To achieve the professional designation of ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level - Test Manager from the ISTQB, candidates must clear the CTAL-TM Exam with the minimum cut-off score. For those who wish to pass the ISTQB Test Manager certification exam with good percentage, please take a look at the following reference document detailing what should be included in ISTQB CTAL-Test Manager Exam preparation.
The ISTQB CTAL-TM Exam Summary, Body of Knowledge (BOK), Sample Question Bank and Practice Exam provide the basis for the real ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level - Test Manager (CTAL-TM) exam. We have designed these resources to help you get ready to take ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level - Test Manager (CTAL-TM) exam. If you have made the decision to become a certified professional, we suggest you take authorized training and prepare with our online premium ISTQB Test Manager Practice Exam to achieve the best result.
ISTQB CTAL-TM Exam Summary:
| Exam Name | ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level - Test Manager |
| Exam Code | CTAL-TM |
| Exam Fee | USD $250 |
| Exam Duration | 180 Minutes |
| Number of Questions | 65 |
| Passing Score | 65% |
| Format | Multiple Choice Questions |
| Books / Trainings | Trainings |
| Schedule Exam | Pearson VUE |
| Sample Questions | ISTQB CTAL-Test Manager Exam Sample Questions and Answers |
| Practice Exam | ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level - Test Manager (CTAL-TM) Practice Test |
ISTQB Test Manager Syllabus Topics:
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
Testing Process |
|
| Test Planning, Monitoring and Control | - Analyze the test needs for a system in order to plan test activities and work products that will achieve the test objectives |
| Test Analysis |
- Use traceability to check completeness and consistency of defined test conditions with respect to the test objectives, test strategy, and test plan - Explain the factors that might affect the level of detail at which test conditions may be specified and the advantages and disadvantages for specifying test conditions at a detailed level |
| Test Design | - Use traceability to check completeness and consistency of designed test cases with respect to the defined test conditions |
| Test Implementation | - Use risks, prioritization, test environment and data dependencies, and constraints to develop a test execution schedule which is complete and consistent with respect to the test objectives, test strategy, and test plan |
| Test Execution | - Use traceability to monitor test progress for completeness and consistency with the test objectives, test strategy, and test plan |
| Evaluating Exit Criteria and Reporting | - Explain the importance of accurate and timely information collection during the test process to support accurate reporting and evaluation against exit criteria |
| Test Closure Activities |
- Summarize the four groups of test closure activities - Implement a project retrospective to evaluate processes and discover areas to improve |
Test Management |
|
| Test Management in Context |
- Analyze the stakeholders, circumstances, and needs of a software project or program, including the software development lifecycle model, and identify the optimal test activities - Understand how software development lifecycle activities and work products affect testing, and how testing affects software development lifecycle activities and work products - Explain ways to manage the test management issues associated with experiencebased testing and non-functional testing |
| Risk-Based Testing and Other Approaches for Test Prioritization and Effort Allocation |
- Explain the different ways that risk-based testing responds to risks - Explain, giving examples, different techniques for product risk analysis - Analyze, identify, and assess product quality risks, summarizing the risks and their assessed level of risk based on key project stakeholder perspectives - Describe how identified product quality risks can be mitigated and managed, appropriate to their assessed level of risk, throughout the lifecycle and the test process - Give examples of different options for test selection, test prioritization and effort allocation |
| Test Documentation and Other Work Products |
- Analyze given samples of test policies and test strategies, and create master test plans, level test plans, and other test work products that are complete and consistent with these documents - For a given project, analyze project risks and select appropriate risk management options (i.e., mitigation, contingency, transference, and/or acceptance) - Describe, giving examples, how test strategies affect test activities - Define documentation norms and templates for test work products that will fit organization, lifecycle, and project needs, adapting available templates from standards bodies where applicable |
| Test Estimation |
- For a given project, create an estimate for all test process activities, using all applicable estimation techniques - Understand and give examples of factors which may influence test estimates |
| Defining and Using Test Metrics |
- Describe and compare typical testing related metrics - Compare the different dimensions of test progress monitoring - Analyze and report test results in terms of the residual risk, defect status, test execution status, test coverage status, and confidence to provide insight and recommendations that enable project stakeholders to make release decisions |
| Business Value of Testing |
- Give examples for each of the four categories determining the cost of quality - Estimate the value of testing based on cost of quality, along with other quantitative and qualitative considerations, and communicate the estimated value to testing stakeholders |
| Distributed, Outsourced, and Insourced Testing | - Understand the factors required for successful use of distributed, outsourced, and insourced test team staffing strategies |
| Managing the Application of Industry Standards | - Summarize sources and uses of standards for software testing |
Reviews |
|
| Management Reviews and Audits | - Understand the key characteristics of management reviews and audits |
| Managing Reviews |
- Analyze a project to select the appropriate review type and to define a plan for conducting reviews, in order to ensure proper execution, follow up, and accountability - Understand the factors, skills, and time required for participation in reviews |
| Metrics for Reviews | - Define process and product metrics to be used in reviews |
| Managing Formal Reviews | - Explain, using examples, the characteristics of a formal review |
Defect Management |
|
| The Defect Lifecycle and the Software Development Lifecycle |
- Develop a defect management process for a testing organization, including the defect report workflow, that can be used to monitor and control a project’s defects throughout the testing lifecycle - Explain the process and participants required for effective defect management. |
| Defect Report Information | - Define the data and classification information that should be gathered during the defect management process |
| Assessing Process Capability with Defect Report Information | - Explain how defect report statistics can be used to evaluate the process capability of the testing and software development processes |
Improving the Testing Process |
|
| Test Improvement Process | - Explain, using examples, why it is important to improve the test process |
| Improving the Test Process | - Define a test process improvement plan using the IDEAL model |
| Improving the Test Process with TMMi | - Summarize the background, scope and objectives of the TMMi test process improvement model |
| Improving the Test Process with TPI Next | - Summarize the background, scope and objectives of the TPI Next test process improvement model |
| Improving the Test Process with CTP | - Summarize the background, scope and objectives of the CTP test process improvement model |
| Improving the Test Process with STEP | - Summarize the background, scope and objectives of the STEP test process improvement model |
Test Tools and Automation |
|
| Tool Selection |
- Describe management issues when selecting an open-source tool - Describe management issues when deciding on a custom tool - Assess a given situation in order to devise a plan for tool selection, including risks, costs and benefits |
| Tool Lifecycle | - Explain the different phases in the lifecycle of a tool |
| Tool Metrics | - Describe how metric collection and evaluation can be improved by using tools |
People Skills – Team Composition |
|
| Individual Skills |
- Using a skills assessment spreadsheet, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of team members related to use of software systems, domain and business knowledge, areas of systems development, software testing and interpersonal skills - Analyze a given skills assessment for a team in order to define a training and skills development plan |
| Test Team Dynamics | - For a given situation, discuss the necessary hard and soft skills required to lead a testing team |
| Fitting Testing Within an Organization | - Explain options for independent testing |
| Motivation | - Provide examples of motivating and demotivating factors for testers |
| Communication | - Explain the factors that influence the effectiveness of communication within a test team, and between a test team and its stakeholders |
Both ISTQB and veterans who’ve earned multiple certifications maintain that the best preparation for a ISTQB CTAL-TM professional certification exam is practical experience, hands-on training and practice exam. This is the most effective way to gain in-depth understanding of ISTQB CTAL-Test Manager concepts. When you understand techniques, it helps you retain ISTQB Test Manager knowledge and recall that when needed.