How to pass the Professional Scrum Master I Assessment
Please note that any practice assessments offered on this site are neither created nor endorsed by Scrum.org.
The Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I) assessment is the industry-standard qualification to validate your Scrum knowledge. It contains 80 questions in 60 minutes and takes the form of a multiple-choice examination which you can access online in your browser. All of the questions are presented in English however you are able to use an external plugin to translate to a language of your choice (these are not officially offered by Scrum.org, but anecdotally Google Translate is very accurate for translating the assessment questions).
If you have attended an accredited Professional Scrum Master class with Optilearn or another provider, you will have been provided with a free code to take the assessment. We recommend you use this code within the first 14-days as should you fail, you will automatically be issued with a second attempt, free of charge. If you purchase an assessment code directly from Scrum.org, it does not expire and you can take it whenever you choose. There is no requirement for this examination to be proctored, nor no requirement for a webcam to record you whilst taking it.
The focus areas covered in the assessment are:
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- Understanding and Applying the Scrum Framework:
- Empiricism, Scrum Values, Scrum Team, Events, Artifacts, Done
- Developing People and Teams:
- Self-Managing Teams, Facilitation, Coaching and Mentoring
- Managing Products with Agility:
- Forecasting & Release Planning, Product Value, Product Backlog Management, Stakeholders & Customers
Now, you’re obviously here because you are trying (or considering) to pass the Professional Scrum Master I and we want to provide you with our top tips to improve your chance of success:
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- Attend an accredited Scrum.org Professional Scrum Master I class. It will cover all of the content you will need to apply in the exam.
- Complete the learning path offered for free by Scrum.org here.
- Complete the Scrum Open mock assessment offered for free by Scrum.org here. These are real, representative questions, so complete it multiple times until you can score 100% consistently.
- Take our free SM I assessment with more practice questions which provides alternative questions than you might find elsewhere. These questions are designed to support PSM I study.
- Take our paid SM I bundle of even more practice questions that will cover all of the assessment topics from the real examination. This offers 00s of questions to help you prepare. These questions are designed to support PSM I study.
- Read and annotate the Scrum Guide. Pay close attention to the terminology used and the underlying reasoning behind it. Consider creating a study group to quiz each other on the framework.
- Read Mastering Professional Scrum by Stephanie Ockerman and Simon Reindl. It is concise and clear and will even prepare you well for the next two advanced certifications (PSM II and PSM III).
- Reach out to Scrum Masters in your professional network for a conversation about Scrum. Practice talking about the Scrum Guide with them and deepen your understanding. There are an increasing amount of meet-ups and Discord channels available to do this but the two we recommend are ‘Scrum Masters of the Universe Meetup’ and ‘Mastering Agility Discord’.
- Create short videos on the Scrum Framework for yourself. Practicing concise explanations and sharing information will help you to embed your learning. You don’t even need to share the videos! The process will still help you.
- Try it. Scrum is an empirical framework meaning we gather evidence and adapt. Don’t feel like you need to over-study. If you think you’re ready, give the assessment a go; you might surprise yourself!
Some of these tips above might resonate with you, and some might not – that’s okay. Everyone learns in different ways. Whenever you feel ready to attempt the assessment, we recommend you follow the link provided in the Scrum.org email that contains the code (there will be a link straight to the assessment). Ensure you have a quiet space, a stable internet connection, a drink and a pen and paper ready. On average, you will have 45 seconds per question which may not seem a lot, but you will likely find that many questions only take a few seconds. Utilise the ‘flag’ tool in the top right to highlight any questions you aren’t sure about because at the end, you can view any questions flagged to return to them quickly.
Our final piece of advice is to remember that this examination can only assess Professional Scrum as written in the Scrum Guide. The context at your organisation and any ‘realities’ you think might impact your answer should be put to one side, allowing you to provide an answer that is in-keeping with Scrum theory.
We wish you the best of luck with this assessment, and look forward to supporting your journey towards becoming PSM I accredited however we can. If you have any additional needs with respect to taking online assessments, we recommend you contact support@scrum.org regarding your circumstances so that they can examine your individual case and make adjustments accordingly.
Practice assessment
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By Ryan Brook
