the course which were initially tackled by the pre-course material, and then cemented by going through those concepts again with Angelina. Allowing me to get into the material in my own time, and then solidifying my understanding during wider discussions was very helpful, I think that trying to teach some of these concepts in a group setting is limiting to the trainer and the trainee, as ultimately people learn at different speeds and in different ways. There was a lot to get through and it sometimes felt rushed as some individuals did not complete the reading ahead of time, if more people did then it would have allowed for more in depth discussion about the particulars of these topics, rather than needing to give a crash course first.
Think my only issue with this course was that the pre-course style material didn’t cover the latter modules, I feel incredibly confident with my understanding of the modules covered in day 1, but less so in the following ones (again this is in part due to missing bits as a result of illness). It would be great to have that style of content to engage with ahead of time, so I can focus on the nuances of the topics, which I feel is where the value came from, with Angelina. Let me do the basic understanding myself in order to allow Angelina to show her expertise and give her experiences to help complete that understanding.
Also, working in games development appears to be very different to typical software development, at least it is at Jagex – while there was some transferable knowledge myself and my colleagues often felt like we needed to recontextualise things into our work environment. This is of course not a fault of Angelina, but might be something to bear in mind when producing future training.
Thank you for your time Angelina, it was a pleasure! Wishing you all the best.
Xiaoling Hao| Software tester| –
I had a wonderful training time. Thanks a lot!
Namita Anna Givi| Consultant| Capgemini –
Very insightful. Really enjoyed the way sample questions and homework was inserted at the end of each topic. The explanations and use of whiteboard by Richard to explain the concepts made it quite easy to grasp them.
Richard Ansell| Software Engineer Lead| Capgemini –
Very well structured and spoken course leader with the right level of practice questions and interactivity.
Clement Chan-Cary| Software Engineer| Capgemini –
Very professionally delivered by Richard with examples applicable to my employee.
Excellent and well organised resources provided for passing the exam.
James Wilkinson| Software Engineer| Capgemini –
Richard had incredible knowledge and was able to talk in depth about all the subject matter and answer all the question thrown at him in a clear and concise manner. He was very patient and managed to keep the course on time whilst still giving enough breaks to get us through, i was very impressed and would love to attend another course that was delivered by him
John Manley| Test Lead| Capgemini –
Excellent course, delivered very well, Richard clearly knows the subject very well
Ziggy Rafiq| Software Engineer Lead| Capgemini –
Richard is a good trainer and someone who has strong experience and knowledgeable. I have found his session very useful and helpful.
Daniel Swindlehurst| Software Engineer| Capgemini –
Found the course to be very well put together with Richard being very enthusiastic, knowledgeable and helpful. The only thing that would have benefitted me personally would be to have the practical/questions or breakout sessions in the afternoon. They are long days and that may have helped me keep more concentration later on in the day
sevil weaver| Quality analyst| jagex –
Angelina was great at teaching all the new concepts to me and was very patient and methodical when explaining something previously misunderstood. I loved going through the example cases to apply what we learned and looking through the exam questions to familiarise with the language used. I would recommend if the course could be longer (i.e 4/5 days instead of 3) to spread out the content, as it is quite information rich and it was a bit difficult to keep up the high concentration later on in the day.
Manish Patel| Tester| Capgemini –
It was great to be part of this training course. Richard is an absolutely great when it comes to training. I have gained a great knowledge in last 3 days.