How Do I Prepare for a Scrum.org Assessment?
Taking a Scrum.org class is a great way to prepare you for success when taking our professional assessments, but it is not a requirement. Please click here to see a list of upcoming public courses, where you can filter by course type and location.
All attendees of Scrum.org courses will receive a free password to attempt the assessment, along with the opportunity to qualify for a free retake.
However, if you feel you already have a strong grasp of the Scrum Framework, you may wish to attempt the assessment independently of the course. Below are a few resources which will help you prepare.
The Scrum Guide, authored by Scrum co-creators Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland, is the first place to start to learn about Scrum, and has been agreed upon as the definitive source of Scrum.
All Scrum.org assessments use the most recent version of the English Scrum Guide as the source for questions regarding the rules, artifacts, events, and roles of Scrum. However, reading the Scrum Guide alone is not enough for someone to pass a Professional Scrum Assessment. Questions often ask test-takers to interpret information and apply it to challenging situations, so knowledge gained from personal experience and other sources is typically needed.
You may also take the Open Assessments provided by Scrum.org. These are free practice assessments that will test your knowledge of Scrum and help to prepare you for our professional-level assessments. Please be aware, however, that the Open Assessments are study tools, and will not have the same level of difficulty as the professional-level assessments.
For more in-depth study to improve your Scrum knowledge and increase your chances of passing the assessments, we would recommend that you follow as many steps as possible on our Ways to Learn About Scrum page.
When you feel you are ready to attempt a professional-level assessment, you may read more information and purchase a password here. Please review the Standard of Conduct before taking any Scrum.org assessment.
Each password can be used for one attempt only at the corresponding assessment. When we get the order for your assessment attempt, we will process your password and send it to you within one business day.
If you pass, your name will be added to our public list of certified professionals and a certificate and badge will be added to your member profile.
How Do I Prepare for the PSM III or PSPO III?
Please note that password processing takes one full business day, and the assessment will take several weeks to be graded. Please plan accordingly.
The PSM III and PSPO III credentials are very difficult to earn. It is used to demonstrate the certificate holder’s ability to solve advanced, complex problems in real-world applications of Scrum. Anyone attempting the PSM III or PSPO III should have advanced Scrum knowledge and in-depth experience prior to taking this assessment.
Please review the Standard of Conduct before beginning any Scrum.org assessment.
Tips and Tricks for Level III Assessments
Review the feedback you received from your Level I and II assessments prior to starting the Level III assessment. Make sure to study any topics of those assessments that you struggled on as they will likely make an appearance on your assessment.
For the PSM III, practice as a Scrum Master in your own organization or anywhere that Scrum is applicable. Real world experience is invaluable on the assessment. However, be aware that if you use a variation of Scrum within your organization, many of your experiences and situations may not apply on the assessment. The assessment is graded in accordance with the 2020 Scrum Guide.
Be sure to attempt every question. No points are awarded for unanswered questions and a blank answer will affect your score more negatively than an incorrect- but honest- attempt.
Some questions may have multiple parts to them. Always read the question carefully and ensure that you have addressed each part of the question being asked. You will not get full credit for a question that you did not fully answer.
Be sure to avoid going in circles with your answers and rambling. Additionally, you want to avoid making wishy-washy statements that do not clearly state your answer.
There is no minimum or maximum answer length requirement. A longer answer is not always a better answer. Focus on what the question is asking and don’t write your way out of a good short answer.
Acronyms and abbreviations are permitted in answers. While you are urged to define these upon their first use, it is not required for common acronyms and abbreviations such as Product Backlog item (PBI).
You may want to start your assessment by providing shorter answers before going back to the end to flesh out your responses. This helps to avoid leaving any blank answers due to time constraints.
Scrum.org expects you to use language in the context of the Scrum Guide such as the exact names of Commitments. Your understanding of the Scrum Guide cannot be validated without the use of the correct terminology.
If there is a question you are struggling with, make note of the question number so you can remember to review it again before submitting your assessment. Please be aware that unlike our other assessments, the Level III assessments to not have a bookmarking feature.
The inclusion of material copied verbatim from other sources within your answers is only acceptable if in each instance you include a reference to the source of the copied material. However, a quote alone will not be a sufficient answer. Assessment takers must explain why they chose to quote other sources and explain how they feel it helps answer the question.
Here is a sample Level III question:
One of the Scrum events is the Sprint Review. How does the Sprint Review enable empiricism? What would the impact be if some members of the development team were not present?
Bad Answer:
The Sprint Review enables empiricism because people talk about what was done during the Sprint.
Why this is a bad answer:
It does not address the second part of the question and does not explain how the Sprint Review enables empiricism. It only vaguely describes what is done during the Sprint Review, which should be considered common knowledge for this higher-level assessment.
Good Answer:
The Sprint Review enables empiricism by providing an opportunity for the Scrum Team and the interested stakeholders to inspect the increment and adapt the backlog. The Sprint Review supports transparency, because everyone can see what has been produced.
If only part of the development team was present, there would be less transparency. The development team members who were not present lost the opportunity to directly hear the feedback provided during the review. Directly hearing from stakeholders increases their understanding of what the stakeholders want.
Why this is a good answer:
It answers both of the points being raised in the question. It doesn’t include a lot of unnecessary supporting information like describing what a Sprint Review is.