Lead QA & Architect course, ISTQB CTAL-TM prep

Lead testing end to end: process, context and stakeholders, risks, strategy, process improvement and tools (CTAL-TM syllabus, chapter 1). Each session lasts 2 h.

Week 1 — The test process

• S01 — The role of the test manager and the lead QA: responsibilities, deliverables, positioning
• S02 — Test planning: activities, test plan, entry and exit criteria
• S03 — Test monitoring and control: track, correct, decide
• S04 — Test closure: final report, lessons learned, archiving
• S05 — Workshop: the test plan of a demo project

Week 2 — The testing context

• S06 — Testing stakeholders: who expects what, and why knowing them matters
• S07 — Managing testing in sequential, agile and hybrid models
• S08 — Test management by level: component, integration, system, acceptance
• S09 — Management by test type: functional, performance, security, accessibility
• S10 — Workshop: stakeholder mapping and choice of test activities

Week 3 — Risk-based testing

• S11 — Testing as risk reduction; identifying quality risks
• S12 — Assessing risks: likelihood, impact, risk matrix
• S13 — Reducing risk through testing: priorities, depth, techniques
• S14 — Risk-based testing techniques; success indicators and difficulties
• S15 — Workshop: facilitate a risk analysis session

Week 4 — Strategy, improvement, tools

• S16 — Project test strategy: approach, context, test objectives
• S17 — Improving the test process: the IDEAL cycle, model-based and analytical approaches
• S18 — Useful retrospectives: prepare, facilitate, follow up on actions
• S19 — Test tools: introduction, selection, return on investment, lifecycle, metrics
• S20 — Competency gate P1: graded project test strategy + CTAL-TM syllabus quiz (ch. 1)

Design the architecture of a test automation framework, cover APIs, data and environments, integrate it into CI/CD, then frame the role of AI and the governance of tooling (outside the CTAL-TM syllabus). Each session lasts 2 h.

Week 5 — Automation strategy

• S21 — The test pyramid: what to automate, and at which level
• S22 — The business case for automation: costs, gains, return on investment
• S23 — Framework architecture: layers, Page Object, fixtures, configuration
• S24 — Playwright at scale: projects, parallelism, reports, traces
• S25 — Workshop: architecture review of an existing framework

Week 6 — APIs, contracts, data, environments

• S26 — API testing and contract testing
• S27 — Test data: generation, anonymization, GDPR
• S28 — Test environments: containers, ephemeral environments
• S29 — Service stubs and virtualization
• S30 — Hands-on: a UI + API framework on a demo application

Week 7 — CI/CD

• S31 — Continuous integration (GitHub Actions): stages and quality gates
• S32 — Flaky tests: detection, quarantine, causes
• S33 — Parallelization, execution time and CI cost
• S34 — Continuous delivery and testing in production: progressive deployment, feature flags
• S35 — Maintainability: test code review, conventions, technical debt

Week 8 — AI and governance

• S36 — The role of AI in testing: generation, assistance, limits
• S37 — Testing an AI-based system: specific risks
• S38 — Tooling governance and tool selection
• S39 — Documenting the architecture and decisions (ADRs)
• S40 — Competency gate P2: test automation architecture dossier + CI demonstration

Measure and report, estimate and track defects, develop the test team, then defend the cost and value of quality in front of decision makers (CTAL-TM syllabus, chapters 2 and 3). Each session lasts 2 h.

Week 9 — Metrics and reports

• S41 — Test activity metrics
• S42 — Monitoring, controlling and closing with metrics
• S43 — Test reports tailored to each audience
• S44 — Delivery indicators (DORA), coverage, escaped defects
• S45 — Hands-on: a quality dashboard

Week 10 — Estimation and defects

• S46 — Estimating test activities; factors that influence effort
• S47 — Choosing an estimation technique: metrics-based or expert-based
• S48 — The defect lifecycle and cross-cutting management
• S49 — Defect management in agile and hybrid models
• S50 — Defect reports and process improvement actions

Week 11 — The test team

• S51 — Team skills: four areas, needs analysis
• S52 — Assessing and developing skills
• S53 — Management skills; what motivates and demotivates a team
• S54 — Hiring: job description, interview, technical test
• S55 — Onboarding and coaching: mentoring, skills development plan

Week 12 — Stakeholders and Capstone

• S56 — The cost of quality
• S57 — Cost-benefit of testing and the business case
• S58 — Presenting to decision makers
• S59 — Capstone preparation
• S60 — Competency gate P3: dashboard, team plan and presentation to decision makers

Two days of intensive preparation for the official exam: structured syllabus review by area, exercises, mock exams with commented answers, strategy and time management.

You receive a real case provided by ADC and deliver a complete lead QA approach: risk-based test strategy, test automation architecture, estimation, dashboard and team plan, presented at the defense. The defense, in front of a panel of three including an external testing professional, is about justifying your choices: why this strategy, which architecture, which estimate, which team plan, and why.

• Assessment rule: a simple approach that is understood and defensible beats an unmastered pile of tools.

Full-time follows the same structure as our 399 h Test Automation & AI QA Tester path: 371 h of virtual-classroom training, 14 h of individual support and assessments, and 14 h of preparation for the ISTQB CTAL-TM exam. Sessions S01 to S60 above are covered again in greater depth, with supervised workshops every afternoon.

A seven-hour day

• 9:00 – 10:30 am — Concepts and demonstration
• 10:45 am – 12:30 pm — Guided workshop
• 1:30 – 3:30 pm — Independent workshop on a company case
• 3:45 – 5:00 pm — Review, correction, wrap-up

Each block ends with a competency gate or contributes to one; same ADC certificates, same Capstone and same ISTQB CTAL-TM exam as the evening classes.