CT-PT Question Bank

A checkout page that slows to a crawl on launch day is the kind of failure CT-PT prepares you to prevent. The exam itself is a 90-minute paper of 40 questions on how performance testing is planned, modelled, measured and reported, and you need 26 correct answers (65%) to pass. The syllabus is v1.0 from 2018, the fee is USD $199, and you must already hold the ISTQB Foundation certificate. This guide walks through the syllabus chapter by chapter.

Is syllabus v1.0 from 2018 still the one to study, and what must you hold before booking?

Yes. In October 2026 the ISTQB page for Certified Tester Performance Testing still points to the same document: the Foundation Level Performance Testing syllabus, version 2018, dated 9 December 2018 and listed as v1.0 in its file name. No newer syllabus has replaced it, and the ISTQB sample exam is marked as compatible with it. Study that version and nothing else.

ISTQB states the entry rule on the same page: to gain this certification you must hold the Certified Tester Foundation Level certificate. The syllabus repeats it, saying the Foundation Level core certificate must be obtained before the performance testing exam. If you have not passed CTFL yet, that exam comes first; this one builds on its vocabulary of test levels, test process and risk.