Passes PSM1 with 93.8% First Attempt (Experience Share + Tips)

Sean, just one question: have you really used all these sites to prepare for certification or not?))

@Alfredo, yes. Actually, I used/read a lot more.

I just followed the study summary provided by @Kuntesh and passed.  Thank you everybody who contributed to this thread.

Hello all, 

I just passed with 98.8 % after 3 days preparation:

1. Reading Scrum Guide couple times 

2. Open Assessment form Scrum.org (until I scored above 95%)

3. https://www.volkerdon.com/, Test Mock exam ( ~16$)  

I had no Nexus related questions , however it's still worth going through the guide.

Thanks to all for sharing your experience and thoughts 

hi all,

All the guidance provided in this forum was very helpful in PSM-1 prep.

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. I could pass PSM-1 in first attempt with 95%

Thanks

Sandhya

I recently took my PSM I Exam and I was able to achieve 95% score.

One hour window seemed too small for 90 questions, specially with initial descriptive questions.

After about 15 mins passed, questions became easier and quick. I could go back to my marked questions and think again.

I was expecting about 90% but surprisingly got 95%.

My guidance to those who want to become PSM I certified, following instructions should help:

1. Study SBOK (Scrum Book of Knowledge) for a least couple of times.

2. Study Scrum.org Guide thoroughly and take the test exam.

3. Study other freely available quiz.

Good Luck !

Hello Everyone , 

Yesterday I passed the PSM 1 Certification with 91.3% . So, I think i will also share my experience with everyone.

In order to prepare for PSM-1 , there are 3 simple guidelines which i think everyone has to follow.

First and Foremost thing is to read the SCRUM GUIDE , Not only read it but understand each sentence of it because every sentence has some hidden meaning , which you can understand it when you go through it thoroughly.I know it's not something new but it is the real key to the success.

After knowing scrum theory , next step is to go through the questions - answers , mock tests i would like to especially mention MPLAZA  for this. I would rather suggest you to purchase it. This will help a lot.Go through with only those questions - answers which carry specific reason , why option A is correct and others are wrong. So,in that way you are making your concepts strong.

Don't get overfit or underfit , try to be a bestfit.

Third when giving exams , check your internet connection properly. Make sure internet connection is strong and keep some chocolates and a glass of water with you. And be positive , while giving exam don't think too much , just concentrate on giving best response to each question.

When I first started learning Agile , Scrum I made my starting from one of the udemy course.So, in my case that also plays a major role.

All the best to everyone who are looking for SCRUM MASTER CERTIFICATION.

Thanks

NIdhi B.

I'll share my experience!

I passed yesterday with 98,8%, a pretty good score! My preparation was:

• Scrum.org PSM Open Assesment

• Scrum.org PSPO Open Assesment

• MLapshin test in Real Mode

• Scrum Master Mock Exam - Volkerdon (paid resource)

I made each of those assesments 6 times, recording my scores. Every time I studied where I was bad, and next time I usually got better grades. I read the Scrum Guide around 5 times, and I wrote a lot of notes to help my mind to record those things.

Hope it helps!

Thank you for all suggestions here. I have passed PSM1 - 1st attempt 92.5%. 

Once again thank you for very useful suggestions.

This forum thread helped me pass my PSM 1, so I too am adding a concise list of the things that helped me and how I prepared.

1. I've worked in Agile/Scrum environments since 2014, utilisng Kanban and Scrum primarily.
2. Since October 2020 I started studying the Scrum Master Learning Path and other materials linked there.
3. I passed in early December 2020 with 97.5%.
4. Using about 4 hours of 4 consecutive days, I used the following resources to prepare for the exam.

• Scrum Open Assessment (free)
• Mikhail Lapshin's Scrum Quizzes (free)
• Volkerdon's free PSM prep course (free)
• Volkerdon's $16 mock exams and mock exam simulator ($16)
• Nexus, Product Owner, Developer, Scrum with Kanban, Agile Leadership and Agile Measurement Open assessments.

As other people have mentioned, I recommend seeing as many questions as you can, and get around 90-100% after a few attempts. 

The two things that helped me the most where:

1. Seeing a variety of differently (sometimes poorly) worded questions, which prompted me to think harder about the application of Scrum.
2. Don't overwork yourself, and get all the sleep you need.

Good luck to those of you taking the test now, and after the 2021 changes!

Hi,

Concerning the simulator and the quizzes of VOLKERDON,  I find that there are many questions with answers considered correct while it is incorrect.

I do not recommend using Volkerdon.

I fully agree with Ahmed. The only worse thing than not learning enough is learning from the wrong source for the exam.

Unfortunately, Mikhail Lapshin's Scrum Quizzes is limited with questions, SCRUM open assessments even more but I really enjoy https://www.examtopics.com/exams/scrum/psm-i/ which is also free but with continuous captcha per page.

There are also some mistakes but to every question is discuss option where users pointing them. Mplaza also looks ok.

GL!

Hello all,

I am happy to inform you that I passed the PSM1 exam this evening with 96.3%  :-)

I decided to take the exam after completing an 'Agile management with scrum' course on Udemy, even though it wasnt soley focused on PSM1. 

I also utlised the following in my preparations: 

• scrum.org's PSM1 learning path
• scrum.org's PSM1 open assessment (I also too their PSPO, Nexus & Kanban OA's)
• M Lapshin's practice tests as they were still based on the 2017 guide

All in all, it took me less than a month, due to work and family commitments.

Thank you for all here who mentioned best way to prepare for PSM 1 Exam 

I am currently preparing to take the PSMI and followed most of suggestions .will update soon about exam day 

Hi All!

Paid Mplaza mock tests or paid volkerdon tests, which are more close/accurate to the real ones

If anyone could guide that would be wonderful.

Dear Community,

I would like to take this opportunity to share that I have passed the PSM1 assessment on first attempt!

The assessment was quite tricky I must admit!

I am indebted to all the valuable inputs shared by each one of the amazing members of this community.

I will not repeat my preparation plan as it is identical to what has been already posted in this forum.

Instead I would like to share three points for aspirants in order of importance:

1. Take the Scrum Open and Product Owner Open assessments till the time you start scoring 100% in each try on both.

2. Most of the Free Mock exams (including https://mlapshin.com/index.php/scrum-quizzes/) in the internet are obsolete and have not been updated as per the Scrum Guide revision 2020

3. Do not try to Google for answers as :

• Time will not permit
• Many websites have posted incorrect answers by random people with no/limited knowledge in Scrum.

Warm Regards,

Abhirup

I took the exam yesterday and passed! 

My study tips:

1. Scrum Guide, of course.
2. Then try the Open and see how you do. It will show you the gap between what is explicit and  implicit in the Scrum Guide. It's an incredibly densely packed document.
3. Review answers you got wrong AND answers you got right. The feedback and explanations are really helpful.
4. Take the Opens for Product Owner, Developer, Agile Leadership, Kanban, Nexus, and EBM. Review explanations and feedback.
5. Read the guides for Scrum with Kanban, Nexus, and EBM. Read the Agile Manifesto.
6. Read everything in the recommended reading for the PSM I. It's a LOT of tabs.
7. Take all the Opens until you consistently get 100% on Owner, Master, and Agile Leader, at least 90% on Kanban, Nexus, and EBM, and at least 85% on Developer. The Scrum Master is a master. They should be able to understand Scrum from every angle.
8. Read the Scrum Guide again and try to apply it to everything you've learned.
9. Then look at the Scrum Glossary and make sure you know all the definitions on sight.

I would not trust practice exams or reading material offered outside the scrum.org domain unless they are hyperlinked on the reading lists.

The parts that were hard for me were deciding best practices to apply theory to real-world problems. Sometimes the answer I would have chosen in theory was not given as a possible answer. For these questions, I recommend getting really intimate with agile, empiricism, and Scrum principles and values. Don't just memorize definitions. Breathe them.

I loved studying for the exam. It was a blast! If this stuff doesn't make you wanna get up and dance, I don't know what you're doing here.

Good luck studying! Good luck on the exam!

Hi All,

These are some tips from my end to clear the exam in one go and that to in record time.

1) Read the scrum book at least 4- 5 times

2) Do read this wonder full book by Nader K. Rad - The Scrum Master Training Manual. Go through this at least 3 times 

3) Take as many mock test as you can ( I would recommend Mikhail Lapshin & MPlaza)

4) Keep making a note of all questions and then go through all the questions and their answers at least 4-5 times, this will help you gain control over completion timing. I have created an Mircrosoft Document with all the question I have got in mock test, they are more than 300, you can do the same. As while preparing the document it is subconsciously helping you do the revision

5) Purchase the scrum master exam voucher only, when you are scoring consistently above 98% in mock test.

With this you will be able to not only score good marks but you will be also able to complete it in a record timing. 

Wish you all the very best

Hello everyone,

Thanks for your input. Most of the best advice has been mentioned..so assuming you have read those. This can give you an edge..

One important piece is that a number of questions (usually a smaller number) ask you about how you would handle real life situations.

My advice is not only to master the scrum guide but also get some real life practice in if possible. If you have not started using scrum yet try and become an observer at the scrum events or even ask to partake if possible. Most real life situations come down to keeping it simple and sticking to the rules in the scrum guide. If you can have a great understanding and memory of these rules (by practice if possible) you will more easily be able to answer the PSM I "real life" situational questions, get the edge and get a higher pass rate.

All the best.

Paul.

Hi all,

I wanted to reach as many people as possible on scrum.org thus I wanted to post my message here in this thread too. I need your help with a research.

I am Serpil Meto. I am a project manager and I am researching the project stakeholder satisfaction in failed projects in NL-based companies as a part of my MBA graduation thesis at Maastricht School of Management. This is a first for Netherlands on this topic and will be a basis for future project research endeavors.

Thus, I would be glad if you could send my survey in the below link to your Netherlands-based members. The survey takes less than 5 minutes to complete.

Kind regards

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfu4HKXStYqMhaCfRUbA5rjdKvG3cn8XLRCBPX4Oz9njmo5wg/viewform?usp=sf_link

I would say that if you have to ask that question, then you probably are not ready sub-consciously. 

I would recommend that you run through the SM learning path and then re-evaluate your confidence on the subject matter. 

I've gone through a couple of mock tests for practice purposes but what helped me a lot is reading the scrum guide and writing down what I considered useful on a sheet of paper on the side. I did this a couple of times and it helped to keep them in mind once I went to do the real exam. I knew my notes by heart, muscle memory. I passed it with a 90% score.

I just passed today with score 90,

the question is really tricky, they change the words like developers with cross-functional teams. You really need to understand how the scrum happens daily.

Guide :

as usual, read and understand Scrum guide. Imagine you are the scrum master and work for project. You will face challenges.

dump test : PSM™ I Exam Simulator (2021 update) :: Management Plaza (mplaza.training)

I'll follow later for the product owner test. wish me luck

Passing the Scrum PSM-I exam will provide you with one of the most sought after qualifications in the sector. There is no better way to prepare for your exam than using genuine Scrum PSM-I questions provided by:

https://www.scrum.org/professional-scrum-master-i-certification

Passed mine last week. Like many persons have mentioned, the key thing is to understand the scrum framwork very well, reading the scrum guide alone is not enough, try and take enough open assessments while working on your speed. Goodluck

I passed PSMI last week with 96.3% in first attempt.

Write this to say thanks to everyone in this community sharing their experience and ideas, also Mikhail Lapshin! 

I’m working at a manufacturing company as a foreign sales, but my love for games never stops so I want to find a job like project management even I’ve turnt 30!

I was very very negative about this until I passed this test.

It may not help a lot to my getting a job, but I really enjoyed the learning and I’m happy to know I have the ability to learn new things! There is hope.

Here is what I’ve done:

1) I read scrum guide for at least 5 times, and read some parts when I want to check with my memory.

2) Then I read the professional scrum competencies, all articles in PSMI suggested reading, articles in scrum master learning path(only first 3 sections).



3) All "scrum questions " on Mikhail’s site. I read them all once after reading twice scrum guide, but only got a blur understanding. I think this is because I don’t have similar work experience in such industry.

But after reading articles on scrum.org, where many authors give their insights, sharing their own experience and wisdom, I feel I can picture each situation from the quiz.*some authors are really humorous:)



4) Open assessment and scrum master(RM) on Mikhail’s site. Collect questions you did wrong, and control the speed.

In the real test, it provides a really good function that you can tag the question which you are not sure and recheck later.

I answered all questions with 25 minutes left in real assessment, then I recheck almost 15 questions I tagged for 23 minutes.

Read them  carefully and keep your mind clear!

Best wishes to those who are preparing for the test. 诸位加油！

Hi All,

Yesterday I cleared my PSM I and thanks to this forum and community for helping me get through the certifications. I come from a background where Scrum or Agile framework is not used, hence I have no prior experience with Scrum but little knowledge here and there. I started preparing exactly 2 weeks before the target date I set for the exam.

Here sharing my experience for the same

My Prep materials:

1) Scrum Guide (Multiple times  - I used it twice everyday, if possible make a hard copy)

2) Nexus Guide ( Not multiple times but enough so that you can understand what is concept)

3) Scrum Open assessment try all of them even if you get low scores in other two ( PSM, PSPO, PSD) 

3) Udemy courses ( I took 1 full prep course and then gave all practice exams from other courses)

4) Volderdone Course and practice exam

5) Mplaza (Practice stimulator) 

6) Mikhail Lapshin Mock Test (LM and RM)

7) Agile Methodologies

Tips and Tricks

1) Try to answer your best guess in the first attempt because as we sit for exams we become more careful and start reading q/a bit slow for surety.

2) Use elimination methods 

3) If you have given enough open assessment then it can be little easier for you

4) Understand the Framework its definition, don't memorize the answer and question because in exam you can expect some question to be twisted

Hi All,

Just sharing the good news... Passed PSM1 with 98.8%.  if at all anyone is interested in how I prepared, I will say the same what other peers have explained in other forums on scrum org. 

I will keep it short- 

1) Scrum Guide v2020 - after every wrong answer, I used to go to that part and read it carefully, to have a clear understanding of what it says.

2) I have taken a course by Vdespa, and more things cleared after that. 

3) Mikhail Lapshin - I find his quiz easy (if not very easy). but there, questions are based on v2017 so I was not very sure of a few answers. as they still using v2017 terminology. 

4) Scrum Open - I practiced Scrum/ Product owner/ Agile/ Nexus open - I guess that would be sufficient. 

also tried hands-on other Mock quizzes. Let me tell you, other forum quiz questions- they are not aligned with v2020 and some of the questions - might trick you with the wrong answers. so be careful where you are practicing.  That's one big issue with other exams - as there is a difference between the 2017 and 2020 guide, so pls mind it.  I would not brag, but my concept was clear so I was sure, whatever question will come in the exam, it would be based on scrum guide terminology and I will answer accordingly. 

A few questions came directly from scrum open so yes practice those. again, those are not that difficult. 

From an exam perspective, not very difficult if the scrum guide was understood properly.  Good Luck Folks..!! I am open to any questions.

Thanks

Sanjay

Hi, 

also passed PSPO1 with 96.3 %. I would say 70-80% course (syllabus) is the same as PSM1- rest 20% - available on scrum.org

so I decided to go with it and another 3-4 days of preparation - and it went through. :)

Thanks

Sanjay

Good day, 

I am a new in Scrum and have PMP certification. Now I want to pass Scrum certification (I guess it will be scrum,org certification). Can you please give updated advices?

Hi Felipe. A little bit strange to ask advice when there are 3 pages above with advices )))

I've passed the exam about 2-3 years ago but anyway here are my tips:

1 - Read the holy bible of the Scrum - Scrum Guide (if you are here I guess you know what is it)

2 - REad some books. I recommend you to read this 2 fantastic books - Mastering Professional Scrum  and Scrum Pocket Guide by Gunther Verheyen. I guess these 2 books are the best resources to prepare for certification

3 - It is not mandatory but practice in some tests. Personally I've used this site - Volkerdon. If you want you can use other. It is up to you

4 - Check some videos about Agile and Scrum on Youtube. For example this video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=502ILHjX9EE

I guess it is enough to pass the PSM 1 certification

@gunther firk Can I get access of your volkerdon mock questions ??

Hey Everyone,

First of all, thank you all for those suggestions and comments which help me to pass sucessfully PSM1 with 100% score.

For me, Well prepare 4 steps below will be largely enough to get the certification:

1. Scrum guide, read it one time, only need to understand what does it mean each sentence
2. Take the scrum open assessment, review each wrong answer and find the corresponding explanation in Scrum guide, do the same thing for Product Owner open assessment (Scrum guide), Developer open assessment(no need to read or review anything, just need to understand the technical terms appear in questions) and Nexus open assessment (Nexus guide, Nexus guide is interesting because it teaches you how to keep the same process with several scrum teams), repeat those assessments under you can select good answer immediately without hesitation
3. Do the quizzes on this site Mikhail Lapshin for Scrum master (LM and RM), until you reach 100%, but need to pay attention, there are several questions which don't give you the correct answer (mostly relate to the accountabilities, for example, instead of scrum team, it said developpeurs need to define the definition of done, etc.), you can search in google to see the difference between 17 and 20 versions of scrum guide to have a clear answer in your mind

For me, after those preparations, it takes me less than 30 mins to finish all the questions in real assessment, then you can take the rest of the time to review the unsure answers.

Personnally I work under Scrum framework, but we didn't follow it 100%, because of the tranditional management hierarchies and the waterfall method is still the mainstream in the car industry, I don't have much idea how to fully implement this framework under this circumstance, maybe it's time to find another job :P

Good luck.

Hi,

First of all, thanks to everyone sharing their experiences in this thread. It did help to eliminate some of the uncertainty of whether I had done or prepared enough to take the test and get a decent grasp of the difficulty of the questions.

Before I started preparing for the test, I had little prior knowledge or experience with Scrum. Although, I would say that the core ideas and values were quite accessible to meas it mostly matches how I strive to do my current job, even if the company I work for does not seem very open to more agile approaches. So it felt quite easy for me to understand how things are done in Scrum and why they are done this way.

Today I passed the PSM I assessment with 98.8% on my first try. Quite happy about not having to spend another $150. It does bug me a little that I got one facilitation question wrong, and I would love to know which one it is, but I understand why this is not possible.:)

Overall, I would say that I prepared for like a week. Of course on some days I did a little more than on other days, and some days I didn't feel like studying at all. Effectivly, I invested around 10 hours. 

Preperation

I did not take any classes or courses. Personally, I don't think it is necessary to pass the PSM I exam. But I prefer learning things by just doing it myself, instead of having somebody talk about it for hours and telling me what to do. But everyone learns differently. So do what you think is best for you.

My approach preparing for the exam might differ slightly from others. I only watch a very short an condensed presentation about the Scrum framework on Youtube. Then I just went and did the PSM I and PSPO I open assesment without ever reading the Scrum Guide. This may sound very weird to most people. But doing the assesments when knowing very little, was probably when I learned most. Doing the open assessment with a very basic understanding, little details, and just applaying experience and logic to answer the questions helped me get a good grasp of how much I will have to prepare, and what I have to prepare. 

Other than that, I only read the Scrum Guide, two short ebooks (this may not be necessary, but might make you feel better prepared, did the open assesments on scrum.org, and some mock exams that are available for free on the internet.

I would recommend to read the Scrum Guide not just once or twice. Read it several times, even if you think that you have understood the framework. Play close attention to the phrasing and terminology being used, and try to understand what this means instead of just what is being said.

From the open assessments available here, I did the PSM I, PSPO I and the Nexus one. Reading the Nexus guide can be helpful, but I think just having a basic understanding of how Scrum scales is enough to answer the questions in the exam, and most of that is already part of the Scrum Guide.

I also did the mlapshin mock exam, but I only did it once, as some of the answers in there were not correct, due to being based on a previous iteration of the scrum guide. In general I would not trust mock exams from external sites 100%. Be careful to not learn something that might lead to wrong answers in the exam.

These mock exams where quite helpful:

They do not provide explanations why an answer is wrong, but I'd argue that this is not necessarily a bad thing because you have to think about it yourself by looking at the question and provided answers. In general I would recommend to not only look at the questions you got wrong, but also understand why the questions you answered correctly are correct. When doing the open assesments, don't rush through them. There is no prize or benefit in completing them as quickly as possible, even if it is doable in 5 minutes.

Last but not least, I invested some time in writing everything about Scrum Theory down once. I would argue that it my not be necessary, but it might help internalising the information.

The PSM I Exam 

Difficulty: the exam is slightly more difficult than the open assessment, but by no means super hard, if you invested some time into preparing for the assessment. Just make sure to read the questions, and each and every of the answers carefully, and pay close attention to the wording.

Time: is not really a concern. I went through the exam at a moderate pace, and I had about 20 minutes to spare after answering all 80 questions. If you are not sure if your answer is correct, go with your gut, bookmark it for review later, move on and go to the question later. Depending on your pace, I would, however, not recommend to bookmark more than 10 questions. I had no issues with the loading time for the questions. It was imilar to the open assessment. I took the exam in the morning (GMT).

Content: The vast majority of question can be answered by just relying on the information provided in the Scrum Guide. There are plenty of straight forward, easy to answer question in the exam. Some of the questions might be a little more abstract or phrased in a way that might seem a bit confusing at first. If you are not sure how to answer, don't panick. Just bookmark the question, and go back to it later. Read everything again carefully, and try to elimante some of the possible answers. 

In addition to the Scrum Guide, I would make sure to be familar with certain terms that are not or not elaborately covered in the guide like burn-down charts, burn-up charts, feature team, layer team, cone of uncertainty. 

I would also encourage everyone to read this blog post before taking the exam: https://kenschwaber.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/self-organization-and-our-belief-that-we-are-in-charge/

If anybody actually read this wall of text, I hope some of the information is helpful to you. Good luck with your exam, you can do it! :)

Just cleared my psm1 exam.. it was a close one. Thanks to this forum for sharing your experiences. My suggestion is please go through the following if you are new to scrum and english is not your native langauge:

1. Read the scrum guide over n over again until u understand the concept. (Trust me this is not an easy exam)

2. Try to practice open assessment from scrum.org until you get 100% in all your attempt. 

3. You can try volkerdon.com but again dont memorise anything. 

Take lots of notes while you are going through the material. 

4. Try to find authentic information. lots of bogus questions and wrong info is out there in the web.

Dont over do anything. Questions are long and answers are very close in the real exam. In the end, Best of luck with your exam!!!! 

Well, i've already tried the certification exam three times. I've been studying for the past 7 month but i don't think i will pass this exam anytime soon. I'm trying to research and doing some other courses to see if i will be able to succesfully pass this exam.

Last time i tried i scored 82.5 and the one before that 83.8. I'm really passionate about this certification and the agile and scrum master world. I will keep studying and i will try again later.

Congratulation to all of you that have already passed the exam and got certificated.

Elated to share my experience of passing the PSM1 by Scrum.org on my first attempt and securing a score of 92.5 %.

Quoted from scrum.org – “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.”

PSM1 assessment carried out by scrum.org consists of 80 multiple-choice questions to be attempted in one hour. There are a few questions with multiple correct answers. A score of 85% is required to pass this exam.  80 questions in one hour mean roughly 45 seconds for each question.

I started on my journey to Scrum and Agile once I decided to resume my IT career after a long break. Scrum, Agile, and Sprint were new to me at that time. So, I started with a few videos available on YouTube. There are wonderful people out there sharing their knowledge over the internet. Once I got a hang of what scrum is, I started reading the scrum guide by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. This bible of scrum needs to be read, reread, line by line, word by word multiple times. So one needs to read and most importantly understand it as much as possible. 

Moving back and forth between the scrum guide and mock test gives a clear understanding of scrum concepts. I moved on to attempt the open assessment available on scrum.org and other few sites. I also purchased a Udemy course on PSM1 mock tests.

In case there is any doubt regarding any mock test's question’s answer it's always better to refer to the scrum guide for clarifications.

For questions with multiple correct choices, the elimination method should be used to narrow down on correct choices.

I continued attempting the Udemy mock test and every possible mock test I could find online until I got more than 90 %. I was gaining the confidence to pass the exam. The next thing I needed to work on was my speed. I attempted the mock tests again and again until I could finish my practice assessment with enough margin left to revisit the doubtful questions. Finishing the mock test in 40 minutes is a good target to achieve.

My preparation gave me enough confidence to write the exam on a peaceful Saturday morning with a well-rested and fresh mind. There were a few questions that looked very familiar and straightforward, for others I took time to read them carefully and I marked only 7 - 8 questions for review. Once I attempted all 80 questions, I had enough time to review the marked questions. 

Thank you Guney Ozkaya for your Udemy Practice tests for PSM1, Mikhail Lapshin, and the curators of all the informative videos and study material. Thanks to everyone on scrum.org and various forums for your invaluable input and guidance.

Tip:

1. Scrum guide is indeed the answer for most of the PSM1 questions. Scenario-based questions need practice and a good understanding of scrum.

2. it’s better to practice with a limited set of mock tests. Scrum.org's open assessment and a few reliable ones like Mikhail Lapshin and www.scrummaster.co.uk should be enough.

3. Attempt the exam once you start doing fairly well in practice assessments and have worked on your speed.  

4. Once you register for the PSM1 exam at scrum.org, you get a login PIN. You can attempt the exam anytime you are at your best.

Good luck on your journey to becoming a Certified Professional Scrum Master!!

References to scrum open assessment, mock tests, and udemy course:

https://www.scrum.org/open-assessments/scrum-open

https://www.scrum.org/open-assessments/product-owner-open

http://mlapshin.com/index.php/psm-quiz/

 PSM1 Test from www.scrummaster.co.uk

Great info above.

Want to call out the importance of leveraging the Scrum.org practice exams. Other practice exams may be out of date, use different wording and in some cases may be incorrect. This can throw you off when you do the real exam.

Example would be Mikhail Lapshin's exams which are based off of the previous 2017 Scrum Guide. Quote from Mikhail's site...

All the quizzes based on the Scrum Guide v2017.

The Scrum Master.co.UK exams show which guide version they are based off of for each exam...

Fully up to date with the latest Scrum Guide (2020)

...but I will share that I have observed a mix of 2017 and 2020 content in at least the PSM I exam (example question would be results of a Sprint Review which quotes from 2017 guide). 

I find it very confusing about the size of the Scrum team

in some courses I found in linkedin, it says 7 + or - 2

in the training  https://scrumtrainingseries.com/Intro_to_Scrum/index.html it says around 6 people

and in the test exam the correct answer is 10 people or less

this leaves a margin of error because, in theory, all of them are right but you get to choose only one in the exam :S 



I know in the scrum guide says 10 or less but again, all of them can be right following this logic

hey guys

I've been a teacher and trainer at universities and companies the past twenty years here in Germany and want to change to agile work style in teams and after some research it seems that the scrum master position is one that a non-coder could still be good at. I have read a few of the posts and have an opportunity for the employment office here to pay for me to take a professional Scrum course for a month and while at first I was nervous whether that would be enough time for me to skill up, reading a few threads here has helped.

So, here are my questions:

1)What does a non-coder need to understand about Scrum that coders and devs take for granted?

2)Should I follow a different study path than the ones listed here: read Scrum guide multiple times, take assessment quizzes at those free websites by nice people who have created them, a Udemy course, the Nexus Guide -- or is that general path still the right one for me?

3)What do you wish you had known about the exam earlier? What mistakes can I avoid learning from  you guys? 

4)Did the PSM I certificate lead to employment?

I feel like this one certification could open up a whole world to me but I wanted to hear from some people before I believed in it too much ;) Thanks everybody, look forward to hearing your answers.

Hi Gabriela - Scrum.org exams such as PSM I test your knowledge associated to Professional Scrum and the most recent Scrum Guide. Questions are going to be looking for the best answer out of the provided options. The 2020 Scrum Guide states 10 or fewer people which means it is going to be the best answer. Beware of third party training and exams as they can be dated and out of alignment. I went through a few questions using the link you provided and I can share there are a few outdated, incorrect items.

Hi there,

Just thought I'd give my two percent of what I did to pass this amazing Exam with 97.5%

If you can afford to attend a training at scrum.org, go for it otherwise search for youtube trainings, they're pretty good.

1) Register with scrum.org

2) Checkout the learning path for PSM1 - Scrum Master Learning Path | Scrum.org and read it thoroughly

3) Download or study online the Scrum Guide and read it until you understand it. (Scrum Guide | Scrum Guides)

4) Go through the glossary - Scrum Glossary | Scrum.org

5) Practice Volkerdon - The best solution to prepare for Agile and Scrum certifications and Scrum Quizzes – Mikhail Lapshin (mlapshin.com) (keep in mind that some of these websites have outdated answers so make sure to double check with the scrum guide)

6) practice until you get 100% in practice exams bcz exam questions are quite different than what you practice in any mock papers so make sure you understand it before moving forward.

good luck

I strongly advice all practitioners who read this from using Michael Lapshins blog as a guide of any kind. It is based on 2017 version of Scrum guide, and is plain misconducting. 

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who took the time to comment here on their experience. All of the contributions here are quite important.



1. Read over the Scrum Guide several times. The majority of the questions will come from the guide, but in twisted terminology.

2. Look up definitions in the Scrum glossary. It will help you to answer 4-5 questions in real exam.

3. Download the 2017 vs. 2020 Scrum Guide Difference PDF. It will assist you in understanding what has changed. Because the terminology in the 2020 guide were modified. You will see questions with incorrect answers online. Do not trust them.

4. Review Udmey's PSM 1 questions (cost: $5-8). It has approximately 160 practice questions. Most of the questions in real exam are replicated here.

5. Go over the questions at www.volkerdon.com/courses/psm1. It contains 420 questions (priced at $15). It will assist you in clarifying your fundamental thoughts.

7. Of course, the Mikhail Lapsin test is beneficial. Do not miss. But some of the answers are wrong as it has content from 2017 guide.

8. Scrum.org's Scrum assessment This assessment will consist of approximately 5-8 questions which you will face in real exam.

9. Review TheScrumMaster.co.uk. PSM 1. It will once again assist you in understanding the fundamentals. (Paid: $15)

That concludes my contribution. Best wishes.

I Passed the Exam in first attempt with 95% score. the one tip i would give is use the full time of the exam and the important tip that everyone gives is retry the 30 minute sample test in the scrum open section multiple times even if you get 100% there.  

Hi All,

I am happy to share that I completed the PSM 1 certification with a 93.8 % 

I was preparing myself just with Open assessment PSM1, Scrum Guide, and mlapshin tests.

This is how I prepared.

1. Read the Scrum guide a few times (5 times) 
2. Open assessments (Scrum Open and Product Owner Open on scrum.org). Give again and again till you score 100% 3 times consequently. 
3. Took multiple tests (6 tests) on mlapshin.com
4. Took test for PSM and PSPO on scrum.org

Thanks!

Good luck to all!

hi everyone,

happy to share that I've passed the PSM I from the first attempt with 96.3% (77 points scored out of 80 maximum points)

Thank you for all the advices and experience you shared here! it was greatly helpful in guiding me what steps to pass in training myself

Good luck for those who is on his way for PSM I certification!

I took the exam today and passed first time with an 86.3%.  Anyone taking the test, I would recommend reading up on coaching, facilitation, and events.  I scored the lowest on those questions.

Hello everyone! So I took the exam yesterday and passed with a score of 97%. It wasn't scary as I thought it would be. During my preparation, I focused on understanding the scrum framework thoroughly. I read scrum guide, paying close attention to its principles, roles, events, and artifacts. Understanding the nuances of each element and how they interacted within the framework was crucial.

I used various resources such as online courses, practice exams, and community forums. Using multiple resources helped me understand scrum concepts easily and got valuable insights for developing real-world applications. The following ones were quite helpful:

https://scrumtrainingseries.com/
https://www.scrum.org/open-assessments/nexus-open
https://www.scrum.org/resources/suggested-reading-professional-scrum-master

In the exam itself, the questions were diverse, covering topics ranging from sprint planning and backlog refinement to scrum values and empirical process control.

Overall, my preparation is a combination of thorough reading, practical application, and continuous assessment through practice exams.