Certification

On January 2016, ISTQB® has publicly announced its new product portfolio, that constitutes a considerable evolution in ISTQB® go-to-market strategy.
The product portfolio architecture has been evolved on the basis of several market studies as well as the outcomes of the ISTQB® Effectiveness Survey.
The new ISTQB® product portfolio follows a Matrix approach characterized by

Levels, that identify progressively increasing LOs:

• Foundation
• Advanced
• Expert

Streams, that identify clusters of certification modules:

• Core
• Agile
• Specialist

Pre-conditions relate to certification exams and provide a natural progression through the ISTQB® Scheme which helps people pick the right certificate and informs them about what they need to know.

The ISTQB® Core Foundation is a pre-condition for any other certification.
Additional rules for ISTQB® pre-conditions are summarized in the following:

• Foundation Core shall be required for Advanced Level Core.
• Foundation Core is the default pre-requisite for Foundation Level.
• Specialist certifications unless differently stated in the specific module; as of date, all Foundation Level Specialist certifications require Foundation Core as a pre-requisite.
• Any Advanced Level Specialist or Expert Level Specialist module which is linked to a lower level Specialist module shall require certification at the lower level.
• Expert Level modules shall require certification at the corresponding Advanced Level.
• Any Advanced Level Specialist module which is not linked to a lower level Specialist module shall require the Foundations Core as a pre-condition.

Such rules are depicted from a graphical point of view in the ISTQB® Product Portfolio map.