FL Exam - Basic Info

Today, I shall be talking about the basic information for ISTQB Foundation Level exam. Again, this information is for the exam conducted by Indian Testing Board. It might be different for exams conducted by other national testing boards. Please refer to the websites of your respective national testing boards for details.

Target Audience: ISTQB Foundation Level exam aims to evaluate the understanding of basic software testing concepts gained by an individual. It helps everyone use a common terminology for discussing software testing issues and is useful for all team members of a software project. It is equally useful for developers, testers, project leads as well as project managers.

Examination Format: In India, the Foundation Level exam consists of 40 multiple-choice questions. Each question is worth 1 point and you need to answer at least 26 questions correctly in order to successfully clear the exam. This is a closed book exam, meaning you are not allowed to take along with you any books or other study material with you in the examination hall. Also, the candidates need to physically visit the examination center in order to appear in the exam. The exam is not administered online presently. A total of 90 minutes are available to answer all the questions. However, one good news is that there is no negative marking. So, make sure that you do not leave any question unanswered, even if you are not sure of the correct answer.

Examination Fees: The examination fees for general candidates is Rs 4000/-. However, for candidates from accredited training institutes or employees of affiliated companies, the fees is Rs 3500/- (please look at my previous posting for details). Once deposited, the fees is non-refundable. However, you can request for a change in the examination date or venue at least one month prior to the scheduled examination date.

Re-examination Fees: You need to pay Rs 2500/- for re-appearing in the FL exam, if you are not able to clear it in the first attempt.

Results: Examination results are usually available within 2 weeks. All candidates, who clear the exam successfully, should receive their certificates within 8 weeks.

Validity: ISTQB Foundation Level certification is valid for life.

Difficulty Level: Based on my experience as well as that of my friends, I can say that the exam is not really tough. Even though you might be coming across a number of posts in which aspirants are looking for study material and books for the FL exam, I sincerely believe that a thorough study of the syllabus and glossary of terms available at the ITB website is enough to help you successfully attain this certification. However, experience always helps. Even though no experience is officially required to be eligible for sitting in the FL exam, I would recommend that you work for at least 6 months in a software testing role before appearing in this exam. This way, you will be able to relate the concepts that you study, with your experiences in real life as well as increase your chances of success in the exam.

Registration for ISTQB Foundation Level Exam

The coming ISTQB Foundation Level exam is scheduled to be conducted on 24th of August, 2008 at major centers in India. Registration for this exam is in progress. The process for registration is described on the 'Registration' tab of the FAQ page on Indian Testing Board's website (http://208.116.30.129/faq.htm).

Primarily, the process is as follows:

(1) You need to fill in and submit the online enrollment form available at: http://208.116.30.129/enrollment_form.php.
(2) You will receive a confirmation e-mail containing further instructions.
(3) As per instructions, you need to send a DD for specified amount in favour of INDIAN TESTING BOARD, payable at 'NOIDA', to the Noida or Bangalore Office of Indian Testing Board by postal mail (or through courier). The addresses of these offices are available at: http://208.116.30.129/contact.htm. (As per a recent notice on ITB's website, they are experiencing problems accepting registered mails. Hence, you are advised to send across the DD through courier / speed post only).
(4) You will be informed of the timing and procedure of the examination. Keep this information handy for quick reference.

Note: The amount of fees to be paid for Foundation Level exam is Rs 4000/- for general candidates. However, 2 types of discounts are available: The first type of discount is given to candidates who have attended training from an accredited training provider. This discount is given when the training provider forwards the names of the candidates. These candidates pay Rs. 3500/- instead of Rs. 4000/-. The second type of discount is available to the companies that tie up with ITB to get their testing staff certified. Candidates from these companies also pay Rs. 3500/- instead of Rs. 4000/-. A list of these companies is available at: http://208.116.30.129/affiliates.htm.

Once the registration process is complete, you need to appear in the exam on the date and time provided to you. Make sure that you carry along your photo identity card, when you appear for the exam.

In case of any queries while registering for the exam, you may fill in and submit the online enquiry form available at: http://208.116.30.129/enquiry.php. You may also request me for help with any query and I shall try to get your query resolved at the earliest as well.

ISTQB Certification

ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board), responsible for conducting the ISTQB certification exam, was officially founded in Edinburgh in November 2002 and is represented by various national testing boards in different member countries. Presently (as of March 2008), 38 national testing boards are members of ISTQB and are responsible for conducting the certification exam in their respective countries. Indian Testing Board (ITB) is the ISTQB approved national board for India.

ISTQB certification currently consists of 2 levels of certification, with the 3rd level currently under planning. The 2 levels of examination currently operational are the (a) Foundation Level, and, (b) Advanced Level. The syllabi for exams at these levels are available at the websites of ISTQB http://www.istqb.org/download.htm) as well as Indian Testing Board (http://208.116.30.129/syllabi.htm). Besides, the standard glossary of terms used in software testing available at both these sites also forms an important component of the material to be understood in order to prepare effectively for these exams.

While the Foundation Level certification requires the aspirants to successfully qualify in a single exam, the Advanced Level certification consists of 3 exams. These are (a) Functional Tester, (b) Technical Tester, and (c) Test Manager. Successfully qualifying in either of these 3 exams makes the candidate eligible for a certificate for the corresponding specialization. However, qualifying in all the 3 exams at the Advanced Level makes the candidate eligible for an additional certificate (the ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level certificate). Also, successfully qualifying in the FL exam makes a candidate eligible to use the CTFL (Certified Tester Foundation Level) suffix with his/her name while qualifying at the Advanced Level makes one eligible for using the CTAL (Certified Tester Advanced Level) suffix with his/her name. Besides, successful candidates can download and use corresponding logos. While the Foundation Level certificate is valid for life, the validity of Advanced Level certification in India is 3 years. The final level of certification still under planning is the Expert Level certification. Details about this level are likely to be made known in 2009.

The next ISTQB Foundation Level exam is planned to be conducted at a majority of centers in India on August 24, 2008. Registration for this exam is already in progress. Details are available at the Indian Testing Board's website. I shall talk about this procedure in my next post.