About the Exam

This ISTQB Advanced Level certification is aimed at people involved in software testing and test automation, including testers, test analysts, test automation engineers, consultants, architects, managers, and software developers. It covers the purpose of test automation, its role across the software development lifecycle, tool selection, automation architecture, implementation, reporting, verification, and continuous improvement. Passing demonstrates knowledge of how to design and develop test automation solutions and verify that they support effective delivery and quality improvement.

Exam Topics

Introduction and Objectives for Test Automation4%
Preparing for Test Automation15%
Test Automation Architecture18%
Implementing Test Automation13%
Implementation and Deployment Strategies for Test Automation8%
Test Automation Reporting and Metrics13%
Verifying the Test Automation Solution12%
Continuous Improvement18%

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Last updated July 24, 2026 at 12:22 AM

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QuestionQ1

Introduction and Objectives for Test Automation

Which of the following is regarded as a disadvantage of test automation?

Explanation

Test automation can draw effort and attention toward building and maintaining automated checks rather than toward the primary testing objective of discovering defects. Automated tests generally provide faster feedback and reduce operator error.

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QuestionQ2

Introduction and Objectives for Test Automation

Which of the following is a key success factor for any significant automation project?

Explanation

A system under test must be designed for testability so that automated tests can reliably control it, observe its behavior, establish required states, and verify outcomes.

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QuestionQ3

Implementing Test Automation

You are a TAE responsible for a TAS used across several products, each with complex UIs. It has been decided that every radio button in one product will be changed to a checkbox; checkboxes have not previously been used in the UI.

While updating the TAS to align with this change, which TWO actions would be MOST appropriate?

Explanation

The existing function for radio buttons should be extended to handle checkboxes when the controls require related UI-interaction support, preserving reuse and minimizing duplicated automation code. All affected test scripts must also be identified so their locators, interactions, and expected behavior can be updated. A UI-control substitution does not by itself require changing the overall Test Automation Architecture or established library naming conventions.

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ISTQB Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Automation Engineering

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QuestionQ4

Test Automation Reporting and Metrics

Your TAF produces detailed test logs for each test it runs. Because data-storage capacity in the test environment is limited, after every run it is necessary to remove unneeded detail from logs for tests that passed and transfer the data that must be retained elsewhere.

What is the BEST way to accomplish this?

Explanation

A script run by the test automation tool can consistently remove unnecessary details from passed-test logs and relocate retained data after each execution. This makes the recurring retention process efficient, repeatable, and less prone to human error.

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QuestionQ5

Verifying the Test Automation Solution

Which of the following should be performed when checking the composition of the test suite?

Explanation

Checking an automated test suite includes ensuring that it is complete and is associated with the correct versions of the Test Automation Framework (TAF) and the system under test (SUT). Repeatability and newly used framework features are verified through separate activities.

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ISTQB Advanced Level Test Automation Engineer Syllabus v2016

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QuestionQ6

Continuous Improvement

You have been recruited as a TAE by a large travel agency and are now responsible for a mature TAS dedicated to functional testing of the company’s booking system, which covers flights, hotels, and packaged holidays. The application has a complex UI and extensive functionality. It is under continual maintenance and enhancement by an agile team that adds tests to the regression test suite at the end of each iteration.

The TAS supports structured scripting, implemented to a high standard with a well-managed script library and minimal code duplication. The TAA will not support more advanced scripting techniques. Although the test automation achieved so far was initially well received, it is now receiving increasing criticism. It is considered old-fashioned and poorly documented, and in particular:

test script maintenance overhead is becoming excessive because test analysts frequently want data values changed;
test analysts complain that a new test similar to an existing one, except for data values, requires a new high-level script and that they must ask a technical test analyst to create it for them;
the nightly full regression run takes a long time, and there is a risk that as more tests are added it will soon exceed the available window;
some tests fail frequently because of a slow response from the SUT;
some transactions are difficult to verify because they depend on variables that cannot be seen through the SUT UI;
the TAF UI is difficult to learn.

The SUT architect is planning a major new release and has offered to include features that enhance its testability. You already have plans to address items 1, 2, and 3 on the list, so you are now considering how to mitigate items 4, 5, and 6.

Which TWO improvements will BEST address items 4, 5, and 6?

Explanation

An event mechanism lets automation synchronize with actual SUT state changes, avoiding unreliable fixed delays when response times vary. An API that exposes internal variables provides the observability needed to verify transactions whose relevant state is not visible in the UI. ISTQB identifies SUT interfaces that provide insight into the system as a testability mechanism for observability.

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ISTQB CTAL-TAE Syllabus v2.0

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CTAL-TAE: Certified Tester Advanced Level Test Automation Engineering v2.0

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