This page contains questions about the quizzes and the web site.
Mikhail: Yes, the quizzes are based on the latest Scrum Guide version. I created them in 2015, but I am tracking all the Scrum Guide changes and update the quizzes appropriately. You can find information about the corresponding Scrum Guide version in the beginning of every quiz description.
Mikhail: This is a quiz engine feature. When you press “Check” button for an “Order It” question, it always sets the answers in the correct order and marks in red the answers that were at wrong places.
So, the following happened before the situation shown at the screen shot. The user placed Sprint Retrospective as #3, Sprint Review as #4 and pressed “Check” button. The quiz engine swapped the two last answers and marked them in red.
Mikhail: What about PSM II, the certifications at Scrum.org are changing. The new PSM III is the former PSM II (essay questions + multiple choice) and the new PSM II is the former PSP (only multiple choice questions).
So, now PSM II is simpler than it was before. No more essay questions. The number of questions is just 30, but the questions are tough (think about the hardest questions in PSM I).
PSM II covers wider subject areas: additional questions from PSPO subject area and from Nexus.
Mikhail: As far as I know, the both certifications are equally recognized. However, there are some important differences:
- To get certified with ScrumAlliance it is mandatory to take their course (and pay for it). For PSM I certification no courses required, but you can take their course if you want.
- PSM I exam is harder to pass (but it is still completely manageable). PSM has 80 questions and 85% passing score whereas CSM has only 35 questions and 69% passing score.
So, there are two points to consider when you are choosing between PSM and CSM:
- Do you need a Scrum training? If yes, there is no much difference between the certifications. Look at the available trainings: location, time, reviews, opinions about specific trainer and choose the one that suits you best.
- Do you have extra money for the training (about $1000)? If not, your choice is PSM certification.
Mikhail: At the PSM I page you can find that: “Passwords have no expiration date, but are valid for one attempt only.”
So, when you pay for the exam, the next day you have a password to start the exam. The password has no expiration date.
Mikhail: I created my quiz reading the Scrum Guide and composing questions about every paragraph. So, it is pretty straightforward. It helps to study the Scrum Guide well.
However, my quiz asks nothing about applying Scrum in the real life. Questions about it I name as “second level” questions. They have no direct answer in the Guide, however if you think about it, you should be able to deduce the answer.
Fortunately, the real PSM I exam contains just a few of them. Such questions are the base for the next level PSM certifications. So, I ask people to score about 100% in the open assessments to pass the exam even if the harder questions are answered wrong.
I believe it is possible to create more “second level questions” than direct questions about the Scrum Guide. So, I cannot invent all of them and include into the quiz. However, adding 4-5 “second level” questions into the quiz looks as a good idea.
Hi Mikhail,
I was planning for PSD, can you give me some idea regarding books I need to refer?
Also provide me some links you know.
Thanks,
Romil Gandhi.
Hi Romil,
You can find a good list of books here: Suggested Reading for PSD™
As far as I understand, PSD exam shares a big portion of questions with PSM and PSPO exams. So, you can use any links and resources related to them (for example, my quizzes).
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Sorry for late reply.
Thank a lot. I will give it a try.
Also I need some support for “Scaled Professional Scrum Certification ”
I already finished NEXUS guide. But not feeling confidence as there is no mock tests. And I think only guide is not enough to clear the exam.
Can you please tell me what should I do?
Hi Romil,
Because the Nexus Guide is based on the Scrum Guide, I recommend you to study all the available PSM materials first.
So, master all the available open exams at Scrum.org. Then do the same with my PSM and Scaled Scrum quizzes.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Howdy Mikhail,
Could you please clarify on the following?
Can someone be assigned as a PO and SM on the same Scrum Team?
Hi, thanks for the question.
Scrum does not prohibit a Product Owner to be a Scrum Master too. However, it is hard to share responsibilities of the both roles. Probably, it is doable when the Product is rather small. When there are more features, developers and teams it will be harder and harder to combine the both roles by a single person.
I found a good article on the Internet about this topic.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Many thanks for the clarification and for sharing the article!!
GLee
I think one of the PSPO answer is not calculated right, I have sent ML an email hopefully it will be corrected.
Hi,
Thanks for the feedback.
It was one of the “order it” questions: https://mlapshin.com/index.php/blog/quiz-faq/#orderIt
It looks like the real quiz does not contain this type of questions. Probably, I need to re-work them into “multiple options” questions to avoid the confusion.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail,
I am preparing for PSM I:
1. Do I need to practise all Open Assessments on scrum.org?
Or Do I need to only do Scrum Open, Nexus Open and Product Owner Open assessments??
https://www.scrum.org/open-assessments
2. Do I need also need to practise the Product Owner and Scaled Scrum quizzes that you have prepared? I am already scoring 100% on your Scrum Master quiz.
Thank you so much my friend!
Jigs!
I have a simple answer, I would try all possible quizzes, especially those, available at scrum.org.
You could discover, for example, you do not completely understand the PO role or what kind of issues arise when several teams work on the same product.
Hi Mikhail, many thanks!
I’ve just passed the PSM-I exam first time (96.3) using only freely available resources and the quizzes, FAQs and comments from here and also from (scrum.org).
Both sources played a decisive role in clarifying some Scrum topics to me and, thus, achieving the certification.
As I’m not a native english speaker, it was important for me to pratice and take a complete assessment test in english,
which I got for free here.
Some questions were just identical to those I’ve came across here and there.
One advice for those who haven’t taken the exam yet: after answering all the questions,
review all of them carefully (time is enough for that!): I did that and found 3 simple questions that I answered incorrect for the 1st time, as I was a little bit nervous..
Thanks again and for sure I’ll be making a donation!!
Hi Nayara,
Congrats with passing the exam!
Thanks for sharing your experience and for the donation.
–Mikhail
Hi Nayara,
I am preparing for PSM-I exam and planning to give it probably in next week or so. Could you help me with the below questionnaire:
1. what percentage of questions were coming from the quiz
2. what is the complexity of questions which were totally new ( please explore one or more scenarios for better understanding )
3. how much time you get for reviewing after filling all of them once in a while ( 1st time )
4. what things should i keep in mind on the exam day ( like any specific topic to be highlighted with much more weight than others comparatively )
5. any other reference, you should recommend for while preparing for the same ( e-book or other set of quizzes somewhere )
Please help me in this regard.
Thanks for your comment, boosting me up little to move further confidently.
Con-grates for your certification by the way !!!
Hi sanket0685,
You can find my tips for the exam here: https://mlapshin.com/index.php/2015/09/08/psm-exam/
I would add from my side I am not affiliated with Scrum.org. So, my quiz does not contain any questions from the real exam. However, we use the Scrum Guide as the common base for the questions. It makes them similar.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Nayara,
Can you please share your journey? That is how did you do to prepare for your PSM 1 Exams. Thank you so much!
Hi Mikhail,
Who must attend the Nexus Sprint Review?
A) The PO.
B) Stakeholders.
C) All members of the Nexus.
D) Representatives of each Scrum Team in the Nexus.
My Answer would be Stakeholders and all members of the Nexus.
As nexus guide says : All individual Scrum Teams meet with stakeholders to review the Integrated Increment.
Am I right?
The Nexus Guide tells:
The Nexus Sprint Review is held at the end of the Sprint to provide feedback on the Integrated Increment that a Nexus has built over the Sprint. All individual Scrum Teams meet with stakeholders to review the Integrated Increment. Adjustments may be made to the Product Backlog.
It means all the Scrum Team members do it together with the Stakeholders: the PO, all the Scrum Masters and all the Developers.
I scored 100% in the PSM1 open assessment exam, two times in a row. I scored 97.5% in your quiz. I am about to buy the Management Plaza Exam Simulator, re-read the Scrum Guide (which I have read for 4 times over the last 2 weeks) and then take the real exam. Would be great if you help with the below:
1. Does your quiz have a variety of questions across different attempts? or they are the same in each attempt? If they are different, i will re-attempt your quiz as well 🙂
2. Should I take the PSPO / PSD open assessment (multiple times) to better my chances to score near 100% in PSM1 exam? I have been a develper myself for good 8-9 years in my career.
Hi Niranjan,
#1 No, my quiz contains the same questions every time.
#2 Taking the other open assessments and reading the explanations will definitely help because many questions are about the core Scrum concepts.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Thank you for replying within 10min! Hats off! You are awesome! :). Hope PSPO and PSD open assessment will be enough, probably 1 or 2 repetition on each?
Definitely, you need to master the PSPO mock quiz (get about 100% repeatedly).
PSD is less important because it contains some programmer-specific questions which can be omitted. However, it is worth to try it a couple of times at least.
Big THANK YOU!!!
Dinesh,
I had to delete your questions, because I believe they are copied from some resource and, probably, copyrighted.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail and others,
Some points for discussion and feedback.
As you ment here – you don’t create “hard” questions on PSM1 quiz specially… But your PSM1 quiz doesn’t contain real questions I would say – absolutely. Real exam (on the Scrum.org) has absolutely different questions.
My history:
I tried scrum.org open assessment several times 100%.
After that tried your “real” quiz 3 times in row with results 90+ 90+ 100 with a large margin of time (~30+ min).
+ Read a huge number of comments here and on scrum.org that result mentioned above is enough for Real Exame.
Started Exam on Scrum.org and suddenly faced with absolutely different questions: big questions and answers, a lot of text. You know about it according to some your comments, but why you do not want to update you quiz?
In my case – I was not be prepared to “Big questions”. I failed my try because time was up. I answered to 60 questions only and after just click random answers. It’s really different feeling of exams. I think you should note about it.
Also I didn’t face any questions from open assessment of scrum.org
I mean these simple questions like “Roles in Scrum team” or “time-box of events”.
All questions were case-questions “HOW-to-IF”. I expect may be 3-5 questions like these but not ~90%. I was really stressed.
Now I know – what Ream Exam is.
I addition I can share with you friends and Mikhail some real questions from exam.
I’m going to do it here: https://mlapshin.com/index.php/blog/scrum-questions/
Any way… thank you Mikhail. For all.
Hi Alexander,
Thanks for your feedback, it will definitely motivate all exam takers to prepare better!
The real exam consists of a large number of questions. Most of them are fairly simple ones. When I was taking the exam, I got several questions from the open quiz.
However, there is a number of harder questions (exactly as you described). I think, the authors add new questions from time to time, and the most of the new questions are complex, because it is hard to compose a new simple question and avoid repeating existing ones.
It means, that over time the relative percent of hard questions increases.
I think, questions for an exam session are selected randomly. Probably, you was not lucky and got more complex questions than others.
Composing questions that have no direct answer in the Scrum Guide is hard. Also, there is always a possibility that my understanding differs from the official point of view and I can mislead the learners.
My goal was to cover the Scrum Guide with simple questions and make sure all the main points are covered. After mastering them it should be much easier to grasp the main Scrum concepts and learn further.
Good luck in your second attempt!
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail,
The Real Exam assessment covers topics from multiple Focus Areas defined by the Professional Scrum Competencies:
https://www.scrum.org/professional-scrum-competencies
1) Understanding and Applying the Scrum Framework
Empiricism
Scrum Values
Roles
Events
Artifacts
Done
Scaling
2) Developing People and Teams
Self-Organizing Teams
Facilitation
Leadership Styles
Coaching & Mentoring
Teaching
3) Managing Products with Agility
Forecasting & Release Planning
Product Vision
Product Value
Product Backlog Management
Business Strategy
Stakeholders & Customers
4) Developing & Delivering Products Professionally
Emergent Software Development
Managing Technical Risk
Continuous Quality
Continuous Integration
Continuous Delivery
Optimizing Flow
5) Evolving the Agile Organization
Organizational Design & Culture
Portfolio Planning
Evidence Based Management™
Hi Alexander,
Thanks for sharing these topics.
As I understand, they are common for PSM, PSPO and PSD exams. However, each exam focuses more on particular areas. For example, “Managing Products with Agility” is completely a Product Owner topic, whereas “Developing & Delivering Products Professionally” mostly relates to Developers.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hello Mikhail,
Mentioned topics come from PSM 1 as you can see be the link from PSM 1 learning.
“The assessment covers topics from multiple Focus Areas defined by the Professional Scrum Competencies.”
Just click on PSM1 “learning” or “about” and you will see the topics of PSM1 Real Exam.
Anf they talk about their courses a lot everywhere… there all topics are covered.
By the way, I passed the exam yesterday. And It was easy than previous time. A lot of easy questions based on Guide.
Yes… I think Real Exam is random event. I did not get any BIG question – not more than 2 rows and the same for answers. But one was in 5 rows and really big answers but… only one.
I was really luky =)
Yes, I had questions about budgeting, CI and CD in the frames of multiple teams… what else…
But I would like to say – Reading the Scrum Guide and taking the Open Assessments alone isn’t enough preparation.
You have to read and learn about new way – new stream – SAFe because it’s a new trend and I think and see that Scrum.org uses SAFe topics in PSM1 Exam. Just learn about CI and CD, Scaled agile, work with multiple teams, Agile manifest and think as AM zealot as well as a SCRUM framework purist.
Hi Alexander,
Congrats with passing the exam!
Thanks for sharing your experience. It looks like the exam became a bit harder now.
Scrum.org does not relate to SAFe, so they won’t ask questions on this.
Check Scrum vs SAFe comparison here: https://www.scrum.org/forum/scrum-forum/17375/scrum-vs-safe
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail,
I read somewhere that there s a second attempt free for PSM1. But now when I purchased, it says the password is valid for only one attempt.
Please clarify.
Also I have a query on artifact transparency. Is it an ownership of product owner or Scrum master?
Hi Sharmila,
As far as I know, there is just one attempt for any Scrum.org exam. If you fail, you have to pay again for the second try.
I would say, the whole Scrum Team is responsible for artifact transparency.
What does “artifact transparency” mean? It means all the Scrum Artifacts (Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog and the Increment) are easily accessible and well-maintained for all the interested parties.
It is a Scrum Master responsibility to make sure the team understands importance of artifact transparency and tries to improve it.
Thanks ,
–Mikhail
Thanks Mikhail
Hi Mikhail . I passed PSM1 in my first attempt with 93.8%. Thanks to this forum for the free quiz & learning path.
Most of the questions were easy , but the trickiest was around 15% where its not straight forward
#1) PO :Left the organization mid way and then what is his primary to look out. option to be selected was two, but there were three correct as per me
–> Interacting with stakeholders
–>Ensuring the product delivered with most valuable item, always (I selected this)
–> working with development team on requirement specifications (I selected this)
#2) Estimation will be done by
–> Development team alone
–> Dvelopment team after clarification with PO (I selected this)
#3)what are all the events ( the only two thing related was)
–< Sprint review all stakeholders to attend
— Daily scrum , all must stand
#4) 100 new members identified for the project. how to organize (select two)
existing team members decide how to group
new team memebrs decide how to group
CEO to decide
Please check and tell answers so that I can be clear which I have not performed well
Hi Sharmila,
Congrats with passing the exam!
Thanks for re-formulating the questions.
#1 The Scrum Guide contains the list of PO responsibilities:
* Clearly expressing Product Backlog items;
* Ordering the items in the Product Backlog to best achieve goals and missions;
* Optimizing the value of the work the Development Team performs;
* Ensuring that the Product Backlog is visible, transparent, and clear to all, and shows what the Scrum Team will work on next; and,
* Ensuring the Development Team understands items in the Product Backlog to the level needed.
Note, the PO is also the lead facilitator of Key Stakeholder Involvement. It is not directly stated in the Scrum Guide, but it can be derived from it. This article explains it well: https://scrumcrazy.wordpress.com/2018/09/22/the-new-new-product-owner/
So, from your list I would prefer “Interacting with stakeholders” over “working on specifications”.
#2 I agree. The Dev Team gives estimations, but only after clarifying details with the PO.
#3 I do not understand the question, but can answer there is no requirement to stand during the Daily Scrum.
#4 Teams should self-organize with help from the SM and Organization side. So, I do not see a correct option in the list.
This book contains a good explanation how it should happen: Succeeding with Agile by Mike Cohn.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Thanks for the reply Mikhail
#3) what are all the events in Sprint . answers were all related to Release planning, sprint review, all standing up in daily scrum and two more irrevelant . So I chose sprint review and all standing up in Scrum. Not sure if I overlooked any other itms
#4) There was an answer like SM to decide as 4th option , but the answers to be selected is two. so I am not sure the list of answers for this
Hi Mikhaïl,
i’m confused about one question…the question is:
————
Mikhail: I had to delete the question because it was completely copy-pasted from another web site.
The question was equal to this: “What drives the Scrum Team at the Sprint Planning? Is it the Sprint Backlog, the DoD or something else?”
————
Thank you in advance,
Meriem
The Scrum Guide contains:
———–
The Sprint Planning answers the following:
* What can be delivered in the Increment resulting from the upcoming Sprint?
* How will the work needed to deliver the Increment be achieved?
The input to this meeting is the Product Backlog, the latest product Increment, projected capacity of the Development Team during the Sprint, and past performance of the Development Team. The number of items selected from the Product Backlog for the Sprint is solely up to the Development Team. Only the Development Team can assess what it can accomplish over the upcoming Sprint.
———–
As you can see, the Sprint Backlog is the result of the meeting (plus the plan how to implement it and the Sprint Goal). So, it is a wrong option.
The Definition of Done helps the team to estimate efforts required to implement every Item. It is a part of the answer, but not a complete answer.
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhaïl,
It’s by reading your answer that I understood the question ! it was formulated differently. As we say: the understanding of the question is the half of the answer.
Thank you very much for your clear explanation 🙂
Meriem
🙂
Hi Mikhail,
First of all, many thanks for the great work you’ve done. Highly appreciated!
I have a question regarding the ‘True or False’ quiz question no 9:
Category: Scrum Artifacts
All Development Teams working on the same Product should use the same Product Backlog.
Multiple Scrum Teams often work together on the same product. One Product Backlog is used to describe the upcoming work on the product.
I chose ‘False’ but it seems to be incorrect. It’s not completely clear for me, the key word here is ‘should’ I think. And the Scrum Guide says ‘Multiple Scrum Teams OFTEN work together on the same product’. Should = Often? Often means that it may or may not, but it’s not obligatory. Would you please clarify it further, maybe I’m missing here some details.
Thanks a lot!
Ramin
Hi Ramin,
Thanks for the question.
‘Multiple Scrum Teams OFTEN work together on the same product’ means that it is a common situation when a Product is big enough that several teams are working on it at the same time. In this case all the teams should use the same Product Backlog.
I hope, now it makes more sense to you 🙂
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hello,
Anyone appeared for PSM 1 exam recently i.e. Sept or Oct – 2019? I wanted to know about types of questions, are there any scenario based or Nexus Scrum related questions or something else? One of my friend could not pass the exam today and he said it was tough and quiz was not helpful for him as he gone through various quiz fr PSM 1. Now I am not confident enough as I was focusing on scrum guide and mlapshin.com quiz ONLY.
I am appearing next week so just wanted to know if anyone can suggest something?
Hi Ramdas,
For sure, you will get some scenario based questions and questions related to multiple teams working on the same Product. For example, “You are a Scrum Master in a big organization. You were asked to help to organize 100 developers into teams. What would you do?”
Focusing on the Scrum Guide and doing my PSM quiz usually is not enough. You need to master all the open Scrum.org assessments. Make sure you can pass my PSPO quiz too. Read the Nexus Guide to get an idea about scaling Scrum.
Check my preparation tips here: https://mlapshin.com/index.php/2015/09/08/psm-exam/
Read a book about Scrum. Check Scrum.org preparation tips: https://www.scrum.org/resources/suggested-reading-professional-scrum-master
Thanks,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail,
Thank you for all your effort i and dedication n maintaining this blog and guiding people who crave to do certification in SCRUM
I’ve just passed the PSM-I exam first time (96.3) using only freely available resources and the quizzes, FAQs and comments from here and also from (scrum.org). Some questions were just identical to those I’ve came across here and there. I was able to answer all scenario based questions well since I have gone through all FAQs discussions.
Also please guide me with PSPO I certification prep.
Hi Raji,
Congrats with passing PSM 1 exam!
I am glad I helped you.
Preparation for PSPO exam is similar to PSM exam preparation because both of the exams are based on the Scrum Guide.
To pass PSPO exam, you need to learn more about product owner role responsibilities. The Scrum Guide does not contain all the details how to maximize the product value. So, some additional reading is necessary. I found very useful the following article: The New New Product Owner and Evidence-Based Management Guide brochure.
Reading the Scrum Guide and these two articles was enough for me to pass PSPO I exam.
Best Regards,
–Mikhail
Hi Mikhail,
Thank you for your valuable reply. Also please suggest about any simulator exam useful for PSPO 1 and PSPO 2?
Did you try my PSPO quiz? https://mlapshin.com/index.php/scrum-quizzes/po-learning-mode/
Unfortunately, I do not have any level 2 mock exams.
PSPO1 I got it. Any prep tips you suggest for PSPO2?
PSPO II is based on the same concepts, nothing extra. However, questions are much more verbose with many verbose options. Usually, there is no direct answer in the Scrum Guide. Think about the hardest questions from PSPO I.
* Check the exam summary
* Read a book: The Professional Product Owner: Leveraging Scrum as a Competitive Advantage
* Check Scrum.org tips
* Take a course
Hi Mikhail,
I want to apply for Toptal as an Agile Product Manager. Do you know if the areas you are covering in PO tests can help me pass their test?
Anyone has experienced or some examples of the test questions?
Thanks!
Tbiz
Hi Tbiz,
I believe, after covering my PSPO test you will know more about Scrum and Agile. However, I am sure, it is not enough.
Unfortunately, I have no any experience with Toptal and their requirements.
Thanks,
–Mikhail