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 Advanced Level Agile Tester
The ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Tester (CTAL-AT) certification validates the skills of experienced testers working in Agile environments. It covers Agile test strategy, whole-team collaboration, shift-left approaches, and modern testing techniques. Earning it demonstrates your ability to deliver fast, continuous feedback that supports business value in Agile and DevOps contexts.
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration90 minutes
DeliveryISTQB Member Boards
Passing score34 out of 52 points
Free questions481
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Tester 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.
6domains
17objectives
122concepts
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 Advanced Level Agile Tester (CTAL-AT) certification is designed for testing professionals who want to deepen their expertise in Agile environments. The syllabus v2.0 addresses Agile test strategy, whole-team collaboration, shift-left approaches, and contemporary Agile testing techniques and practices. It reflects the maturity of Agile software development and positions quality as a shared team responsibility.
By earning this certification, you demonstrate the ability to adapt your testing experience to Agile values and principles, support test planning, apply relevant test techniques, and contribute to test automation. You will also learn to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and communicate using effective styles and channels, enabling you to provide fast, continuous feedback that supports business value delivery in modern Agile and DevOps contexts.
Who it’s for
This certification is intended for testing professionals and others involved in Agile software development, including test analysts, test engineers, software developers, business analysts, product owners, Scrum Masters, and quality managers. It is also suitable for individuals who want to contribute to quality in Agile environments and who collaborate effectively within cross-functional teams, apply modern Agile testing practices, support faster and higher-quality delivery, and share ownership of quality across the Agile team.
Recommended experience
ISTQB recommends that candidates have practical experience in software testing and familiarity with Agile principles and practices, though no specific duration is published. Experience in software testing roles such as test analyst, test engineer, or quality manager; Familiarity with Agile software development principles and practices; Understanding of test management and test process improvement concepts; Knowledge of test automation in Agile environments
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
Test Strategy and Test Approach Challenges
- Test Types
- End-to-end Testing
- Formal Testing and Holistic Testing
- Regression Test Approaches
People and Teams
- Whole Team Approach
- Fresh-eyes Testers
Test Management and Test Process Improvement
- Test Planning
- Test Monitoring and Test Control
- Test Reporting
- Test Process Improvement
Shift Left
- Using Shift Left to Improve Test Basis Quality
- Shift Left and Requirements Engineering
Agile Approaches and Test Techniques
- Exploratory Testing
- Assisted Testing
- Test Smells
Test Automation and Test Tools
- Test Automation in Agile Software Development
- Test Tools in Agile Software Development
On the day
The exam itself
Everything ISTQB publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
Hold the ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certification, v4.0 or previous versions.
CertificationCertified Tester Advanced Level Agile Tester
Exam formatMultiple choice
Duration90 minutes
Questions40 questions
Passing score34 out of 52 points
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 Advanced Level Agile Tester
PrerequisiteHold the ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certification, v4.0 or previous versions.
Credential earnedCertified Tester Advanced Level Agile Tester Certification Renewal and maintenance
ISTQB certifications do not require renewal except for Expert Level. The CTAL-AT certification is valid for life. 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 CTAL-AT v2.0 relate to the previous version?
CTAL-AT v2.0 is the latest version of the Advanced Level Agile Tester certification. It updates the syllabus to reflect the maturity of Agile software development and includes contemporary practices such as shift-left and DevOps. The previous version is being retired; check with your exam provider for sunset dates.
Is the CTAL-AT exam available in languages other than English?
Yes, the exam is offered in multiple languages through ISTQB Member Boards. Non-native language speakers receive an additional 25% exam time.
Can I take the CTAL-AT exam without attending accredited training?
Yes, self-study using the official syllabus and recommended reading is an option. However, ISTQB highly recommends attending accredited training to ensure materials are assessed for relevance and consistency.
What job roles does the CTAL-AT certification map to?
The certification is designed for test analysts, test engineers, software developers, business analysts, product owners, Scrum Masters, and quality managers working in Agile environments.
Can I proceed to other ISTQB certifications after earning CTAL-AT?
Yes, holders of CTAL-AT may choose to proceed to other Core, Agile, or Specialist stream certifications, such as Advanced Level Test Analyst, Test Management, or Specialist certifications.
Are there any hands-on or lab components in the CTAL-AT exam?
No, the CTAL-AT exam is a multiple-choice exam. It does not include a hands-on or lab component.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 481 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.
6domains
17objectives
122concepts
103free 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
1Test Strategy and Test Approach Challenges95 questions
2People and Teams51 questions
3Test Management and Test Process Improvement116 questions
4Shift Left61 questions
5Agile Approaches and Test Techniques81 questions
6Test Automation and Test Tools77 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.
Test Types2 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
9 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
481 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.
481questions
103pages
17objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Test Strategy and Test Approach Challenges95 questions
2People and Teams51 questions
3Test Management and Test Process Improvement116 questions
4Shift Left61 questions
5Agile Approaches and Test Techniques81 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.
122concepts
481free 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.
3official links
122concepts 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 — 17 objectives, 122 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When ISTQB changes the outline, this page changes with it.
17objectives on the outline→122concepts written→481free 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.