ISTQB® release the Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Management version 3.0 (CTAL-TM v3.0) certification

Today, 30th May 2024, the ISTQB® has released version 3.0 of its Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Management (CTAL-TM V3.0) certification following a successful vote for release at the recent ISTQB® General Assembly meeting in Budapest, Hungary.

The new release of the Advanced Level Test Management V3.0 certification is at the core of the ISTQB® Certified Tester scheme; it has been developed with industry demands and relevance to today’s approaches to software development and testing at the forefront of the ISTQB’s thinking.

The new CTAL-TM V3.0 release package includes:

• The ISTQB® Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Management Syllabus V3.0
• The CTAL-TM V3.0 Sample Exam (Questions and Answers - Set A v1.0)
• The updated Exam Structure and Rules document v1.9

All documents are available for download here.

The ISTQB® Glossary has been updated to reflect the release of CTAL-TM V3.0.

The content of the new syllabus addresses 11 Business Outcomes via 40 Learning Objectives.

Holders of previous versions of the CTAL-TM certification will remain certified and will not be required to retake the exam, but may wish to consider taking the new V3.0 release to attest to the updated skills covered in this new CTAL-TM release.

The sunset dates for the CTAL-TM 2012 certification are as follows:

• English syllabus, exams, and accredited training May 30, 2025
• Other language syllabi, exams, and accredited training November 30, 2025
  

What does this ISTQB® CTAL® V3.0 release mean?

● The V3.0 syllabus for CTAL-TM will be the prevailing current version.

● For accredited training courses, the syllabus requires a minimum of 1365 minutes (22 hours and 45 minutes) of instruction, distributed across the 3 chapters.

● As this is a major release, training course providers will require accreditation of their training materials, in accordance with the ISTQB® Accreditation Process and the CTAL-TM Accreditation Guidelines.

Regarding this exciting release ISQTB® President Klaudia Dussa-Zieger stated:

“Following the successful launch and positive market response to the new Foundation Level V4.0, updating the Test Manager certification was the top priority for ISTQB. The syllabus structure has been thoroughly revised, with each section carefully reviewed and assessed. The result is a more concise and highly relevant syllabus that focuses on industry needs and supports projects using agile approaches and/or sequential methods. To better reflect the current practices in software development, it has even been renamed from Test Manager to Test Management.

Many thanks to Horst Pohlmann and the Advanced Level Working Group team for their tremendous efforts! And congratulations on the successful release of the new syllabus version 3.0!”

Product Owner and Vice-Chair of the ISTQB® Advanced Level Working Group, Horst Pohlmann, stated:

“The new release of the ISTQB Advanced Level Test Management V3.0 syllabus is designed for individuals aiming to achieve an advanced level of competence in test management. It is relevant for various roles, including test managers, test analysts, test engineers, test consultants, test coordinators, test leaders, and project managers. The syllabus aligns with the ISTQB® Foundation Level Syllabus V4.0, which provides fundamental knowledge and understanding of software testing.

In today’s dynamic software development landscape, characterized by evolving technologies and methodologies, efficient software testing practices are more critical than ever. As systems become more complex, the need for effective testing strategies increases. While iterative software development has become mainstream, sequential models still apply in certain industries.

After extensive collaboration with our international team of authors and reviewers, we are delighted to present this completely revamped version of the ISTQB® Advanced Level Test Management syllabus. I would like to thank the core team of authors, technical editors, and reviewers for their dedicated efforts. I am confident that the new CTAL-TM syllabus V3.0 will empower and support project teams in meeting the challenges of software testing in the modern era”

Thanks to all who have contributed to this syllabus. It was produced by a team from the ISTQB® Advanced Level Working Group:

Horst Pohlmann (Product Owner, Vice Chair ALWG), Tauhida Parveen, Francis Fenner, Laura Albert, Matthias Hamburg, Maud Schlich, Tanja Tremmel, Ralf Bongard, Erik van Veenendaal, Jan Giessen, Bernd Freimut, Andreas Neumeister, Georg Sehl, Rabi Arabi, Therese Kuhfuß, Ecaterina Irina Manole, Veronica Belcher, Kenji Onishi, Pushparajan Balasubramanian, Meile Postuma and Miroslav Renda.

The team thanks Gary Mogyorodi, Debbie Friedenberg and Julia Sabbatine for their technical review and the review team and the Member boards for their suggestions and input.

In addition, the Core Team would like to acknowledge and thank the Work Group leaders and members of the Working Groups for their early and ongoing guidance: Galit Zucker (General Secretary), Matthias Hamburg (Chair, Glossary Working Group), Klaus Skafte (Past Chair, Exam Working Group), Mette Bruhn-Pedersen (Past Chair, AELWG), and Agota Horvath (Member, Marketing Working Group).