Day 5: TOGAF 9 Exam

So today was TOGAF exam day. In just five days I have gone from not knowing much about TOGAF to being TOGAF 9 certified.

I had to book my test on the appalling Prometric website which was a test in itself, there is no map of the test centres, links don’t work and there are no confirmation emails.

The first exam is the foundation exam and you have 60 minutes to answer 40 multiple choice questions and you need to get 55% to pass. It is a closed book exam and really tests detailed knowledge of TOGAF. The second exam is the practitioner exam and here you have 90 minutes to do 8 scenario multiple choice questions, but this time you have access to a PDF version of the TOGAF manual. You get 5 points for the right answer, 3 for the second best, 1 for the third best and 0 points for the distracter answer. You need a 60% mark to pass.

The foundation exam I completed in about 30 minutes and the practitioner exam in about 60 minutes and I got 36/40 in the first exam and 36/40 in the second exam so an overall score of 90%

My top tips for passing the TOGAF exam (in order of importance):

• Attend a classroom course (distance study will bore you to death)
• Read the study guides (these were invaluable to me)
• Check your knowledge with the “test yourself questions” at the end of each chapter in the study guide. It’s a great way to find gaps in your knowledge
• Make sure you know the phases and key steps in each phase of the ADM like the back of your hand
• Get a feel for the structure of the TOGAF manual so you can quickly find the sections you need
• Do some timed practice tests
• Read the scenario exam questions and try and write your own answers to get inside the head of the examiner