Accreditation practices
Accreditation panel
FISTB accreditation for a training provider is done by the accreditation panel, which consists of minimum of three persons, who do not belong to any of the training providers of FISTB. Accreditations can be done for both Finnish and English materials. As a long-term goal the accreditation panel should contain at least the same certification level than the accreditated materials.
Start of the accreditation
Training provider should deliver all needed material to the accreditation officer, who will deliver it onwards to the accreditation panel. The training provider contact shall get acknowledgment on receival of the materials and preliminary estimate of duration of accreditation. Accreditation panel completes accreditations in the order of receival, and the target schedule is about 3-4 weeks.
About materials for accreditation and needed information
Materials of the accreditation consists of ALL materials related to the course (trainer notes, student notes, exercises and exercise answers to name a few) and all possible other material. It is also important to include the agenda for the course and how the schedule matches to the syllabus. If a book is offered to the students at the connection of the training, then accreditation panel should get their copies of the book.
If there are any content missing from the accreditation, accreditation panel will contact the training provider for submitting all the needed material before continuing.
The training materials should especially contain learning objectives (LO) from K3 and upwards. These LOs require that there are also exercises, which students can complete during the course. Also for the learning objectives K2 and upwards there are programming examples, which the trainer(s) go through throughout the course. If the course is organized both as class and remote training, the course materials should clearly state, which material is used in which training method, in addition the materials must cover the whole syllabus.
NB! If the training provider changes over 5% of the accredited material, then there is need to do partial reaccreditation for the content. In partial accreditation, the process is light-weight, as only material related to the changed Learning objectives and coverage matrix are reviewed.
Results of the accreditation
Accreditation results/feedback is listed and it is delivered to the contact of the training provider and it’s shared between the accreditation panel. Accreditation panel decides based on findings whether to approve or reject the application. Accreditation officer shall inform and provide a signed version of the decision to the training provider contact. This accreditation paper includes e.g. content accredited, version, date and language. In case of rejection, causes for the rejection are reported and how to proceed further. All accredited information of the training provider and trainers is stored to the internal database of the FISTB.
FISTB informs about any major changes of the ISTQB® course syllabi via its own communication to the training providers and whether some changes require reaccreditation. The training providers get at least 6 months to update their materials. The communications will include information of the level of accreditation needed in such updates (full, partial, none). All the accreditations are valid for time being.
As stated in the accreditation forms, FISTB reserves right to evaluate training provider either by audit or by evaluating exam results.
When accreditation has been approved, FISTB sends the ISTQB® and FISTB logos to the training provider, with the instructions of the appropriate use. In short, the logos can be used appropriately with the context of the accredited course.
Previous accreditations
If material to be accredited has been accredited earlier, please remember to add to the accreditation form information whether material has been accredited earlier, by which board, when, which was the result and whether material has been changed after that (preferably add a list of changes e.g. by using diff program.)
Transfer accreditation
If a training provider has an accreditation given by another board, it can be transferred to FISTB. Check the accreditation process. As in other cases, if the transfer situation (accepted/rejected), it’ll be notified to the training provider.
Cross accreditation
If the accreditation for a particular training material or training provider has been granted by any ISTQB member board, that accreditation is also valid in Finland. However, a training provider can only be listed on the FiSTB website by agreement with FiSTB and upon payment of the applicable fee, which is agreed separately.
Partial accreditation
Partial accreditation is a light-weight accreditation, where only the material related to the changed learning objectives and coverage matrix are gone through. Send necessary material to the accreditation panel with mentioning that you are looking for partial accreditation.
Withdrawal of the accreditation
In the case that accreditation is wanted to be withdraw, the detailed reasons are documented and informed to the training provider. If required, for the training provider or a trainer can be provided a written warning for the noticed issues. If the fixes are not done in the reasonable time, training provider is removed from the list of accredited training providers and accreditation is withdrawn.
Rights and responsibilites of the accredited party
Accredited training providers are listed in the Training providers page, to mention who can organize courses in Finland and in which language. Training provider should familiarize to the detailed list of responsibilites in the accreditation form, when signing and sending the accreditation forms. Training provider can only utilize the accreditation for the approved purpose and not use in misleading manner or utilize accreditation in promoting competing sertification programs.
Accreditation process
Same accreditation process is used for both Foundation and Advanced Level accreditations in FiSTB
Process flow
Accreditation templates can be found from network drive (.zip, 381kb)
Notification about accreditation goes to FISTB board list (fistb-hallitus (at) googlegroups.com). The accreditation materials will be delivered to accreditation officer (info (at) fistb.fi)
Additional information
- Accreditation board keeps material confidential and discussion is used by accreditation board and the accreditation requestor.
- Accreditation board should include 3 persons in minimum
- Accreditation is attempted to be done in 4 full work weeks after material has been received
- People, who have comments/feedback on course accredited by FISTB, can contact Accreditation officer with their feedback and suggestions for improvement. Feedback is valuable and can be taken into account in improving accreditation and syllabus content further
Accredited Training Provider Audit and Surveillance Process
Following the granting of accreditation, FISTB may conduct audits where necessary to verify that accredited training providers (Accredited Training Providers, ATPs) continue to comply with ISTQB requirements. The purpose of these audits is to maintain the quality of training services and ensure the credibility of the accreditation program.
Key Principles of Surveillance and Audits
- FISTB may carry out periodic or need-based audits. Audits may be triggered by factors such as unusual certification exam pass rates or routine quality assurance activities.
- Audits may include the verification of trainer qualifications, the alignment of training materials with the accredited versions, and the fulfillment of course content and learning objectives.
- Audits may involve the observation of training sessions either on-site or remotely.
- Any identified non-conformities will be communicated in writing, and corrective actions may be required within an agreed timeframe.
- If required corrective actions are not implemented, or if accreditation requirements are seriously violated, the accreditation may be suspended for a fixed period or permanently withdrawn.
Annual Review
Accredited Training Providers are required to confirm their accreditation information annually. In addition, training materials must be updated and, where necessary, re-accredited whenever ISTQB publishes a new or revised syllabus.
The purpose of this process is to ensure that all training courses accredited by FISTB continuously meet international ISTQB quality standards.
