Today we are publishing the complete ISTQB CT-GenAI v1.1 Study Guide. ISTQB released Syllabus v1.1 on 27 April 2026. Within two weeks, our team rebuilt the entire self-study package from the ground up so candidates sitting the exam in May 2026 and beyond have material that actually matches what they will be tested on.
If you are preparing for the ISTQB Certified Tester — Testing with Generative AI (CT-GenAI) exam, the package is ready, the questions are practiced, and the price is held at the launch level of $99. The landing page is here: CT-GenAI v1.1 Study Guide.
The rest of this post explains why we rebuilt the package now, what is inside, and how the contents map to the new v1.1 syllabus chapter by chapter.
Why a v1.1 study guide had to exist before May
Three problems were obvious as soon as we started reviewing what candidates were preparing with:
- Almost every free guide online is for the older v1.0 syllabus. ISTQB shipped v1.1 in late April. Most YouTube content, PDFs, and forum threads still reference v1.0 learning objectives, sample questions, and chapter weights. Candidates studying that material walk into the exam ready for the wrong test.
- CT-GenAI is being confused with CT-AI. These are two different certifications. CT-AI covers how to test an AI system. CT-GenAI covers how testers use generative AI tools in their daily work (test analysis, design, automation, regression, monitoring). The syllabi share fewer than ten percent of their objectives. Several “CT-GenAI” guides we reviewed were actually relabeled CT-AI material.
- Generic AI tutorials do not map to ISTQB learning objectives. A candidate can spend forty hours on ChatGPT prompt-engineering articles and still fail questions on the six components of a structured prompt, the distinction between hallucinations and reasoning errors, or the role of a vector database in a Retrieval Augmented Generation pipeline. The ISTQB exam tests specific concepts in a specific way. The material has to be aligned to that.
The v1.1 syllabus is available directly from ISTQB at istqb.org. It is free, accurate, and dense, and it is a specification, not a teaching document. Our study guide fills that gap.
What is in the package
The complete package is a single download with five components:
- The 65-page CT-GenAI v1.1 Exam Guide (PDF). A book-style guide that covers all five chapters of the syllabus with worked examples, real-world scenarios from India and the USA, “Common Mistake” callouts, exam-strategy boxes, and a 42-term glossary. It is written by certified testers who have prepared candidates since 2009.
- 160+ exam-style practice questions across four sets. Pulled from recent exam patterns across the major boards (ASTQB, BCS, iSQI, GASQ, ITB, TTB, SASTQB), each set covers the full syllabus breadth. Every question has an answer key with reasoning. This is the part candidates consistently say made the difference for them.
- An audio podcast over one hour long. Each learning objective explained in plain English, designed for commute listening. Useful for revision in the final week.
- Official ISTQB materials, bundled in. The v1.1 syllabus PDF and the official sample exam paper are included so candidates do not have to hunt for them separately. These are freely available from ISTQB; we bundle them for convenience.
- The official ISTQB glossary as an HTML app. Searchable, term-by-term, usable on phone or laptop without an internet connection.
A buyer also receives 6 months of free updates if any material is revised, plus WhatsApp support for preparation questions.
How the package maps to the v1.1 syllabus
Candidates pass this exam by spending their preparation time on the chapters that carry the most marks. Below is the chapter map with the approximate exam weight, drawn from the v1.1 syllabus blueprint:
| Chapter | Topic | Time (minutes) | Approx. weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to Generative AI | 100 | ~12% |
| 2 | Prompt Engineering for Testers | 365 | ~44% |
| 3 | Risks, Bias, Privacy, Energy, Regulation | 160 | ~19% |
| 4 | Infrastructure: RAG, Agents, Fine-tuning, LLMOps | 110 | ~13% |
| 5 | Deployment, Strategy, Change Management | 80 | ~10% |
Two observations matter. First, Chapter 2 alone carries close to half the exam. A candidate who can confidently apply prompting techniques to test tasks (analysis, design, automation, regression triage) is already in a strong position. Second, Chapter 3 covers regulations that a global tester now genuinely needs to know: the EU AI Act published in Official Journal L 1689 (eur-lex.europa.eu), the NIST AI Risk Management Framework (nist.gov/itl/ai-risk-management-framework), ISO/IEC 42001, and in the Indian context the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (meity.gov.in).
The study guide treats each of these as a one-page summary with the testing implications spelled out, not as legal text.
Built for testers in India and the USA
We deliberately wrote the guide for candidates on both sides. A few examples of what that means in practice:
- Indian context: scenarios use Aadhaar consent flows, UPI fraud detection patterns, IRCTC load handling, and the DPDP Act 2023 obligations. We accept INR via UPI for Indian buyers and have WhatsApp support in IST hours. Indian candidates typically sit the exam via ITB or iSQI India.
- USA context: scenarios use HIPAA-bound healthcare data, IRS forms, and NIST AI RMF profile mapping. USA candidates typically sit the exam via ASTQB. Pricing in USD, exam fees in USD.
A test manager in Pune and an automation lead in Austin should both feel the examples speak to their working reality. That is the standard we wrote to.
The math of preparing properly
The exam itself is 40 questions in 60 minutes with a 65% pass mark. The exam fee ranges from roughly $90 to $300 depending on the board. A failed attempt means paying that fee again, and waiting weeks for a new slot. A self-study package at $99 that improves first-attempt pass probability is the most rational spend in the preparation budget.
For candidates whose employer pays for accredited classroom training (usually $1,500 to $3,500), this package still earns its place as practice material on top of the course. Several of our buyers come in that route.
Recommended preparation timeline
For a working tester with some GenAI familiarity, six weeks is the right length. The study plan inside the guide breaks down week by week. The short version:
- Weeks 1: Chapters 1 and 5 (lighter chapters, builds context)
- Weeks 2 and 3: Chapter 2 (the heavy lift, with hands-on prompting practice)
- Week 4: Chapters 3 and 4 (regulations, RAG, agents, LLMOps)
- Week 5: timed practice with all four question sets
- Week 6: final mock exam, then book the real one if scoring 75% or higher
Candidates new to GenAI should plan for 7 or 8 weeks. Candidates already using LLMs daily can compress this to 3 or 4 weeks.
How to get the package
The full package is available on the landing page at istqb.guru/ct-genai-study-guide. Payment is one-time. Delivery is by instant download. Indian buyers can pay in INR via UPI by contacting us first.
If you are not yet sure whether CT-GenAI is the right next exam for you, our companion article on CT-AI vs CT-GenAI walks through which to take first based on your role.
For everything else, our FAQ page covers exam boards, prerequisites, refund policy, and update entitlement.
We have been publishing ISTQB study materials since 2009. CT-GenAI v1.1 is the most current exam we cover. The package is ready. Time to start preparing.
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