Foundation Level exam structure

To get an ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level Certificate you must successfully pass the Foundation Exam administered by your National or Regional Board or Examination Provider.

Upon successful completion of the exam, you will be issued with an ISTQB® Foundation Level Certificate, which is internationally recognized.

The exam aims to verify that the candidate has acquired the professional knowledge contained in the syllabus.

The Foundation Level exam is characterized by:

  • 40 multiple-choice questions
  • a scoring of 1 point for each correct answer
  • a pass mark of 65% (26 or more points)
  • a duration of 60 minutes (or 75 minutes for candidates taking exams that are not in their native or local language).

Exam questions are distributed across K-levels, which represent deepening levels of knowledge, as shown in the following table:

Exam Number of questions per K levels
K1 K2 K3 K4 Total
Foundation 20 12 8 40

Exam questions are distributed across Syllabus chapters as shown in the following table:

Exam Number of questions per Chapter
Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5 Ch. 6  Total
Foundation 7 6 3 12 8 4 40

Exams may be taken as part of a course delivered by an Accredited Training Provider or taken independently at an examination center or in a public exam.

The typical duration of the Foundation Level Training offered by an Accredited Training Provider is 3 days. Completion of an accredited training course is not a prerequisite for participating to the exam.

Please refer to the Web Sites of the ISTQB® Member Boards and ISTQB® Accredited Training Providers for exam and training availability.