The ISTQB has the following tasks:
- Ensuring professional quality and topicality of the scheme
- Generation and definition of an international core syllabus for every qualification of the above scheme
- Definition and maintenance of examination structure and regulations
- Definition and maintenance of accreditation guidelines
- Definition and maintenance of certification guidelines
- Definition and maintenance of the “ideal” pass rate
- Monitoring compliance of the national boards to ISTQB procedures and guidelines
- Admission and expulsion of national boards into and from ISTQB
Aims of a common, international Software Tester Scheme and an International Testing Board:
- To be able to compare testing skills across different countries;
- Testers would be able to move across country borders more easily;
- European/multi-national/international projects would have a common understanding of testing issues;
- Increased number of qualified testers in Europe;
- More impact/value from an internationally based scheme than from any country-specific scheme;
- Development of a common body of understanding and knowledge about testing, through the syllabus & terminology, increase the level of knowledge about testing for all participants;
- Promote testing as a profession in more countries;
- Economy of scale, increased efficiency and economic benefits (re-use of syllabus and exam questions, reduction in cost per country - don't have to re-invent wheels);
- More people available (more resources) to develop common material (exam questions, syllabi); Testers don’t need to know English in order to gain a recognized qualification;
- Less culture bias in the qualification;
- International recognition of testers from a broad-based international scheme, international recognition of the qualification due to participation from many countries;
- Economic benefits for testing-related suppliers such as training providers, consultants, etc. in all participating countries.
ISTQB-Certified-Tester is the first and only international scheme for further education in this field. This provides numerous advantages:
- To gain recognition for testing as an essential and professional software engineering specialization by industry;
- To provide a standard framework for the development of testers' careers;
- To enable professionally qualified testers to be recognized by employers, customers and peers, and raise the profile of testers;
- To promote consistent and good testing practice within all software engineering disciplines;
- To identify testing topics that are relevant and of value to industry;
- To enable software suppliers to hire certified testers and thereby gain commercial advantage over their competitors by advertising their tester recruitment policy;
- To provide an opportunity for testers or those with an interest in testing to acquire an industry recognized qualification in the subject.
The Foundation qualification is aimed at anyone involved in software testing. This includes those who may be expected to go on to the advanced qualification in due course, such as testers, test analysts, test engineers, test consultants, test managers, user acceptance testers, and software developers. The Foundation qualification is also appropriate for anyone who wants a basic grounding in software testing such as project managers, quality managers, software development managers, business analysts, IT directors and management consultants.