ISTQB Foundation Level Sample Exams

Summary

ISTQB publishes six official sample exams for the Foundation Level, and they are the single most useful study tool available. They are written by the same exam committee that writes the real questions, which means they reflect the actual difficulty, phrasing, and structure of what you will see on exam day. This page covers where to find them and how to get the most out of them.

Why the official sample exams matter

Third party practice questions are widely available, but they vary in quality and accuracy. Some use outdated syllabus versions, some get the K levels wrong, and some simply misrepresent how the exam phrases things. The six official sample exams do not have those problems. They are the closest thing to the real exam you will find, and using them well is one of the most reliable ways to prepare.

How to use the sample exams

Take them under real exam conditions

The actual exam gives you 60 minutes to answer 40 questions. If you are taking the exam in a language that is not your native language, ISTQB allows 75 minutes instead of 60. When you sit down with a sample exam, use whichever time limit applies to you and set a timer before you start. Do not look things up during the exam, do not pause, and do not skip around without tracking your time. The goal is to simulate the pressure of the actual exam so that the timing feels familiar on test day.

Do not rush through all six at once

Six sample exams is a lot of material. Space them out across your study period rather than burning through them all in a week. Save at least two for the final days before your exam so you have a realistic measure of where you stand when it matters most.

Review every answer, not just the wrong ones

After finishing a sample exam, go through every question including the ones you got right. For questions you answered correctly, make sure you got them right for the right reason and not by elimination or guessing. For questions you got wrong, read the answer explanation carefully and then find the relevant section in the syllabus. The explanation tells you what the right answer is. The syllabus tells you why.

Use your results to guide your next study session

After each sample exam, note which chapters gave you the most trouble. If you dropped points on Chapter 4 questions, go back to the Chapter 4 guide and the corresponding syllabus sections before you take your next sample exam. Do not just retake the exam hoping for a better result without addressing the gaps first.

Pay attention to how questions are worded

ISTQB questions are precise in their language, and the wrong answers are often wrong for a specific reason rather than being obviously incorrect. As you review, notice how the correct answer matches the exact language of the syllabus. This is also why reading the glossary helps. Terms in the exam are used with their syllabus definitions, not their general industry meaning.

Track your scores across all six exams

Write down your score after each exam. A passing score on the real exam is 65%, which means 26 of 40 questions correct. If you are consistently hitting 70% or above on the sample exams, you are in a good position. If you are below 65% on multiple attempts, identify whether the issue is a specific chapter or a broader pattern like misreading questions under time pressure.

What to do the day before the exam

Do not take a full sample exam the night before. At that point you have done the work. Instead, skim the summary sections of the syllabus, review any glossary terms that gave you trouble, and make sure you know the exam logistics: how long you have, how many questions, and what the passing score is. Going in rested and familiar with the format matters more at that stage than cramming new material.

For a quick refresher on timing, question count, and score requirements, see the Exam Format and Passing Score guide.