- Which Credential This Cheat Sheet Covers
- Exam Facts at a Glance
- Where the 40 Questions Come From
- Domain-by-Domain Review
- The 2018 Syllabus and Its Standards References
- Roles and Responsibilities Quick Reference
- Registration, Fees and Retakes
- Choosing Practice Materials Without Getting Misled
- A Domain-Ordered Study Schedule
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The exam has 40 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes, and requires 26 of 40 points (65%) to pass.
- Usability Testing is the heaviest chapter at 13 questions; Basic Concepts follows with 8.
- The syllabus is Version 2018 and names WCAG 2.0, so study the standards the syllabus actually examines.
- The current standard U.S. exam fee is USD 199, and ISTQB Foundation Level certification is a prerequisite.
Which Credential This Cheat Sheet Covers
This page reviews the ISTQB Usability Testing certification, referred to on this site as CTFL-UT. Its current official international name is Certified Tester Usability Testing (CT-UT). In the United States it is administered through the American Software Testing Qualifications Board (ASTQB) within the ISTQB scheme. The name on this site and the domain remain CTFL-UT, but the official international materials use CT-UT, so search for both when you look for resources.
It is a specialist module that sits on top of ISTQB Foundation Level. It is not the core Foundation exam, and it is not the same thing as the separate AT*SQA usability microcredential. If you need the naming basics first, start with What Is CTFL-UT? and What Does CTFL-UT Stand For?.
Exam Facts at a Glance
| Item | What the official sources say |
|---|---|
| Format | Multiple choice, closed book |
| Number of questions | 40 |
| Available points | 40 |
| Time allowed | 60 minutes |
| Passing score | 26 of 40 points (65%) |
| Extra time | Eligible non-native-language candidates receive 25% additional time, for 75 minutes |
| Delivery | AT*SQA with Kryterion/Webassessor, online proctored or at a testing center |
| Standard U.S. fee | USD 199 |
| Prerequisite | ISTQB Foundation Level certification |
| Validity | Lifetime; no renewal or continuing-education requirement |
| Syllabus | Certified Tester Foundation Level Specialist Syllabus Usability Testing, Version 2018 (dated July 8, 2018) |
Two details are worth memorizing for exam day. First, a published count of unscored items is not available, so treat every question as scored. Second, the online exam provides an electronic calculator and notepad, but the exam is still closed book. For more on the scoring line, see CTFL-UT Passing Score 2026.
Where the 40 Questions Come From
The official syllabus does not publish percentage weights for its chapters, so this guide does not invent any. What the ISTQB Exam Structure Tables (v1.19, August 19, 2026) do publish is the number of questions allocated per chapter. That is the best evidence of where to spend your time.
| Syllabus chapter (domain) | Allocated questions |
|---|---|
| Basic Concepts | 8 |
| Risks in Usability, User Experience and Accessibility | 2 |
| Usability and Accessibility Standards | 3 |
| Usability Reviews | 3 |
| Usability Testing | 13 |
| User Surveys | 2 |
| Selecting Appropriate Methods | 1 |
| Summary of Roles and Responsibilities | 2 |
| Cross-syllabus keyword questions | 6 |
| Total | 40 |
The practical conclusion: Usability Testing and Basic Concepts together account for 21 of the 40 chapter-allocated questions. A candidate who is strong on those two chapters has a large head start, but with a 26-point pass line you cannot skip the smaller chapters. For a deeper walk through each area, see the CTFL-UT exam domains guide.
Domain-by-Domain Review
Domain 1: Basic Concepts
Basic Concepts (8 questions)
This chapter sets the vocabulary the rest of the exam relies on. Expect questions that test whether you can distinguish closely related terms rather than recite definitions.
- Usability, user experience and accessibility, and how each relates to the others
- Why these qualities matter to users and to the organization building the product
- The keyword glossary: read it, because the cross-syllabus keyword questions draw on terminology
- The difference between measuring how a product performs and gathering opinions about it
Domain 2: Risks in Usability, User Experience and Accessibility
Risks (2 questions)
A small chapter, but the questions tend to be scenario based: given a product situation, identify the usability, user experience or accessibility risk and what it could cost.
- Link a poor design decision to its likely consequence for users
- Recognize accessibility exclusion as a risk, not just a compliance topic
Domain 3: Usability and Accessibility Standards
Standards (3 questions)
This is the chapter most affected by the age of the syllabus. Learn what the syllabus names, and read the next section of this article before you rely on any outside source for current standards.
- The syllabus explicitly names WCAG 2.0
- Know what role standards and guidelines play in design, review and testing
- Be ready to separate a standard (a formal document) from a heuristic or a guideline
Domain 4: Usability Reviews
Usability Reviews (3 questions)
Reviews are inspection-style methods where evaluators examine a product without running sessions with representative users. The exam expects you to know when a review is a sensible choice and what it can miss.
- Who performs a review and what evidence it produces
- Strengths and limits compared with testing with real users
- How review findings feed into later testing
Domain 5: Usability Testing
Usability Testing (13 questions, the largest chapter)
This chapter is the core of the certification and deserves the most study time. Think in terms of the full lifecycle: plan, prepare, run, analyze, report.
- Planning: objectives, scope, participant selection, environment and logistics
- Scripting: tasks and scenarios written so they test the product, not the participant
- Moderation: how a moderator guides a session without leading the participant
- Observation and notes: what is captured, by whom, and how consistently
- Findings and reporting: turning observations into prioritized, actionable results
A common trap is confusing what a task script is for. A good script gives the participant a realistic goal and leaves the route to them. If a candidate answer option hands the participant the steps, it is probably a distractor.
Domain 6: User Surveys
User Surveys (2 questions)
Surveys collect self-reported attitudes at scale. The exam focuses on what surveys can and cannot tell you.
- Survey results describe perceptions, not observed behavior
- Question wording and sample representativeness affect how far results can be trusted
Domain 7: Selecting Appropriate Methods
Selecting Appropriate Methods (1 question)
With only one allocated question, this chapter is low in direct weight but high in value as a synthesis. If you understand when to use a review, a test or a survey, you will also answer related questions in the other chapters.
- Match method to goal, product stage, available users and constraints
Domain 8: Summary of Roles and Responsibilities
Covered in detail in the roles section below.
The 2018 Syllabus and Its Standards References
The syllabus is Version 2018, and it names WCAG 2.0 explicitly. Present-day professional practice has moved on from some of the references a 2018 document contains. That creates a real risk for candidates who study from general web articles or from a prep provider whose materials carry a recent year in the title.
The same caution applies to sample exams. The current official ISTQB Sample Exam A is v1.2, dated June 15, 2021, and it explicitly supports syllabus Version 2018. The ASTQB resource page still links an older GTB Sample Exam Version 2017 (July 21, 2017). Do not mistake that older document for the current ISTQB sample. Download the questions and the matching answer set for Sample Exam A from the ISTQB site, and use the older file only as extra practice with that caveat in mind.
Roles and Responsibilities Quick Reference
Chapter 8 is small, but role confusion causes errors in the Usability Testing chapter too. Keep the separation of duties clear.
| Role | Core responsibility in a usability test |
|---|---|
| Tester | Plans and designs the evaluation, analyzes results and reports findings |
| Moderator | Facilitates the session, gives instructions and prompts, and keeps the participant on task without steering them |
| Note-taker | Records observations and events during the session so the moderator can stay focused on the participant |
| Observer | Watches without interfering; should not influence the participant or the moderator |
Exam questions in this area usually describe a misbehavior, such as an observer interrupting or a moderator hinting at the answer, and ask you to identify what went wrong. The answer almost always comes back to keeping the participant's behavior unbiased.
Registration, Fees and Retakes
- Confirm the prerequisite. You need ISTQB Foundation Level certification. If you earned it through another board or provider, you must supply that certificate through your AT*SQA account before the exam.
- Choose self-study or a course. Self-study is permitted. An accredited course is optional and priced separately. No separate mandatory degree, experience hours or training hours were verified for this specialist module.
- Buy the exam. The current standard U.S. fee is USD 199, explicitly listed for Usability Testing in ASTQB's 2026 price table. The standard voucher price is the same for online and test-center delivery, and no member/nonmember split is published.
- Schedule through AT*SQA. Delivery is by Kryterion/Webassessor, online proctored or at a testing center.
- Plan for retakes. A retake normally requires another purchase, although conditional ASTQB free or discounted retake offers may apply.
One quirk to know: AT*SQA's pricing summary page omits the Usability Testing row. That omission is not evidence of a different fee; the ASTQB table is the controlling source. For the full cost picture, read the CTFL-UT certification cost breakdown, and for eligibility details see CTFL-UT requirements. Timing questions are covered in CTFL-UT exam dates.
Choosing Practice Materials Without Getting Misled
Several public sites offer practice questions for this exam, including Udemy, ProcessExam, Study4Exam, CertPrep and training providers such as ORSYS. Treat all of them as unvalidated until you check them against the syllabus. Some publish answer keys with no rationale, and advertised success figures from sellers do not establish an issuer pass rate.
- Prefer questions that explain why each wrong option is wrong, and that point back to a syllabus chapter.
- Check that the question set matches the Version 2018 syllabus rather than a changed year label.
- Ignore conflicting exam-length claims on third-party pages. The official rules (60 minutes, or 75 with extra time) control.
- Use the current ISTQB Sample Exam A first, then supplement.
You can also try the CTFL-UT practice tests on the main site to check your recall by domain, and review the CTFL-UT study guide for a longer preparation plan.
A Domain-Ordered Study Schedule
Because the exam weights chapters unevenly, the order of study matters more than the total hours. This sequence builds vocabulary first, then spends the most time where the questions are.
Basic Concepts and Risks
- Read the syllabus chapters and the glossary terms
- Write your own one-line definitions for usability, user experience and accessibility
Standards and Usability Reviews
- Learn what the 2018 syllabus names, including WCAG 2.0
- Compare reviews with testing: what each finds and misses
Usability Testing
- Work through planning, scripting, moderation, note-taking and reporting
- Draft a short task script and a findings summary as practice
Surveys, Methods and Roles
- Practice choosing a method for a described scenario
- Memorize the four role responsibilities
Timed practice
- Take the official Sample Exam A under 60-minute conditions
- Review every miss against the syllabus chapter it came from
Key Takeaway
Aim to answer the 26th question correctly, not to master every footnote. Strong coverage of Usability Testing and Basic Concepts, plus solid basics elsewhere, is a more reliable route to 65% than perfecting the small chapters. For a sense of how demanding the exam feels, see How Hard Is the CTFL-UT Exam?.
Frequently Asked Questions
You need 26 of 40 available points, which is 65%. The exam has 40 multiple-choice questions and a 60-minute limit; eligible non-native-language candidates receive 25% additional time, for 75 minutes.
A pass rate for this exact credential is not publicly disclosed. ASTQB's roughly 71% figure aggregates worldwide certifications and exams through May 2025 and is not a CT-UT pass rate. See the pass rate article for context.
Yes. ISTQB Foundation Level certification is the prerequisite. If you earned it through another board or provider, supply the certificate through your AT*SQA account before the exam. Self-study is allowed, and an accredited course is optional.
No. The certification is valid for life, with no renewal or continuing-education requirement, so the exam fee is a one-time cost unless you need a retake.
No authoritative salary series specific to this credential was verified, and no causal premium has been established. For a qualitative discussion, see the salary guide and the ROI analysis.