7.1 CSM Test Format & Scoring

Quick Answer: 50 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes, pass at 74% — 37 correct out of 50. Taken online, not proctored, after you complete the required course. You cannot pause it, but you can bookmark questions and return to them inside the hour.

These are Scrum Alliance's own published figures. Unlike many certification bodies, Scrum Alliance states the passing threshold plainly rather than using a scaled score, which makes preparation targets unusually concrete: you can miss 13 questions and still pass.

The Published Facts

What 50 Questions in 60 Minutes Actually Means

The arithmetic is comfortable: 72 seconds per question on average. In practice you will answer most Scrum Guide recall questions in 20–30 seconds, which banks time for the longer scenario items.

A workable pacing plan:

1. First pass (about 35 minutes). Answer everything you know immediately. Bookmark anything that needs thought rather than sitting on it.
2. Second pass (about 20 minutes). Work the bookmarked items with the time you have banked.
3. Final sweep (about 5 minutes). Confirm no question is unanswered. There is no penalty for a wrong answer, so never leave a blank.

How the Questions Are Built

Scrum Alliance states the test is based on the CSM Learning Objectives and the Scrum Guide. Two practical consequences:

• The Scrum Guide is the authority for anything it covers. Where a trainer's practice differs from the Guide, the Guide's position is the safer answer.
• Anything not in the Scrum Guide but present in the Learning Objectives is fair game — facilitation techniques, coaching stances, impediment handling, technical debt, and organizational change all appear in the CSM Learning Objectives without appearing in the Scrum Guide.

Question styles you should expect:

Reading the Distractors

Incorrect options on this test are patterned, and recognizing the patterns is worth several marks:

• Restores a hierarchy. Any option where the Scrum Master assigns work, or a manager directs Developers, contradicts self-management.
• Breaks a timebox. Extending a Sprint or an event to finish work is essentially always wrong.
• Lowers quality. Relaxing the Definition of Done to hit a date is always wrong.
• Uses retired terminology. "Development Team," "3 to 9 members," "commitment to complete all items," "grooming," and "roles" instead of "accountabilities" all signal pre-2020 material.
• Makes the Scrum Master a decision-maker. The Scrum Master leads by teaching, coaching, and facilitating — not by adjudicating.
• Is absolute where Scrum is not. Options containing "never," "always," or "must under all circumstances" deserve extra scrutiny, though occasionally they are correct — only the Product Owner may cancel a Sprint, for instance.

Exam-Day Practicalities

Because the test is unproctored and browser-based, the failure modes are logistical rather than procedural: an unstable connection, a browser extension interfering with the test page, or starting the test with 40 minutes free rather than a clear hour. None of these are exotic, and all are avoidable — use a wired or reliable connection, close other applications, and start only when you have the full hour uninterrupted.

Real-World Preparation Strategy

The most reliable preparation is unglamorous: read the 2020 Scrum Guide end to end at least twice. It is roughly 13 pages, and a large share of the 50 questions can be answered directly from it. Read it once early to build structure, then again close to your test date to sharpen the exact wording — particularly the timeboxes, the accountability lists, and the three artifact commitments.

After that, work through the CSM Learning Objectives themselves and check that you can produce a real answer to each one, because the objectives are what the test is built from. Sections 7.2 and 7.3 of this guide cover the logistics around the test and the full objective list.