Many testers believe usability testing means asking a few users whether they like a screen. The ISTQB usability testing certification teaches something far more disciplined: planning moderated test sessions, rating each finding by severity, checking accessibility against WCAG, and choosing between reviews, tests and surveys. It suits Foundation Level holders who want a specialist route into UX work.
The certificate is ISTQB's Certified Tester Usability Testing, exam code CT-UT, in the Specialist stream. Its syllabus is version 1.0 from 2018, and when we checked ISTQB's CT-UT page in October 2026 that was still the only version listed, with no newer release and no retirement notice. A syllabus that has stayed stable for eight years is good news for a candidate: the ideas it tests, from ISO 9241 definitions to the System Usability Scale, are the settled core of the field rather than a trend that could shift before your exam date.