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Swb: 0843 2891887
Fax: 01483 770999

Address:

Mayford Business Centre
Mayford Green
Woking
Surrey
GU22 0LP

ISEB/ISTQB - Foundation & Practitioner Course schedules available for 2009, including NEW ISEB Intermediate courses

ISEB/ISTQB - Discounted course rates - Call for information on 01483 211888

ISEB/ISTQB Self Study Courses available on CD ROM from £150! - see site for more details

ON-LINE interactive ISEB/ISTQB Foundation course with tutor support!

Please find below details of the classroom courses leading to the ISEB Foundation and Practitioner Certificates.

ISEB/ISTQB FOUNDATION CERTIFICATE in Software Testing

Overview

The classroom course is a three day course which includes a one hour certification examination on the last afternoon. This is the first formal qualification available in the field of software testing and is a forerunner to, and a pre-requisite for, the Practitioner Certificate.

This course is intensive and fast paced. It includes a number of exercises to enforce the principles being taught. It is recommended that students revise the course material for the first two evenings of the course.

Alternatively we can offer you a CD ROM Self Study course for the Foundation Certificate which follows exactly the same syllabus as the classroom course.

Objectives

• To improve your understanding of software testing - its purpose and nature - and raise your awareness of issues and constraints around testing 
• To provide a professional qualification widely recognised by employers, customers and peers 
• To learn standard terminology 
• Discover good sources of information 
• To provide a complete picture of the test activities and processes from requirements review to system implementation

Who should attend?
The following is taken from the ISEB guidelines surrounding the eligibility and appropriateness of the qualification and the associated course.

"The qualification and associated course is intended for:

• those who wish to demonstrate that they have a basic knowledge of software testing fundamentals, principles and terminology 
• those who have at least a minimal background in either software development or software testing, such as;
  • 6 months experience as a system or user acceptance tester
  • 6 months experience as a software developer 
• managers who wish to understand software testing better 
• those who have studied some computer science, programming or testing at 'A' level or beyond 
• those who are prepared to work hard to assimilate the information required to pass the exam

The qualification is not for:

• those completely new to computers
• those wishing to start a career in software testing, without any previous background or experience

If you are completely new to software testing, it is recommended that you start with a one-day overview of testing and then gain a few months experience before attempting this qualification.

This course is fairly intensive, as there are a lot of topics to cover from the Foundation Syllabus.  Potential attendees should be aware that there is a lot of terminology and facts that need to learned in order to pass the exam."

Syllabus - Key Points
Part 1 - Principles of Testing
Introduction, bibliography, testing terminology. Why is testing necessary? How much testing is enough? Fundamental Test process. The psychology of testing. Re-testing and regression testing. Expected results. Prioritisation of the tests. Testing and the development lifecycle [Models for testing and economics]. High level [or Master] Test Planning. Testability.

Part 2 - Testing Through the Lifecycle
Stages of testing. Component testing. Component testing to BS7925-2. Integration testing in the small [Link testing]. System and Acceptance testing. Non-Functional system testing. Integration testing in the large, UAT and Maintenance testing.

Part 3 - Test Techniques
Test techniques and the lifecycle. Black and white box testing. Equivalence Partitioning and Boundary Value Analysis. Statement and Branch testing. Error guessing. Reviews and the test process. Types of review. Static analysis.

Part 4 - Test Management
Organisation. Configuration Management. Test estimation, monitoring and control. Incident management. Standards for testing.

Part 5 - Tool Support for Testing
Types of CAST tool. Tool selection and implementation.

Please note that the ISEB Foundation exams now follow the ISTQB syllabus.

Download Foundation Syllabus (PDF 48 KB)

ISEB INTERMEDIATE CERTIFICATE in Software Testing

ISEB and ISTQB have launched replacement qualifications, each using their own syllabus as a progression from the unified ISTQB Foundation Certificate.

ISTQB Advanced Level qualification
Three role based qualifications, each examined over 2 hour using 65 scenario-based, multiple choice questions:

            Test Analyst
            Technical Test Analyst
            Test Manager

New ISEB Qualification
Three qualifications, one general and two role based:

           Intermediate Certification with a 1 hour, 25 question scenario-based   multiple choice exam. The certificate awarded is a pre-requisite for the Practitioner Certificates. NB. This is a pre-requisite for the Test Management and Test Analysis Certificates.
           Practitioner Certificate in Test Management with an essay based exam answering 4 half hour questions from a choice of 6.
           Practitioner Certificate in Test Analysis with an essay based exam answering 4 half-hour questions form a choice of 6.

These combined ISEB certificates will be the equivalent to the current ISEB Practitioner certificate.

We will be able to offer new classroom courses to support both schemes as follows:

ISEB from January 2008
ISTQB from April, in time for the first exams in July

ISEB is aimed primarily at the UK market (although extends globally) and forms part of the BCS diploma. ISTQB provides an international solution. Certification is important, but whichever scheme you choose depends on your company's overall requirements.

We can offer you CD ROM Self Study courses for foundation and Intermediate which you can follow at your own pace, location and timescale. We recommend that you take twice the time allocated for a classroom course. When you are ready to sit the public exam this is booked independently. The self study course follows exactly the same syllabus as for the classroom-based one.

However, do note that ISTQB will recognise existing holders of ISEB Practitioner accreditation as equivalent to the new 3 part exam.

Overview

Introduction
Review of the Foundation Certificate Syllabus; testing in the life cycle

Test Process
Generic test process; test planning; test specification; test execution; test checking and recording; checking for test completion.

Test Management
Test management documentation; test plan documentation; test estimation; scheduling of test planning; test progress monitoring and control.

Testing and Risk
Introduction to testing and risk; risk management

Test Techniques
Functional/structural testing techniques; non-functional testing techniques; dynamic analysis; static analysis; non-systematic testing techniques; choosing test techniques.

Reviews
Introduction to reviews; the principles of reviews; informal review; walkthrough; technical review; inspection.

Incident Management

Test Process Improvement

Test Tools
Overview; tool selection; tool implementation.

People Skills
Individual skills, test team dynamics, fitting testing within an organisation; motivation.

Download Practitioner Syllabus  (PDF 102KB)