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Is Accredited

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Is Apprenticeship

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Skill Overview

"A software tester is found in any organisation that develops and applies software. This ranges from large multi-national organisations with dedicated teams of software testers to small consulting firms that work on a contract basis to deliver software testing services to a varied client base. For example, within financial services a software tester could be integral to testing software for delivering bespoke payroll or HR services whereas in a large corporate they could be providing consultancy services for global multi-national clients across a range of software products. Software Testers are responsible for ensuring that the software developed meets the business's functional, security, performance, and usability requirements by participating in development activity at all stages of the software development life cycle..
The broad purpose of the occupation is to ensure that software operates as intended for Software development practices so that they understand the context in which they are operating. Software Testers are responsible for the quality of software development and deployment with a view to the commercial requirements of the client and their organisational parameters. Some of the duties include analysis of software and systems to mitigate the risk of software problems arising and making informed recommendations to internal and external clients. Software testers are involved particularly in the quality assurance stage of software development and deployment. They conduct manual and automated tests to ensure the software created by developers is fit for purpose and any bugs or issues are removed within a product before it gets deployed to everyday users. The Software Tester role is integral to the creation of software systems and technical products. A Software Tester might work on bespoke, individual projects creating enterprise solutions for email compliance and marketing. or multinational projects spanning the globe and costing billions of pounds. In a defence and security context they may interact with cyber security teams to ensure that software developed is secure from inception.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with other members of software testing teams, other areas within the organisation's software development function and business areas commissioning software testing services, as well as external clients and other associated stakeholders. This is an office based or remote working role with some visits to client’s premises.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for working collaboratively within a team and with stakeholders with a minimum of direct supervision within broad but generally well defined parameters, A Software Tester will be required to apply their knowledge and skills in a broad range of complex or technical work activities, performed in a variety of contexts. They will address problems which are both routine and non-routine while normally fairly well defined. They will take responsibility for courses of action, including, where relevant, responsibility for the work of others and allocation of resources. They will typically pair with other technical roles such as software developers, or work alone at times, and provide input to the planning of work and advise on risks and improvements within software products."

Learning Objectives

Duties of the job role covered as part of the Apprenticeship:
Duty 1 Analyse test objectives to design and prepare a test plan that aligns with the test strategy																																
Duty 2 Review requirements with relevant stakeholders to identify defects early and to define a comprehensive test scope coverage based on product risk with due consideration to accessibility and usability requirements.																																
Duty 3 Design and build test cases, test scripts/procedures, and define expected results to meet the test scope coverage criteria.																																
Duty 4 Collect, interpret and develop representative and realistic test data.																																
Duty 5 Specify test environment requirements.																																
Duty 6 Conduct a range of different software test types within the broad categories of functional, non-functional, white box/structural and change-related testing interpreting and executing test scripts using organisationally agreed methods and standards.																																
Duty 7 Conduct and support testing at different test levels (such as unit testing, component integration testing, system testing, system integration testing and user acceptance testing)																															
Duty 8 Conduct testing activities on software applications such as desktop, web, mobile, embedded, mainframe, internet of things (IoT)and AI to detect defects and demonstrate the software is fit for purpose.																																
Duty 9 Operate the organisation's software testing tools.																																
Duty 10 Raise defects in line with organisational policy at any point in the test process and progress them through to successful completion.																																
Duty 11 Document and report test results against the acceptance criteria,record accurate data to support defect management and maintain information traceability between requirements, tests and defects.																																
Duty 12 Communicate status and metrics against test activities, test results and defects using appropriate communication styles and media																																
Duty 13 Advise and support others on testing activities including providing feedback, for example on challenges arising within testing or within multi-disciplinary teams.																																
Duty 14 Store, manage and share all test and related data securely in a compliant manner																																
Duty 15 Practice continuous self-learning to keep up to date with technological developments to enhance relevant skills and take responsibility for own professional development

Funding Option

Funding Eligibility

For apprentices aged 16-21 the training costs are fully funded by the government. For apprentices aged over 21, there is a 5% co-investment which would be paid by the employer. Alternatively, the training costs can be covered by utilising the Apprenticeship Levy Fund.

Skill Price ex VAT (£)

Skill Length

Skill Level

Skill Timings

Delivery Method

Skill Eligibility (Prerequisites for skill/software requirements)

Applicant must be eligible for ESFA funding and in a job role where the duties in learning objectives can be undertaken as part of normal day to day activities

Last Application Date

Skill Enrolment

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