ISTQB CTAL-AT: Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Tester (CTAL-AT) v2.0

Last checked November 10, 2026 against the official ISTQB exam page.

1. Question 1Test Strategy and Test Approach Challenges

   A product team releases every two weeks. Their manual regression pass takes four days, so testers start it late and often find problems only after release. Which change gives the best balance of coverage and speed?

   1. AKeep the full manual regression pass but ask testers to start it earlier in each sprint
   2. BDrop regression testing for every module that the current sprint did not change, and rely on exploratory testing instead of automation
   3. CSelect regression tests by change impact and risk, and run the automated subset in the pipeline on every build
   4. DAsk developers to replace all regression checks with their unit tests because unit tests cover the same code
   Show answer and explanationHide answer

   Correct answer: C

   Risk-based selection with automated regression in the pipeline gives fast, repeated feedback on changed and critical areas. Starting the manual pass earlier keeps it slow, skipping unchanged modules ignores side effects, and unit tests alone do not catch integration-level regressions.

2. Question 2People and Teams

   A sprint is nearing its end. Developers have finished features and hand them to two testers, who test them alone and report defects late. What is the best change in how the team works?

   1. AAsk the testers to write a longer, more detailed test plan and get it approved before the next sprint starts
   2. BHave testers join story refinement and pair with developers while the work is in progress, so testing happens alongside coding
   3. CHire a third tester so that the existing two can keep testing the late features at a faster pace
   4. DMove all testing to the final sprint so that developers can focus on coding during the earlier sprints, with testers catching up at the end
   Show answer and explanationHide answer

   Correct answer: B

   Whole-team quality means testers collaborate with developers from the start instead of receiving finished work at the end. The other options keep testing as a late, separate phase or add headcount without changing how the team works together.

3. Question 3Test Management and Test Process Improvement

   A team starts a new release. The test lead has produced a 60-page test plan with detailed procedures for every feature, and nobody updates it during the iterations. Which approach better fits agile test planning?

   1. AKeep a lightweight test strategy and iteration-level test plans that are updated as risks and the backlog change
   2. BFreeze the 60-page plan at release start and require every change to pass a formal board approval before testing starts
   3. CRemove all planning and let each developer decide what to test while the work is in progress
   4. DReplace the test plan with a daily list of manual test cases that testers execute in order each morning
   Show answer and explanationHide answer

   Correct answer: A

   Agile test planning is continuous and light, focusing on strategy, risks and the current iteration, and it changes as the backlog changes. Freezing a large plan, replacing planning with ordered manual lists or dropping planning entirely do not meet those needs.

4. Question 4Shift Left

   A user story says the search page should be fast. During refinement, a tester asks how fast, under what load and for which queries. Which practice best closes this gap in the test basis?

   1. ALeave the story unchanged and let the performance team measure search speed after the feature is finished
   2. BReplace the story with a technical design document that lists the database indexes developers plan to use
   3. CRewrite the story with measurable acceptance criteria for query types and load, agreed with the business
   4. DAsk testers to run exploratory tests on the search page and report anything that feels slow
   Show answer and explanationHide answer

   Correct answer: C

   Vague quality expectations weaken the test basis, so the team should turn them into measurable, agreed acceptance criteria before development. Deferring measurement, swapping the story for a design document or relying on impressions do not give testers a clear basis for judgment.

5. Question 5Agile Approaches and Test Techniques

   Which description best fits exploratory testing?

   1. ATest cases are fully designed and approved by the test manager before testing starts, then executed in a fixed order to produce evidence
   2. BTests are generated automatically from the source code and run without any human involvement
   3. CTest design, test execution and learning are performed simultaneously, guided by a charter and the tester's experience
   4. DA tester follows a scripted checklist and records a pass or fail result for each step in a spreadsheet
   Show answer and explanationHide answer

   Correct answer: C

   Exploratory testing combines learning, test design and execution in one activity, often guided by a charter. Fully pre-designed fixed-order tests, generated tests and scripted checklists are the opposite of this approach.