Exit Criteria
Exit criteria are the conditions that must be satisfied before a testing activity or test level is considered complete.
“The set of conditions for officially completing a defined task.”
(Definition reproduced from the ISTQB Glossary. Copyright belongs to ISTQB.)
View the complete ISTQB GlossaryWhat is Exit Criteria?
Exit criteria define measurable objectives that determine when sufficient testing has been performed and whether the product is ready to move to the next phase.
Completion conditions: May include coverage targets, defect limits, or executed test cases.
Quality gates: Prevent testing from ending prematurely.
Project control: Support objective release decisions.
Real World Example
A healthcare scheduling team is building a feature that lets patients book follow-up appointments after a consultation.
Developers, testers, clinicians, and product owners may all believe they understand the request while imagining different rules. Exit criteria gives the team a shared way to confirm intent.
The tester turns clinical and business expectations into concrete examples, such as eligible appointment windows, unavailable doctors, and messages shown when no slot is open.
The team prevents late rework because Exit criteria makes expected behavior testable before the feature is treated as finished.
Practice Questions
Question 1
Which statement BEST describes Exit criteria in the context of ISTQB terminology?
Question 2
A tester needs to explain Exit criteria to a non‑technical stakeholder. Which approach is MOST appropriate?
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