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 Expert Level Assessing Test Processes
The ISTQB® Certified Tester Expert Level Assessing Test Processes certification prepares experienced testing professionals to lead test process improvement initiatives. It covers improvement contexts, recognized models, analytical approaches, and how to initiate and drive change. Earning this credential demonstrates your ability to assess and advise on test process improvement at an expert level.
DeliveryISTQB Member Boards
Free questions706
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What Certified Tester Expert Level Assessing Test Processes 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.
4domains
28objectives
170concepts
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 Expert Level Assessing Test Processes (CTEL-ITP-ATP) certification is part of the Expert Level Improving the Test Process (CTEL-ITP) qualification. It prepares individuals to fulfill the specific expert role of assessing and advising on test process improvement within their organization or project. The certification covers the context of improvement, recognized models for improvement, analytic approaches, selection of an approach, and initiation of the process.
This certification is designed for experienced testing professionals who have already achieved an advanced point in their careers and wish to develop further expertise in a specific area. It builds on the knowledge and experience obtained at the Advanced Level, providing in-depth, practically-oriented training. Achieving this certification demonstrates your ability to lead test process improvement programs, make business-driven decisions, and manage the human aspects of change.
Who it’s for
The Expert Level certification is aimed at those who have already achieved an advanced point in their careers in software testing and wish to develop further their expertise in a specific area. It is intended for experienced test managers, test leads, and senior testers who are responsible for assessing and improving test processes within their organizations. Candidates should have a strong background in software testing, including practical experience in test management and process improvement. The certification is particularly relevant for professionals who want to take on expert-level roles in test process improvement, such as test process improvement consultants, quality managers, and test architects.
Recommended experience
At least 5 years of practical testing experience and at least 2 years of industry experience in the specific Expert Level topic are recommended. Practical experience in software testing, including test management and test process improvement; Experience in assessing and improving test processes within an organization; Knowledge of test process improvement models and analytical approaches; Experience in leading or participating in improvement initiatives
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: The Context of Improvement
- Why Improve Testing?
- What can be Improved?
- Views of Quality
- The Deming Cycle
- The IDEAL improvement framework
- Fundamental Concepts of Excellence
- Overview of Model-based Approaches
- Overview of Analytical Approaches
- Hybrid Approaches
Domain 2: Model-based Improvement
- Desirable Characteristics of Test Process Improvement Models
- Continuous and Staged Representations
- CMMI
- ISO/IEC 15504
- The Test Process Improvement Model (TPI)
- The Testing Maturity Model Integration (TMMi)
- Comparing TPI Next to TMMi
- STEP
- CTP
Domain 3: Analytical-based Improvement
- Cause-Effect Diagrams
- Causal Analysis during an Inspection Process
- Use of Standard Anomaly Classifications
- The GQM Approach
- Test Effectiveness Metrics
- Test Efficiency / Cost Metrics
- Product Quality Metrics
- Test Maturity Metrics
Domain 4: Selecting the Approach for Test Process Improvement
- Selecting Test Process Improvement Approaches
- Comparing Model-based and Analytical Approaches
On the day
The exam itself
Everything ISTQB publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certificate
CertificationCertified Tester Expert Level Assessing Test Processes
DeliveryISTQB Member Boards
Certification levelExpert
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 Expert Level Assessing Test Processes
PrerequisiteCertified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certificate
Credential earnedCertified Tester Expert Level Assessing Test Processes Expert level certification Renewal and maintenance
An Expert Level certificate is valid for 7 years. Extension is possible through ISTQB's Expert Level Certification Extension Policy. 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 CTEL-ITP-ATP relate to the CTEL-ITP-ITPI exam?
CTEL-ITP-ATP is Part 1 of the Expert Level Improving the Test Process (CTEL-ITP) certification. Part 2 is CTEL-ITP-ITPI (Implementing Test Process Improvement). Both parts must be achieved to gain full CTEL-ITP certification.
Do I need to earn the CTFL and CTAL-TM certifications before taking CTEL-ITP-ATP?
Yes. Candidates must hold the Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) certificate and the Advanced Level Test Manager (CTAL-TM) certificate before attempting the Expert Level exam.
Is there a hands-on or lab component in the CTEL-ITP-ATP exam?
The official materials do not specify a hands-on or lab component. The exam is based on the CTEL-ITP syllabus and sample exams provided by ISTQB.
What is the retake policy for the CTEL-ITP-ATP exam?
ISTQB's retake policy is defined by each Member Board or exam provider. Candidates should contact their local ISTQB Member Board or exam provider for specific retake rules and waiting periods.
What job roles does the CTEL-ITP-ATP certification map to?
This certification is aimed at experienced test managers, test leads, and senior testers who are responsible for assessing and improving test processes. It prepares individuals for expert roles in test process improvement.
Can I recertify by passing a different ISTQB exam?
Expert Level certificates are valid for 7 years. ISTQB provides an Expert Level Certification Extension Policy, which may allow extension without retaking the exam. Check the policy for details.
Are there regional differences in exam delivery for CTEL-ITP-ATP?
Exams are delivered through ISTQB Member Boards, which may have regional variations in scheduling, pricing, and delivery options. Contact your local Member Board for specific information.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 706 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.
4domains
28objectives
170concepts
151free 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: The Context of Improvement218 questions
Why Improve Testing?4 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →What can be Improved?6 concepts · 2 pagesOpen →Views of Quality6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →The Deming Cycle6 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →The IDEAL improvement framework7 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Fundamental Concepts of Excellence8 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Overview of Model-based Approaches5 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Overview of Analytical Approaches4 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Hybrid Approaches7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →
2Domain 2: Model-based Improvement215 questions
Desirable Characteristics of Test Process Improvement Models3 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Continuous and Staged Representations6 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →CMMI6 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →ISO/IEC 155048 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →The Test Process Improvement Model (TPI)8 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →The Testing Maturity Model Integration (TMMi)5 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Comparing TPI Next to TMMi7 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →STEP4 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →CTP6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →
3Domain 3: Analytical-based Improvement223 questions
Cause-Effect Diagrams7 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Causal Analysis during an Inspection Process7 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Use of Standard Anomaly Classifications3 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →The GQM Approach5 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Test Effectiveness Metrics8 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Test Efficiency / Cost Metrics9 concepts · 5 pagesOpen →Product Quality Metrics6 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Test Maturity Metrics7 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →
4Domain 4: Selecting the Approach for Test Process Improvement50 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.
Why Improve Testing?6 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
27 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
706 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.
706questions
151pages
28objectives
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: The Context of Improvement218 questions
2Domain 2: Model-based Improvement215 questions
3Domain 3: Analytical-based Improvement223 questions
4Domain 4: Selecting the Approach for Test Process Improvement50 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.
170concepts
706free 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
170concepts 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 — 28 objectives, 170 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When ISTQB changes the outline, this page changes with it.
28objectives on the outline→170concepts written→706free 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.