CBAP Certification | How to prepare, what to expect, and how to pass
Sharing insights on successfully passing the CBAP certification exam for Business Analysts. As a bonus, I’m sharing my checklist that helped me with resolving exam tests (applicable to CCBA as well)
Target Audience of this article
It will be most beneficial for Business Analysts who already know why they need CBAP and what the official recommendations are. They just need more information on what to expect during the exam, how to approach tests, and how to optimize preparation.
This article covers:
- Bits of advice to make the preparation experience more structured and smooth. It’s my personal experience, which my colleagues have successfully applied, and I hope you will find it useful as well.
- What to expect from the CBAP tests and checklist that helps with resolving tests.
This article doesn’t cover:
- Certification requirements and registration (follow the official handbook for that).
- Recommendations on additional preparation methods such as courses and study groups (no paid advertisements included, yet 😆)
Preparation | Theory and Practice
#1. Read and apply BABOK practices
Read BABOK for the first time to understand the structure and overall concepts (if you haven’t read it yet).
Read it again to comprehend why it is composed the way it is, draw parallels to your work, and try to implement the techniques and frameworks that apply to your work. Alternatively, to a second read of BABOK, you may read the CBAP Certification Study Guide.
Emphasize understanding rather than memorization, as the true value of this certification lies in comprehending why BABOK is structured as it is and applying best practices to your work. BABOK helps to structure business analysis knowledge in your head, and you will see how your job-specific tasks align with the framework.
By memorizing without understanding you will not gain a real, tangible value from this certification, and you may fail your exam. E.g., you should have a common understanding of why ‘Needs’ and ‘Confirmed Elicitation Results’ (at least some elicitation results) are required as input to Current State Analysis (BABOK 6.1). Or why you shouldn’t provide for approval requirements that are not verified (BABOK 7.2).
Avoid turning your preparation into a ‘memorizing every page’ challenge or an ‘I know 50+ mnemonics’ contest…
⚠️ Instead, I would recommend focusing on understanding and knowing the following items:
- BA concepts, requirements types, stakeholders types (basically key concepts from Chapter 2);
- Knowledge areas, tasks, elements: their purpose, and core inputs/outputs that form dependencies between tasks (at least major ones);
- Lists that are significant to BA activities (e.g., common types of elicitation; requirements relationship types; prioritization factors; impact analysis; requirements model categories; characteristics of requirements and design quality; increase solution value recommendations; non-functional requirements list, etc.);
- Techniques, their pros/cons, and applicability (the most helpful knowledge to pass the exam).
Even though you may find the following distribution of Knowledge Areas in the CBAP Exam Blueprint on IIBA site, I wouldn’t recommend concentrating mostly on Requirements analysis and design definition knowledge area. As this distribution says nothing about techniques, relations between knowledge areas, and understanding BABOK as an integral framework. You would have an unplesent surprise during CBAP if you concentrated primarily on one area.
#1.2. You may look for some custom diagrams or BABOK flashcards for building structures in your head if such type of learning is effective for you.
#1.3. Explore available courses, and study groups that help with preparation for the exam, if group learning is your thing. I have heard a lot of positive feedback about courses but I haven’t tried them, therefore I can’t provide a recommendation.
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#1.4. Look for videos, articles, and blogs where BAs share their experience to have a broader perception of the CBAP passing experience.
#2. Simulation Tests
Once you understand the BABOK’s structure, core dependencies, tasks in each area, and the applicability of techniques, proceed to simulation tests. Maybe even sooner. Do not hesitate with the tests, as they will help you a lot with understanding what BA areas require your attention. You will discover BABOK from another perspective after taking several simulation exams.
I would recommend using Watermark tests (despite some minor inconsistencies that can occur in answers) as Watermark provides BABOK-referenced explanations in answers. You may also consider other providers (e.g., Techcanvass).
Recommendations on approaching simulation tests:
- Take a full-scale 3.5-hour Simulation test that gives you ‘realistic exam practice’ (spoiler alert: real exam questions are slightly different and some case studies are more complicated, more about it later).
- Try to simulate a real exam, adhering to timing, without distractions, and any additional help (as you might have a temptation to take a glance at the right answer). You will be more prepared and decrease the risk of losing focus during real exam.
- Review your results with BABOK-referenced explanations. Both wrong and right answers are equally important to analyze. I consider such a review as the most effective way to cover knowledge gaps. Since you are not just exploring BABOK, you look for particular answers, to the essence of ‘why?’.
- Use a notebook or notes app to jot down areas that you want to remember. I carried a 30-page notebook that I filled in with different lists, concepts, and techniques applicability that I have derived from my answers in Watermark tests. And it was the best way to highlight weak areas that I had to cover more zealously. Moreover, it was the best solution for recalling everything in one week before the exam.
I took about 8 full-scaled simulation tests to feel ready for the exam, gradually improving the correct answers rate from 60% to 80% in the last 3 attempts. Of course, I didn’t feel extremely confident but I decided that completing several more simulation tests wouldn’t improve my CBAP exam readiness significantly.
From what I have researched 80–85% rate of correct answers in the Watermark simulation test should be enough to attempt a real exam.
Unfortunately, no one will tell you the passing score for CBAP. I guess they have some complex way of counting results considering that they summarize your final results per each knowledge area with a ‘Higher, Comparable, Lower’ resolution.
Exam
Before the Exam
Before the exam, prioritize rest and keep your brain fresh by getting enough sleep, meditating, going for a walk… up to your preferences. Taking into account the number of questions and complexity it’s better to preserve the brain's capacity for analyzing exam questions rather than memorizing more terms.
You may feel more confident and ready if you review your notes several days before the exam, just to recall what areas required your attention.
Maintain a positive mindset and consider the “What’s the worst that can happen?” approach if you feel too much anxiety. Realizing that even if you fail, you will have a second attempt and be more prepared will help you to feel less anxious. Believe me, the ‘failing scenario’ thought will bother you during the exam. Try to deal with it ahead of the exam, or at least mitigate it as much as you can.
If given the option, consider taking the exam in the exam center to mitigate risks related to poor internet connection, laptop issues, or other external factors. Though online exam has its benefits, you may feel more comfortable and confident at home or in the office meeting room.
I have passed online, as there was no opportunity to pass in the exam center. I recommend you arrange a substitute laptop if possible. I wouldn’t recommend using a corporate laptop with enabled security controls, as it may fail the validation process, even if it passes the System Compatability Check of the proctoring provider. I had such a situation, not a pleasant experience 20 minutes before the exam. Fortunately, I borrowed a substitute laptop beforehand.
Follow IIBA’s recommendations and guide for the proctored exam. Keep your doors closed, a place quiet, space clean, follow the proctor’s instructions and you are good to go.
During the Exam
Expect CBAP questions to be slightly different from the simulation exam. More than 30% of Watermark tests rely on BABOK memorization (particular phrasing, definitions, wording… e.g., what techniques are not utilized in Approve Requirements Task?) Real exam has less than 5% of such questions.
Let me share more details (just to the extent that the IIBA Code of Conduct allows me to share).
➡️ The first 45–50 out of 120 questions are related to case studies. They are rather complicated. Several paragraphs with relevant (and not relevant to questions) information, diagrams that may reference BA techniques, and tables as input for calculations.
Some case studies may require financial calculations (e.g., ROI, Total Cost of Ownership, Payback period, or PERT estimation) but mostly you will need to apply generic mathematical calculations (average, sum, proportions).
Compared to the Watermark simulation exam, CBAP case studies require more calculations, and some case studies are more packed with information.
➡️ The rest 70 questions are scenario-based questions that require some thought and application of knowledge to the scenario.
As I have already mentioned understanding key concepts, techniques applicability, knowledge areas, tasks, elements, and lists will help you a lot with these questions.
Let me share with you several topics that I referenced during the exam, just to give you a hint on a variety of themes (without excessive details to comply with the IIBA code of conduct): factors of prioritization; risk treatment approaches; prototyping applicability; focus groups vs. workshops; improve access to information vs. increase efficiency; necessity vs. effort traceability relationships; non-functional requirements; requirements modeling formats; how to pick analysis approach; observation applicability.
Be prepared that scenarios may not use terminology from BABOK: instead of asking you regarding inputs to ‘approve requirements’, there might be a question on ‘confirming feature requests’.
However, I would even say that CBAP scenario-based questions I preferred more than Watermark simulation questions. As for me, CBAP questions were more logical and work-related. Let me cite IIBA regarding questions proficiency:
The exam questions test at proficiency level 3. Candidates at this level are expected to have expert knowledge and skill where they actively provide insights to situations and challenges within their domain, are sought after to provide guidance and can easily apply their expertise to complex, unstructured challenges and opportunities.
Regarding timing:
- I have heard recommendations to start covering scenario questions first, and case studies later. I didn’t follow this recommendation, as I prefer tackling more complex tasks first as I have more thinking capacity at the start.
- Don’t get stuck for too long on questions. Pick the most suitable answer, mark it with a flag, and proceed to the next question.
- Keep track of time! 12 minutes for 1 case study with 3–4 questions are acceptable, as they require more time than scenario questions. Just don’t get stuck for 15+ minutes for 1 case study, pick the most suitable answers, and continue, maybe you will have time to get back to them.
✅ My checklist for dealing with tests
I have prepared it during practicing simulation exams as I have found it difficult to maintain attention and mental clarity for 3.5 hours straight.
I just needed some cheat sheet as a reminder on how to analyze and solve tests in a structured manner, especially when I felt stuck. Applying this approach to simulation exams helped me a lot on the CBAP exam. Hope you will find it useful as well.
This is the first version of this article and I haven’t covered every detail regarding preparation and exam that might be valuable to you. That is why I encourage my readers to comment on this article. I promise to answer your questions and update the article along the way.
