Free CTFL mock exams
Full-length ISTQB Certified Tester Foundation Level (CTFL) rehearsals: 40 questions in 60 minutes, drawn to the official domain weights and scored on the same scale as the real exam. Pass mark 26 / 40.
- Questions
- 40~1.5 min each
- Time limit
- 60 minserver-timed
- Pass mark
- 26on a 0–40 scale
- Papers
- 3retake any of them
What's in a CTFL mock paper
Each paper draws its questions per domain in the same proportions ISTQB publishes for the real CTFL — so a mock that goes badly in one domain is telling you something a randomly-drawn quiz couldn't.
| Domain | Official weight | Questions drawn | Share of paper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fundamentals of Testing | 20% | 8 | 20% |
| Testing Throughout the Software Development Lifecycle | 15% | 6 | 15% |
| Static Testing | 10% | 4 | 10% |
| Test Analysis and Design | 28% | 11 | 28% |
| Managing the Test Activities | 22% | 9 | 23% |
| Test Tools | 5% | 2 | 5% |
| Total | 100% | 40 | 100% |
What a CTFL paper is shaped like
Which way this particular paper applies pressure.
The clock
At roughly 1.5 minutes a question, the pacing is comfortable but not generous. You can afford to think on a hard question, and you cannot afford to do it twice. Most candidates finish with time for a second pass if they keep the first pass moving.
The weighting
Test Analysis and Design is the largest domain at 28%, but with 6 domains in play no single one decides the result. A mock score here is usually a fair reflection of overall coverage rather than a verdict on one topic.
The standard
The pass mark is 26 on the 0–40 scale. Because scaling adjusts for the difficulty of the particular set you were served, there is no fixed number of questions that guarantees it — which is exactly why a single mock result means less than a consistent one.
Pacing a CTFL paper
Where you need to be on the clock, quarter by quarter.
| Checkpoint | Elapsed | Be at question | Questions left |
|---|---|---|---|
| First quarter | 15 min | 10 | 30 |
| Halfway | 30 min | 20 | 20 |
| Three quarters | 45 min | 30 | 10 |
| Time called | 60 min | 40 | 0 |
What trips people up on a CTFL mock
The CTFL exam is marked against the syllabus, not against how testing is done where you work. Terms such as test condition, test basis, coverage item, error, defect and failure have precise syllabus meanings, and several options on a question are often right in everyday usage but wrong in ISTQB terms. Experienced testers lose more marks here than beginners, because they answer from habit.
Watch the capitalised words. BEST, MOST, MINIMUM, NOT and CORRECT decide many questions, and the distractors are usually partly true. A careless read of a NOT question is the single most common way to drop an easy mark.
The technique questions are worked problems with one exact answer: the number of partitions, the boundary values under two-value or three-value analysis, the minimum test cases for full transition or decision-table coverage, branch versus statement coverage. These are the questions where practice pays off most directly — do them on paper, count carefully, and check your count against the definition of the coverage item.
Test analysis and design and test management carry the most questions between them, and fundamentals of testing is close behind. Static testing and tools are small chapters, which makes them easy to neglect and then lose points on. Spread your revision by the official weighting rather than by what feels interesting.
The clock is generous for the number of questions, which tempts people to answer the definitional ones too quickly. Use the spare time to recheck the calculation items and any question with a negative stem.
Before you sit a CTFL mock
CTFL mock exams: your questions
Source
Exam structure, domain weights and scoring on this page come from the official CTFL exam guide.