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ITIL Foundation Exam - Certification Levels and Career Paths

By Manikandan Mohanakrishnan

Updated on Mar 26, 2025 | 11 min read | 11.0k views

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ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) is the most systematic approach to IT service management. It is a collection of top IT practices that evolved in the 1980s and eventually found its way to the modern-day IT business. It has piqued the interest of both huge corporations and small businesses, and it remains one of the most generally implemented sets of principles in IT ecosystems.

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If you want to become a qualified ITIL professional, here is a comprehensive guide that will introduce you to everything you need to know about the ITIL foundation exam, its levels, and how the ITIL course online can help you clear the ITIL certification exam and career pathways.

Who Should Take ITIL Foundation Exam

The ITIL 2011 Foundation certificate authenticates that you have learned the ITIL language, structure, and essential concepts of ITIL practices for Service Management in IT Service Management.

The ITIL foundation exam certificate is aimed at:

  • Individuals who need basic ITIL framework knowledge and want to improve IT service management in their organization and IT professionals who want to use ITIL to improve service in their organization.
  • IT directors, managers, IT service managers, CIOs, business managers, technical support engineers, service support engineers, and business process owners will benefit from the ITIL test.
  • The ITIL Foundation level qualification is available and beneficial to anybody with an interest in the topic. A candidate will receive the certification and the two credits upon passing any ITIL Foundation exam.

ITIL 4 Foundation Exam Format

  1. The ITIL test format will assist you in developing a strategy for efficiently preparing for and taking the test.
  2. The maximum time allotted for the ITIL Foundation Exam is 60 minutes.
  3. The test has a total of 40 questions.
  4. In addition, the ITIL test is a multiple-choice/multiple-select question. As a result, you'll have four options for each question, and you can apply the technique of elimination to get the proper answer (s).
  5. Furthermore, there are no negative points for incorrect responses. So, you can use your best guess wherever it is needed.
  6. Lastly, the ITIL Foundation Exam costs $314. You will be required to pay taxes by local legislation.

ITIL 4 Foundation Syllabus Topics

Unit Content
Understand the key concepts of service management

1. Recall the definition of:

  • Service
  • Utility
  • Warranty
  • Customer
  • User
  • Service management
  • Sponsor

2. Describe the key concepts of creating value with services:

  • Cost
  • Value
  • Organization
  • Outcome
  • Output
  • Risk
  • Utility
  • Warranty

3. Describe the key concepts of service relationships:

  • Service offering
  • Service relationship management
  • Service provision
  • Service consumption
Understand how the ITIL guiding principles can help an organization adopt and adapt service management

1. Describe the nature, use, and interaction of the guiding principles
2. Explain the use of the guiding principles:

  • Focus on value
  • Start where you are
  • Progress iteratively with feedback
  • Collaborate and promote visibility
  • Think and work holistically
  • Keep it simple and practical
  • Optimize and automate
Understand the four dimensions of service management

1. Describe the four dimensions of service management:

  • Organizations and people
  • Information and technology
  • Partners and suppliers
  • Value streams and processes
Understand the purpose and components of the ITIL service value system 1. Describe the ITIL service value system
Understand the activities of the service value chain and how they interconnect

1. Describe the interconnected nature of the service value chain and how this supports value streams
2. Describe the purpose of each value chain activity:

  • Plan
  • Improve
  • Engage
  • Design & Transition
  • Obtain/build
  • Delivery & support
Know the purpose and key terms of 15 ITIL practices

1. Recall the purpose of the following ITIL practices:

  • Information security management
  • Relationship management
  • Supplier management
  • IT asset management
  • Monitoring and event management
  • Release management
  • Service configuration management
  • Deployment management
  • Continual improvement
  • Change enablement
  • Incident management
  • Problem management
  • Service request management
  • Service desk
  • Service level management

2. Recall definitions of the following ITIL terms:

  • IT asset
  • Event
  • Configuration item
  • Change
  • Incident
  • Problem
  • Known error
Understand 7 ITIL practices

1. ITIL practices in detail

  • Continual improvement including:

 - The continual improvement model

  • Change enablement
  • Incident management
  • Problem management
  • Service request management
  • Service desk
  • Service level management

ITIL Certification

To obtain ITIL Foundation certification, a professional must take the ITIL Foundation exam, which comprises 40 multiple-choice questions and has a time restriction of 60 minutes. To get the ITIL Foundation Certification, you must score at least 65% (26 questions).

Follow these procedures to obtain AXELOS-accredited ITIL 4 Foundation certification:

  • After you've finished the training, take the test.
  • Pass the exam with at least a 65 percent.
  • By clearing the examination, you will get two ITIL credits.

Top Cities where KnowledgeHut Conduct ITIL Certification Training Course Online

ITIL Certification Bangalore ITIL Certification Toronto ITIL Certification Pune
ITIL Certification Melbourne ITIL Certification Chennai ITIL Certification Sydney
ITIL Certification Brisbane ITIL Certification London ITIL Certification Noida
ITIL Certification Hyderabad ITIL Certification Mumbai ITIL Certification Frankfurt
ITIL Certification Dubai ITIL Certification Hongkong ITIL Certification Delhi

How to Prepare for ITIL Foundation Exam

1. Do Proper Research

This covers every test detail; remain up to date with the exam syllabus. Don't forget to do your homework before beginning your preparation. This will ensure that you are on the same page as the ITIL exam.

2. Get The Candidate Guidebook

Step two is to get the ITIL guidebook, which is easily accessible via the AXELOS official website. Once you've downloaded the ITIL study guide, you'll have complete access to all test details and also get the test syllabus with all of the listings. This will ensure that you cover all the topics while preparing for the exam.

3. Enroll in Online Course

Remember, this is a certification test, not a high school exam, that you can ace by preparing for one night before the exam. You will require assistance. There are a plethora of online courses for IT Service Management available on the internet. You can also find an ITIL 4 Foundation exam online course that incorporates video training. So make sure to select one that is the most suitable for you.

You can enroll in the ITIL course online, and this will guide you with all the necessary skills and knowledge you need to clear the exam and help you to set your targets each day. It will also check that you are on time with your learning.

4. Search online Study Notes

Search for the study notes online. This will help you comprehend the subject even more thoroughly. Make a list of all of the major concepts and words first. And later on, you may readily access multiple study notes.

5. Participate In an Online Community forum

There must be some questions or doubts after studying. Thus, join a community or an online forum where you may clear your doubts. With so many applicants on the same path as you, you can easily interact with them to clear all your doubts. In many instances, you also assist others with their problems. This will also lead to improvements in your expertise.

6. Practice your way through

Practicing is essential for passing any certification exam, and ITIL is no exception. So, practice as much as you can. Find some ITIL Foundation practice questions and start solving them.

Also, make sure to look through your incorrect responses. This will give you a chance to consider what you are missing.

Enhance your abilities with training for PMP certification and elevate your project management expertise to new heights! Join now to start your journey to success.

Road Ahead After ITIL Foundation Exam

ITIL's tier-level certificates address several concepts in service management and are designed to help a diverse range of professions.

The ITIL Foundation

The ITIL Foundation certification focuses on ITIL-specific content, such as the seven guiding principles and four aspects of ITIL-Based Service Management. Candidates will also learn to foster value co-creation by developing customer-focused IT goods and services.

After passing the examination, you will be able to choose between two paths based on your career objectives: Managing Professional or Strategic Leader.

ITIL 4 Managing Professional

ITIL experts who have previously acquired ITIL expert certification can obtain this distinction by completing the ITIL 4 Managing Professional Transition Module. To acquire this certification, IT experts that are new to ITIL must complete four modules:

  • ITIL 4 Specialist: Create, Deliver and Support
  • ITIL 4 Specialist: Drive Stakeholder Value
  • ITIL 4 Specialist: High-Velocity IT
  • ITIL 4 Strategist: Direct Plan and Improve

ITIL 4 Strategic Leader

The ITIL 4 Strategic Leader designation is due for release in the first half of 2020. An IT professional who completes this certification will have demonstrated their understanding of how IT impacts and influences business strategy. There will be two required modules that candidates must complete to earn this ITIL certification:

  • ITIL 4 Strategist Direct Plan and Improve
  • ITIL 4 Leader Digital and IT Strategy.

ITIL 4 Master

If you complete all of the modules necessary for the MP and SL certification pathways, you will be eligible for the ITIL Master designation. To earn an ITIL Master, you must have at least five years of experience working in ITSM.

The ITIL Master certification needs a solid foundation in ITSM and substantial hands-on experience with ITIL. The certification demands hands-on experience, and you must demonstrate how you have individually selected and implemented a variety of knowledge, concepts, processes, and techniques from the ITIL framework, as well as supporting management practices, to accomplish desired business goals.

Conclusion

ITIL is one of the most in-demand qualifications among IT professionals today. The certification provides several benefits in the field of IT Services Management. Candidates can advance their careers by utilizing an ITIL certification that improves their performance in IT Services Management based on their experience and knowledge.

If you want to make a career in this demanding field, check out the KnowledgeHut ITIL course online offered by the best industry experts, Understand the important Concepts, work on industry-based case studies, practice chapter-end questions and get career assistance from professionals. Start today and boost your Career.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. How much does it cost to get ITIL certification?

2. How many questions is the ITIL Foundation exam?

3. How difficult is the ITIL Foundation exam?

4. Is the ITIL Foundation exam open book?

5. What comes after ITIL Foundation?

6. How many levels of ITIL certification are there?

Manikandan Mohanakrishnan

Manikandan Mohanakrishnan

176 articles published

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