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Study Guide for Professional Scrum Master Certification

Home > Helpful Resources > Study Guide for Professional Scrum Master Certification

Study Guide for Professional Scrum Master Certification

From the Home of Scrum

To be effective, Scrum Masters need to have a rock-solid understanding of the practices and values of Scrum. The Professional Scrum Master (PSM) assessments allow people to validate and certify their understanding of those practices and values, and how they would respond to situations that challenge them.

Assessment Details

Passing score: 85%
Time limit: 60 minutes
Number of Questions: 80
Format: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer and True/False
Difficulty: Intermediate
Language: English only
Required course: None
Recommended courses:Applying Professional Scrum (APS) Course with Certification, Professional Scrum Master (PSM) Course with Certification
Practice Assessment: Scrum Open
Other research: PSM Subject Areas

Passwords have no expiration date, but if you take the assessment within 14 days of the class and are not successful, you will receive a second attempt included.

Table of Contents

Professional Scrum Master I Assessment

The assessment is difficult; preparation is required to achieve a passing score. Reading the Scrum Guide and taking the Open Assessments alone isn’t typically enough preparation and we recommend reviewing the content below:

  • The assessment covers topics from multiple Focus Areas defined by the Professional Scrum Competencies.
  • Many questions ask you to think about or interpret the meaning from the Scrum Guide and how you would apply Scrum within a Scrum Team.
  • The PSM I Suggested Reading lists the Focus Areas from which questions may be selected during the assessment. 
  • The Scrum Master Learning Path contains many additional resources to help you prepare to take the PSM I Assessment. 

PAL-E 1 Assessment Token

    • Within 1-3 business days, you will receive your PSM-1 assessment token from support@scrum.org.
    • If you did not receive the mail and cannot find it in your spam folder please e-mail me and cc support@scrum.org .
    • Please read the e-mail carefully and note down the cut-off time for your risk-free attempt.
    • Please complete your first attempt at the assessment before this cut-off time. You have nothing to lose! Even if you fail, you will get another free attempt that never expires.
  1. PSM-1 ASSESSMENT PREP:
    1. AGILE FUNDAMENTALS:
    2. SCRUM FUNDAMENTALS:
      1. Read the Scrum Guide (2017 version) thoroughly and understand…
        • What is required (mandatory, non-negotiable element – ex. 3 roles, 5 events, 3 artefacts) for Scrum
        • What is suggested for Scrum (ex. Backlog refinement)
        • What is the mindset for Scrum ( Empirical Principles and Scrum Values )
        • There are many complementary practices like User Stories that are commonly used in the industry, but are intentionally neither mentioned in the Scrum Guide nor are they mandated for Scrum
      2. Read The Scrum Glossary to get an overview of Scrum-related terms 
      3. Read the Professional Scrum Developer glossary to get an overview of terms specific to Agile Software Delivery with Scrum
      4. Read this page on What is Scrum & watch the video on Scrum Values
      5. Read the book Agile Project Management with Scrum By Ken Schwaber
      6. Read the blog – 80 Shades Of Grey – Top 10 Tips To Navigate The Ambiguities Of Scrum & Prepare For The Scrum.Org Psm-1 Assessment

Take the free practice Scrum Open Assessment repeatedly until you score 100% consistently

Blogs and Articles

Scrum Values (Download the Poster)

Scrum Roles

Scrum Events:

Articles, Videos, and Podcasts

Books

Practice

  • Take the Scrum Open Assessment until you are comfortable with the content. The Scrum Open assessment is a learning tool, and thus feedback is provided during the test.
  • You may also find it valuable to take the Scrum Developer Open Assessment and the Product Owner Open Assessment as a way to gain additional perspective on the other roles of a Scrum Team.
  • Apply Scrum in your workplace. As you do, stop to reflect on whether you’re taking advantage of all the opportunities that the Scrum framework offers, or if you’re using ScrumBut.
  • Be conscious of your decisions as you adapt and evolve with projects complexity and team member’s old habits. Think about why Scrum is structured the way it is, and how the Scrum framework differs from traditional management practices.

OUR TEAM

We believe that every company deserves high quality software delivered on a regular cadence that meets its customers needs. Our goal is to help you reduce your cycle time, improve your time to market, and minimise any organisational friction in achieving your goals.

naked Agility Limited is a professional company that offers training, coaching, mentoring, and facilitation to help people and teams evolve, integrate, and continuously improve.

We recognise the positive impact that a happy AND motivated workforce, that has purpose, has on client experience. We help change mindsets towards a people-first culture where everyone encourages others to learn and grow. The resulting divergent thinking leads to many different ideas and opportunities for the success of the organisation.

 

OUR TEAM

We believe that every company deserves high quality software delivered on a regular cadence that meets its customers needs. Our goal is to help you reduce your cycle time, improve your time to market, and minimise any organisational friction in achieving your goals.

naked Agility Limited is a professional company that offers training, coaching, mentoring, and facilitation to help people and teams evolve, integrate, and continuously improve.

We recognise the positive impact that a happy AND motivated workforce, that has purpose, has on client experience. We help change mindsets towards a people-first culture where everyone encourages others to learn and grow. The resulting divergent thinking leads to many different ideas and opportunities for the success of the organisation.