You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
ISTQBCertified Tester Acceptance Testing
The ISTQB Certified Tester Acceptance Testing (CT-AcT) certification equips you to plan, design, and execute acceptance testing that truly validates business value. It focuses on collaboration between product owners, business analysts, and testers, covering user acceptance, contractual, regulatory, alpha, and beta testing. Earn it to prove you can align software with business needs and drive quality from requirements to release.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration60 minutes
DeliveryISTQB Member Boards
Passing score26 out of 40
Free questions360
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What Certified Tester Acceptance Testing proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
5domains
15objectives
84concepts
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The ISTQB Certified Tester Acceptance Testing (CT-AcT) certification focuses on the concepts, methods, and practices of collaboration between product owners, business analysts, and testers in acceptance testing. It covers user acceptance testing (UAT), contractual and regulatory acceptance testing, as well as alpha and beta testing, giving you a comprehensive understanding of how to validate that a system meets business needs.
This certification is designed for anyone involved in software acceptance testing activities, including product owners, business analysts, testers, test analysts, test engineers, test consultants, test managers, user acceptance testers, and software developers. By earning CT-AcT, you demonstrate your ability to contribute to acceptance testing from requirements definition through to final acceptance, ensuring that delivered software truly satisfies stakeholder expectations.
Who it’s for
The Acceptance Testing certification is aimed at anyone involved in software acceptance testing activities. This includes people in roles such as product owners, business analysts, testers, test analysts, test engineers, test consultants, test managers, user acceptance testers, and software developers. Whether you are a business analyst defining acceptance criteria, a tester designing acceptance tests, or a product owner ensuring the product aligns with business requirements, this certification provides the knowledge and skills to collaborate effectively and deliver software that meets user needs.
Recommended experience
While not mandatory, ISTQB recommends that candidates have practical experience in software testing and a good understanding of the testing process. The CT-AcT syllabus builds on the Foundation Level concepts, so familiarity with those is beneficial. Practical experience in software testing, particularly in acceptance testing activities; Understanding of the ISTQB Foundation Level syllabus concepts; Familiarity with collaboration between business and testing roles
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective ISTQB measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official ISTQB exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Domain 1: Introduction and Foundations
- Objective: Fundamental Relationships
- Objective: Business Analysis and Acceptance Testing
Domain 2: Acceptance Criteria, Acceptance Tests and Experience-Based Practices
- Objective: Writing Acceptance Criteria
- Objective: Designing Acceptance Tests
- Objective: Experience-based Approaches for Acceptance Testing
Domain 3: Business Process and Business Rules Modeling
- Objective: Modeling Business Processes and Rules
- Objective: Deriving Acceptance Tests from Business Process/Rule Models
- Objective: Business Process Modeling for Acceptance Testing
Domain 4: Acceptance Testing for Non-Functional Requirements
- Objective: Non-functional Characteristics and Quality in Use
- Objective: Usability and User Experience
- Objective: Performance Efficiency
- Objective: Security
Domain 5: Collaborative Acceptance Testing
- Objective: Collaboration
- Objective: Activities
- Objective: Tool Support
On the day
The exam itself
Everything ISTQB publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
Must hold the Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certificate.
CertificationCertified Tester Acceptance Testing
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration60 minutes
Questions40 questions
Passing score26 out of 40
DeliveryISTQB Member Boards
LanguagesEnglish, Non-native language support available (+25% time)
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path ISTQB lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to Certified Tester Acceptance Testing
PrerequisiteMust hold the Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certificate.
Credential earnedCertified Tester Acceptance Testing Certification Renewal and maintenance
ISTQB certifications do not require renewal except for Expert Level. The CT-AcT certification does not require renewal. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. ISTQB maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by ISTQB
Exam registration
Register for the exam through ISTQB Member Boards, ISTQB’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official ISTQB certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does CT-AcT relate to the Foundation Level (CTFL) certification?
CT-AcT is a Specialist Level certification that builds on the Foundation Level. You must hold the CTFL certificate to earn CT-AcT, and the CT-AcT syllabus extends the fundamental concepts of software testing into the specific area of acceptance testing.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the CT-AcT exam?
No. The CT-AcT exam is a multiple-choice exam with 40 questions. There is no hands-on or lab component.
What is the retake policy if I fail the CT-AcT exam?
ISTQB exam retake policies are set by each Member Board or Exam Provider. You should contact your local ISTQB Member Board or Exam Provider for specific retake rules and waiting periods.
Can I take the CT-AcT exam online or only at a test center?
ISTQB exams are delivered by Member Boards and can be taken at test centers or remotely proctored, depending on the provider. Check with your local Member Board or Exam Provider for available options.
What job roles does the CT-AcT certification map to?
CT-AcT is relevant for product owners, business analysts, testers, test analysts, test engineers, test consultants, test managers, user acceptance testers, and software developers involved in acceptance testing activities.
Can I proceed to other ISTQB certifications after earning CT-AcT?
Yes. Holders of CT-AcT may choose to proceed to other Core, Agile, or Specialist stream certifications, allowing you to further specialize or broaden your testing expertise.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 360 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept ISTQB measures — each one written out.
5domains
15objectives
84concepts
78free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official ISTQB exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Domain 1: Introduction and Foundations50 questions
2Domain 2: Acceptance Criteria, Acceptance Tests and Experience-Based Practices81 questions
3Domain 3: Business Process and Business Rules Modeling58 questions
4Domain 4: Acceptance Testing for Non-Functional Requirements101 questions
5Domain 5: Collaborative Acceptance Testing70 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Objective: Fundamental Relationships4 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
19 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
360 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
360questions
78pages
15objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Domain 1: Introduction and Foundations50 questions
2Domain 2: Acceptance Criteria, Acceptance Tests and Experience-Based Practices81 questions
3Domain 3: Business Process and Business Rules Modeling58 questions
4Domain 4: Acceptance Testing for Non-Functional Requirements101 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
84concepts
360free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from ISTQB
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
2official links
84concepts mapped
The source
ISTQB’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official ISTQB outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 15 objectives, 84 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When ISTQB changes the outline, this page changes with it.
15objectives on the outline→84concepts written→360free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.