Here you will find answers to the questions most frequently asked.

Where can I find the course dates for the imbus Academy?

How can I register for a course at the imbus Academy?

How can I find information on whether there are still free seats for my preferred course date and how do I reserve a seat without an immediate contractual commitment?

How can I find the course site and hotels nearby?

How can I find the starting and end times of my course for planning my trip?

Is it possible to get the training courses (partly) financed through the German Arbeitsagentur (Job Centre) or from other organizations?

Questions about the contents of the ISTQB^® Certified Tester

Where will I find more about the contents of the ISTQB^® Certified Tester?

Questions about the certification exams for the ISTQB^® standard*

Is it possible to combine partial certifications that have been attained in accordance with different versions of the Advanced Level syllabi?

Are ISTQB^® certificates still valid if they refer to the previous versions of the syllabi?

What are the prerequisites for enrollment in the ISTQB^® exams, and how do I prove that these prerequisites are fulfilled?

Why don’t the trainers proctor the exams themselves?

How do I enroll for an exam?

Is it possible to enroll for an examination without previously having attended a preparation course?

How can I find out about exam dates?

How much does it cost to take the exams?

What procedure is followed for the exam, what is the structure of the exam and how long does it take?

When will I receive my certificate?

The current scheduling of our courses can always be found on the page “Kursübersicht” of our website.

This page ins available only in the German version of our homepage.

On request, we will gladly draw up a list of selected dates that match your exact requirements. We can also structure dates for workshops and in-house training courses in accordance with a request you have submitted.

Please fill in the registration form that appears when you click on the symbol labelled “Anmelden” that is situated to the right of a particular course date on our "Kursübersicht" page (that is the starting page of our German version of the imbus Academy homepage).

The registration was complete if your browser shows you a window that reads „Schritt 4 von 4…“

Hint: If you do not see a window with this text, you may not have clicked on your verification link that we have sent to the email address, with which you have registered for the course. The mail has the subject: "Ihre Anmeldung für <Kursname> - Schritt 3 von 4 - Bestätigung Ihrer Anmeldung und Sicherheitsüberprüfung". This is an automatically generated mail and may have been identified as spam by your anti-spam-software. Hence, if it did not show up in your inbox, you may be able to find it in your spam folder.

Alternatively, you can, of course, send us your training course requirements by email, yellow mail, or fax using your own ordering form, filling in ours or just sending us a general inquiry not requiring any special form at all.

Please remember to provide your contact details, so that we can get in touch with you to complete any missing details for your registration, and to provide you with further information about the training dates you have requested.

Please email us your request! We will inform you about available seats and will get back to you, to reserve seats for a set amount of time, according to your requirements.

Should you wish to reserve a seat in a specific course, since you definitely will participate, but need to wait for paperwork in your company, to be finalized for the purchase, then feel free to register through the online page "Kursübersicht" (in German) as described above and add a comment, stating your needs, in the field “Bemerkungen”.

Shortly after we receive your registration we will send you a confirmation of your registration which contains directions to the training site and a list of hotel recommendations. On request , we can send you both prior to your registration.

Shortly after we receive your registration we will send you a confirmation of your registration which contains the starting and end times of the course and the certification, if applicable. On request , we can send you this and further information prior to your registration.

Our training courses are not certified with the public Job Centre (Arbeitsagentur) in Germany which means that there is no registration number for grants. Therefore, it is, unfortunately, not possible to apply for grants such as training vouchers or other regular subsidies provided by the Job Center to support training activities.

You can get more information about the current options at the Job Centre.

Other possibilities to receive aid:

The internet may be another good source for more information on options for support. There are various possibilities, like additional vacation or some financial aid via training vouchers (often called "Bildungsscheck").

In connection with all the various options for financial assistance, it is oftentimes useful to point out that the ISTQB® Certified Tester should be seen as an advanced qualification for specialists that will be of great significance to the participant, e.g. when he applies for a new job to restart his career because this qualification has worldwide quality assurance, global reach and attractiveness for the employment market.

Syllabi and the glossary can be downloaded from the download section of the GTB.

Yes, combining different versions of this syllabus is possible. If you hold a certificate of each of the three modules, you will receive the certificate “Full Advanced Level” and it does not make any difference if you have taken individual exam papers based on different syllabus versions. However, with regard to contents, you should be aware of the fact that between the different syllabus versions some subjects have been moved around from one module to another. Therefore, we recommend that you check whether you may have missed a subject altogether in your specific combination of courses. You can obtain information on available support at the GTB.

All of your previously issued certificates for the Foundation, or the advanced Level are valid without time limitation. For the Expert Level, it is possible, that in the future, certifications will be issued with a limited validity period. Information on this will then be available through the GTB.

For the ISTQB® Certified Tester Foundation Level exam, there are no prerequisites. 

If you would like to take the exam for the ISTQB® Certified Tester Advanced Level, you will have to prove that you hold the certification at Foundation Level and that you have already collected practical experience as a tester. You can find the regulations governing how to provide proof and other details in your enrollment form for the examination, which you will receive along with the confirmation of participation in one of our courses.

There are different requirements for each of the Expert Levels and the Extensions (formerly called “ Add Ons”). Information on this will be available through the GTB.

It is part of the quality assurance concept of the ISTQB® that providers for accredited courses are not allowed to be the certification centers for the applicable examinations. That is why the applicable exam that we organize for you on completion of your course is purchased from an external approved provider for examinations.

If you would like to take an exam on completion of one of our courses, you can make your enrollment along with the online  enrollment for your course. Please note that there will be additional cost for the exam. If you are interested in taking the exam at a later date, we will help you find out about all your options for finding exam dates with a registered exam center. If you would like to take an exam without attending a preparation course directly beforehand, you can contact an approved certification center directly. You can find these centers on the website of the GTB.

Yes, it is possible to enroll for the exam without having attended a preparation course, and making your own preparations through self-study.

However, we only organize exams on completion of one of our courses. Thank you for your understanding that we can not offer exam enrollment without booking a training course with us.

You can find out about additional exam dates at the certification centers of the GTB.

When booking one of our courses, you will see the price for the exam on the booking homepage. Our prices may vary from the prices charged by the certification centres. You can find out the prices for individual examination services by taking a look at the websites of the examination providers. Thank you for your understandingthat we can not  publish these prices on our own pages, in order to avoid unintended misinformation.

All questions in the Foundation and Advanced Level exam are multiple-choice. The individual questions are weighted according to their complexity, and are given a corresponding index. The examination material is divided into various specialised areas, for which questions are selected and assembled on a random basis. In the course of this procedure, a fixed defined value is used for the index points per specialized area.
The duration of the examination is currently one hour for Foundation Level and for the Advanced Level it is 180 minutes for the Test Manager and  Test Analyst and 120 minutes for the Technical Test Analyst.
There are different Exam procedures for each of the Expert Levels and the Extensions (formerly called “Add Ons”). Information on this will then be available at the respective certification provider or the exam providers of the GTB.

Once the examination fee has been paid, the examination provider will send you your certificate after a processing time of four weeks at the most.
Should it be the case that you have not received your certificate at the end of this period of time, please get in touch with us. We are glad to make enquiries on your behalf.
Alternatively, you can also get in touch with the certification center directly (you can find this on the enrollment form for your exam).

*) No responsibility is taken for the correctness of the information about examinations that is provided on this page. You can obtain a comprehensive and possibly also more up-to-date form of this information from the examination provider or from the GTB.

Please write to us ! We will gladly direct your questions to the appropriate authority.