Free Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the Certified Tester Advanced Level Agile Technical Tester practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1An Agile team assigns requirements clarification exclusively to its business analyst before the first iteration. Why does this arrangement conflict with the syllabus's approach to requirements engineering?

   1. A. It replaces sequential analysis with frequent feedback from the whole team.
   2. B. It restricts an ongoing whole-team activity to one role and an initial phase.
   3. C. It documents acceptance criteria instead of leaving requirements unrecorded.
   4. D. It permits technical specialists to contribute to understanding requirements.

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The syllabus states that the techniques are performed "more frequently, using continuous feedback loops, by all Agile team members". Restricting clarification to one person before iterations removes both continuing feedback and shared participation.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 1.1, p. 9

2. 2A developer has written a unit test for a new tax rule, but has not implemented that rule. To perform the red phase of TDD, what should the developer do next?

   1. A. Run the test and confirm that the unimplemented expectation fails.
   2. B. Implement the rule and run the test for the first time afterward.
   3. C. Refactor the production code before checking the new expectation.
   4. D. Add the remaining tax-rule tests before running the current test.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The red phase says "Run the test to ensure that it fails." Running the new test before implementing the expectation establishes the failing test needed by the TDD cycle.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 2.1.1, Red, p. 14

3. 3A login test repeats the same enter-credentials, submit, and check-result steps for several credential combinations. Which script design applies data-driven testing?

   1. A. Copy the complete script once for each combination and hard-code its values.
   2. B. Use one procedure with data variables populated from separate test-data rows.
   3. C. Put every credential combination in comments and run one hard-coded example.
   4. D. Move both steps and data into separate, unrelated procedures for each row.

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The syllabus states "The basic idea of data-driven testing is to separate the test logic from test data." A parameterized procedure referencing a separate table preserves common logic while executing the distinct combinations.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 3.1.1, Concept, p. 22

4. 4A complete CI test run takes four hours, but developers need fast daytime feedback. Broader overnight testing and a pre-release environment are available. Which configuration balances frequent feedback and thorough verification as described in the syllabus?

   1. A. Run no daytime tests and rely entirely on the next release's results.
   2. B. Run only the fastest tests in every cycle, including pre-release verification.
   3. C. Use prioritized basic tests during the day and broader suites in later configurations.
   4. D. Require every daytime change to wait for the same four-hour suite before any feedback.

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The syllabus recommends "different test configurations in the CI process" for different cycle types. Basic prioritized daytime tests, broader nightly tests, and thorough pre-release testing balance prompt feedback with depth rather than abandoning either objective.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 4.1.1, second solution, p. 29

5. 5A storyboard shows account creation followed immediately by purchase completion, but the user stories contain no way to select a product or submit an order. What does this analysis most directly reveal?

   1. A. The sequence makes selecting a product an optional part of completing a purchase.
   2. B. The completion screen establishes that the intermediate order behavior is covered.
   3. C. The purchase flow lacks behaviors between account creation and completion.
   4. D. Account creation also specifies the customer's product selection and order submission.

   Answer: C

   Explanation: Storyboards help testers "quickly see the functional flow of the system and identify any gaps in the logic." The missing selection and submission behavior is a flow gap. Neither a completion screen nor account creation supplies those behaviors or establishes that they are optional.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 1.1.1, Storyboards, p. 9

6. 6During the green phase, a change makes the newest unit test pass, but an earlier relevant test now fails. What is required before the developer treats the green phase as complete?

   1. A. Disable the earlier test because the newest expectation takes precedence.
   2. B. Refactor the failing test so that it accepts the new production behavior.
   3. C. Correct the change until all relevant tests pass.
   4. D. Add another expectation while leaving the earlier failure unresolved.

   Answer: C

   Explanation: The green phase requires "Run all the relevant tests to ensure that they all pass." A passing new test is insufficient when the change breaks an earlier relevant expectation.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 2.1.1, Green, p. 14

7. 7A data-driven suite uses unchanged test steps, but a deployment-time budget requires a smaller set of selected data combinations. Which adjustment controls the executed scope without rewriting the procedure?

   1. A. Delete assertions while executing every original combination.
   2. B. Duplicate the procedure to reduce the number of data variables.
   3. C. Replace the data table with the same values embedded in code.
   4. D. Adjust the selected entries in the test-data table.

   Answer: D

   Explanation: The syllabus says teams can scale coverage by "adding, changing, or removing entries from the test data table." This also helps control execution time. Selecting fewer entries changes coverage, so the choice should be deliberate rather than achieved by dropping checks.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 3.1.1, Benefits to Agile Teams, p. 22

8. 8Most CI execution time is spent on end-to-end UI tests of business calculations that are also accessible through service APIs. The team wants equivalent business-logic checks with faster execution and easier maintenance. Which adjustment follows the syllabus?

   1. A. Move suitable checks toward API and service layers while retaining needed UI coverage.
   2. B. Move existing API checks into end-to-end UI tests to increase their abstraction.
   3. C. Remove calculation assertions and retain only UI navigation steps.
   4. D. Repeat the slowest UI checks more often within the same CI run.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: The syllabus recommends "pushing the automation effort down on the test automation pyramid." For suitable business logic, increasing non-UI testing and decreasing UI testing can improve maintainability and execution time without dropping the required checks.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 4.1.1, third solution, p. 29

9. 9A tester uses a story map to identify a minimal smoke test. Which selection applies the purpose described in the syllabus?

   1. A. Choose the most basic system functions represented in the map.
   2. B. Choose the most sophisticated implementation of each function.
   3. C. Choose stories with the largest implementation estimates.
   4. D. Choose stories with the greatest number of assigned tasks.

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Story mapping helps testers "Determine the most basic functionalities of a system to distillate a smoke test." Sophistication, effort estimates, and task counts do not identify the essential smoke-test functions.

   Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 1.1.1, Story Mapping, p. 9

10. 10All relevant tests pass after a small TDD implementation. The developer now sees duplication in both production code and test helpers. Which action fits the refactor phase?

    1. A. Add another feature and update the tests to accept its behavior.
    2. B. Improve both code structures while preserving functionality and passing tests.
    3. C. Improve production code while keeping test code permanently unchanged.
    4. D. Remove duplicated assertions even when they are the only checks of an outcome.

    Answer: B

    Explanation: The refactor phase says "Improve the design and structure of both the test code and the production code without changing functionality". Both kinds of code may be improved, while relevant tests must continue to pass.

    Reference: ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Syllabus – Agile Technical Tester, Version 1.1 — Section 2.1.1, Refactor, p. 14