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CSM Exam Prep Guide

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What On This Page?

  1. What is the CSM exam?​

  2. Is the CSM exam open book?

  3. How much does the CSM exam cost?

  4. How hard is the CSM exam, and how do you pass it?

  5. CSM exam practice questions (with answers)

  6. CSM exam requirements & prerequisites

  7. Is CSM certification worth it?

  8. CSM renewal

  9. The bottom line: your realistic pass plan

 

The short answer

If you're here it's probably because you've just enrolled in (or are thinking about) a Certified Scrum Master course and the exam is now itching at the back of your mind. Here's the short version of everything on this page:

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  • The CSM exam is open book (essentially open-web). You may use the Scrum Guide and other materials while you take it.

  • It is a 50-question multiple-choice test you take online after completing a 2-day CSM training course with a certified trainer. You must complete the training before you're eligible to sit the exam

  • You need about 74% to pass — that's 37 out of 50 correct.

  • Your best single study resource is the Scrum Guide (scrumguides.org). An open-book exam is still an exam you should prepare for — knowing where to find an answer is not the same as understanding it.

  • Total cost is dominated by the course, not the exam. Expect to pay a few hundred to a couple of thousand dollars depending on trainer, location, and delivery format.​​

 

Keep reading for the detail, the real search answers, and some practice questions drawn straight from Scrum Guide concepts.
 

Question 1. What is the CSM exam?

The Certified Scrum Master (CSM) exam is the assessment you take to earn the CSM credential from Scrum Alliance after completing your two-day CSM training course.

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It's an online, multiple-choice exam designed to check that you actually understand Scrum, the roles, the events, the artifacts, and the rules that hold them together, rather than just that you sat in a classroom for two days.

 

The frequently stated details:

  • Format. Online, multiple-choice. 

  • Number of questions. 50.

  • Pass mark. approximately 74% (about 37 of 50)

  • Duration. 60 minutes.

  • Attempts. You have 2 attempts at the exam, so if you don't pass you'll have a second opportunity. 

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The good news: the CSM exam is not the barrier to entry ... the training is. Everyone who genuinely engages with the material over the two days and reviews the Scrum Guide before sitting the test has a very good chance of passing.

Question 2. Is the CSM exam open book?

Yes, the CSM exam is effectively open book. In practice it's open web: while you take the exam you may refer to the Scrum Guide and other materials.

 

A couple of honest caveats:

  • Open book does not mean easy. The questions are designed to test understanding, not recall. If you only know where to look things up but don't grasp how Scrum actually works, you'll burn your time searching instead of answering.

  • The training is required first. You can't just buy the exam and wing it. 

 

So yes, it's open book, but the right way to treat it is to study the Scrum Guide before you sit the test so the open book becomes a safety net, not a lifeline.

Question 3. How much does the CSM exam cost?

You almost never pay for "just the exam" as a line item in the way you might pay a flat fee for other certifications. In the CSM model, the exam is bundled into the price of the 2-day course.

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What the "cost" really involves:

  • The 2-day CSM course — this is the bulk of the cost. The course includes your exam voucher.

  • The exam itself — included in your course fee. Historically this is why people say "the exam is included," because it's not priced separately the way some certifications price the test additively.

 

So what does the total cost run?

  • The basic cost. The Scrum Alliance has recently (2026) set a minimium retail price of the online CSM and online CSPO courses at USD$500. This is includes the fee for the certification exam. Most Scrum trainers charge $100-$200 more than the base price. Face to face courses are frequently much more expensive (by an order of 2x or 3x) simply because of the additional of head and expense involved in arranging and managing face to face courses.

  • India fee: The Scrum Alliance offers third world countries, including India, a special discounted rate so the cost of a course in India is significantly lower than courses offered in North America or Europe.

  • Renewal: the CSM credential itself must be renewed every two years, which has its own fee — see the renewal section below. [VERIFY] current renewal fee.

 

Bottom line: budget for the course, because that's what the certification actually costs. The exam sits inside it. And because trainers set their own prices, shop around, the cheapest ticket and the best learning experience don't always come from the same trainer.

Question 4.  How hard is the CSM exam, and how do you pass it?​

"How hard is the CSM exam?" and "is the CSM exam difficult?" are two of the most common searches and the honest answer is: not the hardest test you'll ever take, but harder than people think if they don't prepare.

 

Why people find it harder than expected:

  • The questions test understanding of how Scrum works, not trivia. Two answers will often look plausible; the correct one is the one that matches how Scrum actually behaves in practice.

  • The exam is deliberately designed so that a two-day course alone isn't guaranteed to be enough. You're expected to be able to reason from the Scrum Guide.

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How to pass — the practical study approach:

  • Read the Scrum Guide from cover to cover. It's around 13–14 pages. Read it twice if you can. Virtually every exam question traces back to something in it. This is your number one, non-negotiable study task.

  • Focus your reading on the concepts the exam leans on hardest:

  1. The three Scrum pillars: adaptation, inspection, transparency  

  2. The three accountabilities from the 2020 Scrum Guide: Developers, Scrum Master, Product Owner.

  3. The five events Sprint, Sprint Planning, Daily Scrum, Sprint Review, Sprint Retrospective — and that the Sprint is the container for the others.

  4. The three artifacts: Product Backlog, Sprint Backlog, Product Increment.  Plus the commitments attached to each; the Product Goal, Sprint Goal, and Definition of Done.

  5. The Definition of Done, and how self-management shapes who does what.

  • Take practice questions. Work through real-style questions (like the ones below) until you can explain *why* an answer is right and why the others are wrong especially the honestly-plausible wrong answers.

  • Treat the open book as a fallback, not a strategy. Review before you sit the test.

  • Watch the wording. Words like "always," "never," and "must" are flags. Pay attention to what the question actually asks.

 

Does it help to see what others say? Plenty of people search "how to pass csm reddit" and read other people's war stories. There's some value in knowing it's beatable, but treat single anecdotes as one person's experience, and get your actual grounding from the Scrum Guide and real practice questions.
 

Question 5.  CSM exam practice questions (with answers)​

Here are six real-style questions written directly from Scrum Guide concepts, each with an answer and a brief explanation. Working through these, and being able to say *why* the wrong answers are wrong, is a strong way to prepare.

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Q1. Which three pillars does Scrum rest on?

A. Planning, executing, reviewing
B. Transparency, inspection, adaptation
C. Roles, events, artifacts
D. Time, cost, quality

Answer: B — Transparency, inspection, adaptation. These are the three pillars of empirical process control on which Scrum is built. C is a list of the elements Scrum has, not the pillars it rests on.

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Q2. In the 2020 Scrum Guide, which of the following is described as an "accountability" in Scrum?

A. Project Manager
B. Product Owner
C. Business Analyst
D. Chief Engineer

Answer: B — Product Owner. The 2020 Scrum Guide describes Product Owner, Scrum Master, and Developers as *accountabilities*. A, C, and D are not accountabilities defined by Scrum.

 

Q3. Within a Sprint, who is the Developer team accountable to?

A. The Product Owner
B. The Scrum Master
C. Themselves (self-management)
D. A project manager

Answer: C — Themselves. Developers are self-managing: they decide how they create value and plan their own work within the Sprint. The Product Owner decides what goes into the Product Backlog (and its ordering), not how Developers do their work.

 

Q4. During which event does the team review the outcome of a Sprint with stakeholders?

A. Daily Scrum
B. Sprint Retrospective
C. Sprint Review
D. Sprint Planning

Answer: C — Sprint Review. The Sprint Review inspects the outcome of the Sprint and what was accomplished against the Product Goal, and takes input from stakeholders. 

 

Q5. Which of the following is an artifact of Scrum?

A. The Project Charter
B. The Sprint Backlog
C. The Team Contract
D. The Gantt chart

Answer: B — The Sprint Backlog. The three Scrum artifacts are the Product Backlog, the Sprint Backlog, and the Increment. The others are not Scrum artifacts.

 

Q6. What commitment is attached to the Product Increment?

A. The Sprint Goal
B. The Definition of Done
C. The Product Goal
D. The DOD report

Answer: B — Definition of Done. Each of the three artifacts carries a commitment: the Product Backlog has the Product Goal, the Sprint Backlog has the Sprint Goal, and the Increment has the Definition of Done. Each commitment is there to give the team focus and to keep the artifact honest.

Question 6. CSM exam requirements & prerequisites​

Here's what's actually required:

  • Complete a CSM training course first. The long-standing requirement is that you attend a 2-day Certified Scrum Master course taught by an accredited trainer (a Certified Scrum Trainer / CST) before you can sit the exam.

  • No prior experience required. You don't need to have been a Scrum Master before, and there's no minimum background in tech required. The course is designed for people new to Scrum as well as practitioners getting a credential.

  • Take the exam online and pass at the required mark within the allowed time.

  • Renew every two years to keep the credential active (see the renewal section).

 

If you meet those, you're eligible. There's no barrier of prior work experience standing in your way.

Question 7. Is CSM certification worth it?​

"Is CSM certification worth it?" and "scrum master certification — is it worth it?" and "scrum master salary" are among the most-searched questions here. The honest answer, not the marketing answer:

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Yes for many people, but it depends on what you're trying to do.

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What the credential genuinely does:

  • It gives you a recognised, vendor-neutral signal that you understand Scrum.

  • It's still one of the most common starting points into Agile roles, and many job postings list CSM (or another Scrum certification) as a desired or required line.

  • Because you're required to attend real training with a live trainer (rather than self-study only), you come out of it with facilitation practice and a network, not just a badge.

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What it won't do (be realistic):

  • It won't guarantee a job or a salary bump on its own. Hiring managers increasingly weigh real-world facilitation, coaching and delivery experience alongside any certificate. The certification is an accelerator and a signal, not a substitute for experience.

  • Salary varies hugely by region, industry, and seniority. A CSM in one city is not the same as one in another. This guide deliberately avoids publishing stale numbers, because salaries change quickly and regional sources disagree.

 

The (defensible) short version: the CSM is worth it if you pair the credential with practice and real experience. The certification warms the door; your ability to run a sprint, facilitate a retrospective, and ship working software is what actually walks through it.

Question 8.  CSM renewal​

"CSM certification renewal" is a common search, because it's easy to forget.

  • Cadence: the CSM credential is valid for **two years**.

  • How to renew: you renew by earning Scrum Education Units (SEUs). Essentially continuing-education points from Scrum Alliance events, courses, and related learning activities. 

  • Keep a record: track your SEUs as you earn them so renewal isn't a scramble.

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Renewing keeps your credential current, which matters if you list it on a CV or profile.

The bottom line: your realistic pass plan

Open book, 50 questions, roughly 74% needed, but the real story is this:

  1. Take your two-day CSM training seriously.

  2. Read the Scrum Guide thoroughly (twice).

  3. Work through real-style practice questions until the why makes sense.

  4. Sit the exam promptly while the course is fresh.

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Do that and the CSM exam is very beatable.
 

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