Course Overview
The ISTQB Agile Foundation Extension Certification course extends the broad understanding of testing acquired at Foundation Level and covers those topics which are considered to be essential knowledge for a test professional working on agile projects.
This intensive two-day tutor-led course contains lectures, exercises and practical work and includes a high proportion of hands-on practical team-based activities to allow candidates to get a true feel for how agile projects work in the real world. This course has been rated at SFIAplus level 4. The Agile Tester Foundation level course is suitable for those who are, or expect to be, working on agile projects. It is aimed at those who seek a practical application of the core software testing material covered at ISTQB Foundation level to agile projects. This course is also appropriate for anyone who wants a deeper understanding of agile development that specifically contains coverage of the options for including software testing as an integrated part of the agile development approach. This includes Scrum Masters, project managers, release managers, quality managers, software development managers, business analysts and management consultants. Founded in 2002, ISTQB (International Software Testing Qualifications Board) is a not-for-profit association comprising 47 national boards (including the UKTB) covering 71 countries worldwide. ISTQB has defined the Advanced certification as part of their ‘Certified Tester’ scheme that, with over 240,000 certifications, has become the de facto world-wide standard for software testing qualifications. The ‘Certified Tester’ scheme:Who is it for?
About ISTQB and the ‘Certified Tester’ Scheme
Callum William Charles Reece | Test Analyst | Capgemini –
I found the course very informative & thought Rosie was very engaging with all of us. Lots of useful resources and documents given to us which I can re-use and review over in the future.
Nicola Bracher | Test Analyst and UAT Coordinator | Close Brothers Asset Management –
Really informative course providing information in simple to follow slides. As the course was online it was sometimes hard to get fully engaged but John was always checking that we were OK with the subject we were covering before moving on and encouraged us to ask questions.
Victoria Lawson | Training & Software QA Manager | TMD Ltd. –
Rosie Sheldon was a very friendly and engaging trainer. Explained the course material at a good pace. Lots of opportunity for delegate participation. Only criticism was that some of the TSG sample questions were ambiguously written and the numbering was wrong, so things got a bit confusing.
Luke Davison | Product and Process Implementation Officer | NEBOSH –
I was worried about a zoom course, however Rosie did a great job in making the course very engaging.
Iulia Olaru | Software Test Apprentice | IBM –
The course was excellent, Rosie explained everything in great detail and patiently answered all our questions. I appreciate that it was interactive and the mock exam questions were and will be very useful in revising for the exam. The only thing that I struggled a bit was the abundance of information that would come up on one slide, I find that if the information is shown bit by bit, I can understand it better. Overall I think the course had a good structure and I enjoyed the facilitator’s presentation style.
Lauren Eddelbuttel | Test Manager | Aldi International Services –
I have completed an ISTQB course previously, and while I found the content interesting, I really struggled to stay engaged. Throughout the entire 2 days John was able to deliver the information in a way that has really ‘stuck’. It was a great balance between information delivery, and real world application.
I will be doing an additional ISTQB course this year and will be checking if John delivers the course. If so, I will be signing up again.
Ali Guler | Software Test Engineer Apprentice | IBM –
I felt like the slides were the only part of the course that I struggled with, a lot of the time there were large amounts of information on the slides and it all came on to the slide at once with no order to the information sometimes. The speaking also did not match the amount of information on the screen sometimes which meant that while taking notes, the slides would change quite quickly.
Other than those I think the course was good, I think the questions in preparation for the exam were good and the mock exams will prove useful.
Carlos Martin | Senior QA Analyst | Magnopus –
Covered the course content at a nice pace, made sure that we were engaged and if we had any questions.
Covered not only what were the correct answers, but why.
Had some issues with mismatched materials between what we were given and what John had, but he managed to sort it out as soon as we brought it to his attention.
Rebecca West | Test Analyst | Think Project UK –
Very Relevant. Well structured with discussions around key points. I am taking away some useful actions for my scrum. Rosie is a good facilitator making us all feel inclusive & engaging with us. Relaxed atmosphere aided learning. My only point of recommendation would be to correct the Question/ answers in the mock exam as I found this confusing
Charles Lister | Software Test Apprentice | IBm –
I found that the course content was easily digestible and gave optimal opportunities to practice.
Yusuf Malik | Test Analyst | Sea/ Maritech –
Very useful, informative and clarifying.
Daniel Robson-Peschel | Software Tester | TSG Training –
I found the course really informative, and helped clarify a lot. Only advice I have is to maybe query if anyone needs any reasonable adjustments to take into account, such as needing more time on the practice questions etc, as I found it hard to keep up at times and process the information given due to my Dyslexia. All in all was great, thank you!
Chris Gibbs | Associate Technician | Ordnance Survey –
The course gave me a greater understanding of Agile and a testers role within the framework. Rosie is a great trainer and is able to convey effectively. Having done the foundation course recently I did feel that the slides were a little less engaging with a lot of bullet points compared to the foundation course were there was a bit more colour in the slides.
Alex Hendrick | Software test analyst apprentice | IBM –
Course was ok, learnt some new things and it was a good jumping off point for learning more about agile. Maybe would have prefered a more general approach rather than a tester focused course though.
Amy Banes | QA Team Leader (Accounts) | CaseWare UK Ltd –
John was excellent in his explanation of the theory and explaining in a variation of ways so that everyone understood.
Sam Green | Software Tester | IBM –
Course was well presented with lots of real life examples woven in. There was good break spacing prevent students from getting overloaded. Rosie was open to questions and created a very open environment for students to chime if needed. Exam questions were sprinkled in throughout to add small activity aspects to the course. It would be fun to include a second activity aspect (like the garden/house sizing on day one), possibly a risk/impact activity to keep it in line with the course?
One area of improvement (for the materials) would be to make the PDF editable for students who make want to make notes on downloaded copies
Overall, very informative and well presented.
George Stephens | Softare Test Apprentice | IBM –
Rosie was friendly and helpful. The course was structured and well organised however I felt that there should have been more interactive activities involved in the course, this may be difficult due to the larger amount of people on the course.
James Anderson|QA Tester Apprentice|Invotra LTD –
The course was very informative and helped me increase my knowledge in relation to Agile development cycles.
Gaurav Prabhu|Test Manager|Sogeti UK –
Excellent course with great examples
Paul Incles|Service Operations Analyst|Rail Delivery Group –
A little too much talking about real world as opposed to sticking purely to the syllabus
Gayathiri Mani|Principal Consultant|Sogeti –
I have gone through 2 days of online course. I really liked the course syllabus and the order they covered both Day1 and Day2. Liked the exam questions we take in between the courses. Would like to have more sample questions and answers, which will help us more, in terms of clearing the exam.
Velan Chinnaiah|Test Consultant|Sogeti UK –
Training content is good and Rosie did impart the training effectively.
She did clear all the doubts we had.
This has increased my confidence in taking the exam.
Thank you Rosie.
Avanish Vaghela|QA Lead|MetadataWorks –
Excellent course. Very informative, interactive and fun. Really enjoyed the learning from Angelina.
Alannah Russell|Acceptance Test Analyst|SSE OVO –
Angelina is very knowledgeable and had expertise in all areas. Angelina engaged everyone at all times which kept everyone interested, I am sure I speak on behalf of everyone here.
Jermaine Amani|Test Consultant|Sogeti –
Well paced and very informative.
Srimaye Nallamsetty|Test Engineer|Trakcel –
Course was really fun and interactive with an open discussion which helps in real world
Jonathan pitt|Managing Consultant ( Test Manager )|Sogeti –
Found it interesting and informative and useful to help support future projects I work on
Marco Venzelaar|Managing Consultant & Lead Technologist|Sogeti –
Well delivered, clear and precise. I would like to have instead of the answer sheet to have instead a duplicate of the question sheet with EACH answer why it is wrong or right
A.) Answer text A
WRONG: this is the reason
B.) Answer text B
WRONG: this is another reason
C.) Answer text C
RIGHT: Short description why this is right with link to the syllabus section
D.) Answer text D
WRONG: this is the reason
This was done in an Harvard Online Business Exam and this is very helpful.
Tânia Charneca|Senior QA & Support Analyst|Akerolabs –
It was very engaging, the trainer can keep everyone interested and engaged. Really recommend!
saleem alrashdi|expert|CITC –
good course
Andrew Scott|Management Consultant|Capgemini –
A very good course delivered at a good and friendly pace
Manak Dev|Lead Quality Assurance and Test Delivery Owner|UK Home Office –
Top bloke, explained things well. Engaged with the class and made it as interactive as possible. Thanks for going through this
Alex Marr|Senior Test Analyst|Cap Gemini –
Great course. Especially enjoyed the interactive parts, comparing the delegates’ experiences to the course material. Also appreciated that the information presented in the course didn’t duplicate the written information in the syllabus, but instead was an interpretation of it with practical examples, to aid learning.
Course materials and joining instructions were clear and helpful.
Dylan Anderson|Software Tester Apprentice|RWE Supply and Trading –
Really good course. Provides plenty of information for the agile testing area and it benefits me for my journey as a Software Tester Apprentice.
Nimish Bhatnagar|Portfolio Test Manager|Sogeti UK –
the course was good but a few more insights to the real world application would be good
James Schofield|| –
Very detailed and well paced course
Ellen Mandevhana|Software Test Analyst|Iris software Group –
Had a good understating of Agile aspects
Val Panesar|Test Consultant|Capgemini (Sogeti) –
A good walkthrough of the syllabus with lots of interaction with everyone. Really great tips for dealing with the exam questions with examples done during the course.
Tom Rutter|Test Analyst|Key Group –
Nice and informative
Emrys Ruck | Software Tester | IBM –
Good course with a helpful and patient instructor
Marc Williams | QA COP Manager | Principality –
Good and relevant content
Bruno Carapinha | QA Analyst | Jagex –
Went through the syllabus to good detail and explained the contents well. Also appreciated that he went through all of the mock exam questions and explained not only why some of the answers were correct, but why the other answers were incorrect.
Ian Parsons | QA Test Analyst | Principality Building Society –
Surprised as to the content – a lot of focus on the fundamentals and machinations of Agile as opposed to Agile testing, but suppose I would have realised that had I thoroughly checked the syllabus first. Pitched at a good level given the range of agile experience in the training group. Not overly happy with the wording/rationale for some of the sample exam questions.
Byron Phillips | QA | Principality Building Society –
Course is good and a lot to learn, what does concern me is that some of the exam questions are intended to catch you out rather than based on the learning material
Dylan Whyte | QA Lead | Jagex –
John is a great trainer, he is good at explaining and is always happy to answer questions.
My problems are with the TSG mock exam questions. I’m dyslexic and a good 6/36 requires having an intimate understanding of the nuances of the English language to decipher. I understand that some of the questions are supposed to be tricky but they are way different to the actual exam from my experience. I think the training exam is a red herring that adds unnecessary stress to an already information heavy training course. I would like to be able to understand the question and apply my knowledge instead of tripping up due to the sheer complexity and long-winded unhelpful questions. It’s demoralising and makes me feel don’t understand anything. The majority of the time, if the question is re-worded I can answer the question and get it right with no issues.
I would not have an issue if the questions were long but concise but there are lots of connecting words and double negatives that create a labyrinth of potential misinterpretations.
I just believe the jumping through hoops to try understand a question is pointless and unnecessary.
Sorry for my very cynical feedback but this is how I feel.
Just a heads up about this form, you can tick all the options in the “how would you rate your trainer.”
Cheers,
Connor Lines | QA Engineer | Jagex –
Trainer was pleasant and knowledgeable on the subject matter. Course material was covered at a good rate. A number of the questions in the sample exam material were poorly phrased, our trainer even agreed they would be unlikely to appears as phrased in a real exam. This made the sample questions, and the time take to review them feel extremely counter productive.
Graeme Churchman | Junior SDET | Jagex –
Information was clear, but did feel like some parts were skipped over more than others (possibly as they are less important / unlikely to be in the exam). I would have liked to do more practice questions (5-10) at the end of each section as I find this helps me cement the learning that just took place, rather than doing one or two questions along with all others at the end.
I would have liked a little more exam technique training, or advice on the sort of questions that would have been asked (this could have been covered by the above additional practice questions).
I was also disappointed that the practice questions were not like the exam questions, either not in the same format (select multiple answers) or wouldn’t have been selected for the exam as they didn’t have enough context.
Finally John himself was very friendly and I would do training with him again, though I have to admit I did find it quite difficult to read his handwriting some times!
Katie Stanford | Junior QA Analysis | Jagex –
I enjoyed the course, considering it was digital and not in a classroom which i personally prefer. Trainer was very helpful. Only this is please avoid having so many ‘need more context’ questions in sample papers, as they dont help and just make me personally feel dumb.
Philip Wright | Test Engineer | Principality Building Society –
Enjoyed the course but the exam questions I found could be very open to interpretation (Cases being ‘BEST’ or ‘MOST LIKELY’).
Nathan Grabham | Test Engineer | Principality –
Good information although its too much to digest in just two days.
Robert Macdonald | Software Test Apprentice | IBM –
I thought it felt more like a second ISTQB course rather than a Agile course, but either way enjoyed it and felt like I learnt a lot from it.
I think to improve, it would be really helpful just to have a final slide with the definitions of some of the key words/topics and maybe summarize the main differences between similar topics (like release and iteration charts)
Scott Newberry | Test Team Lead | IDBS –
Engaging, thought-provoking presentation of various aspects of security testing
Saskia Cope | Test Lead | Capgemini –
Very informative, each slide described in detail to support with the exam questions. Would be good to go through more exam questions during the course and perhaps less exercises.
Simon Wright | Programme Test Manager | Capgemini –
The course content was good, unfortunately it felt like it was designed for a classroom delivery rather than online and this was difficult as things that would probably have been really good discussions in a classroom did not transpire to be so good online.
Philip White | QA Analyst | Jagex –
The course was well paced, with questions intermittently breaking up sections of listening, confirming that the information conveyed was taken in and gave opportunity to question anything that may not have been understood.
Being an online course, I found it very uncomfortable that neither the attendees nor the trainer had cameras on, as I couldn’t read body language or get other visual cues to inform when and where I could or should speak.
Regular breaks were appreciated as they allowed some space for a bit of a mental refresh and time away from a screen.
Kristina Savciuk | QA Analyst | Jagex –
Course was great!
Andrew Churcher | Senior QA Engineer | Jagex –
The hand written notes could be difficult to read at times, would suggest a thinner tip on the pen.
steph scanlon | Principal QA Analyst | Jagex –
John is a fantastic trainer, if only I had John for my foundation course many moons ago! Everything on the course was fully explained to us in a way the group could understand and no question felt “stupid”.
I hope to have John training me in future courses as I now feel more ready to take on my exam.
Vytautas Januskevicius | QA Analyst | Jagex –
John was great at explaining the course, good and informative. Great at explaining exam questions.
Luke Goodridge | QA Analyst | Jagex –
Very well done, was clear on all aspects, ready for my exam
Fola Olagunju | Senior Test Analyst |WTC –
Well rounded course with good explanations to go with each slide
Philippa Hodge | Automation Tester |WTC –
Very hard to deliver this online so John did a fine job of giving us what we need to hopefully pass the exam.
Kumara Sankar | Tester Manual |WTC –
He had a clear understanding of what he was teaching. His presentation was clear and precise. And clarified our doubts . Thank you
Chinelo Oji | QAT Test Analyst |Home Office –
I enjoyed the course and found it very useful. John was quite clear and concise with his explanation. Very Helpful, courteous, patience and professional. Also provided a good examination tips.
gomathy govindaswamy | Senior Test Analyst |wundermanthompson –
It was a good class room session and John did take time to explain things until we understood. Was a very useful session and gave us a lot of ideas and tips for the exam prep.
Robert Gale | QA Manager | Deloitte –
Very good course, current circumstances aren’t great for classroom based learning and would have preferred to be face to face but Rosie did the best she could. Material is of a good quality
Karl Gwilliam | IT QA Lead | Deloitte –
The training was excellent
Luke Amis | Test Manager | Eurostar –
Great course but somewhat challanging working through the course material, jumping around to find questions. Some of the example questions were not clear.
Qasim Mahood | QA Engineer | Moneybox –
Great course – it was interesting with good learning materials. Trainer was great, engaging, fun and very knowledgeable. Would highly recommend