ISTQB (basing its content on ISO/IEC 29119) defines entry criteria as the conditions that must be met before starting a test activity to ensure readiness to begin.

In the context of testing within NHSBSA, these criteria must be considered prior to starting any test phase.

The NHSBSA’s Entry Criteria are:

• The service’s Definition of Ready has been met, including but not limited to
  • All user stories and acceptance criteria are well defined and agreed
  • All dependencies are understood and documented
  • Estimated effort has been discussed and agreed (using the 3 Amigo model)
  • The technical feasibility of each ticket is understood
  • The user experience and impact of each ticket has been considered
  • Performance related requirements have been identified
  • Security related requirements, including privacy considerations, have been identified
  • The Product Owner has agreed to the scope of the release, change or defect fix
• The scope of testing has been agreed via a well-defined Test Approach
• All relevant code has been merged and placed into a build
• The test environment (Test, Int, Perf or Stage) is ready
• The test data requirements have been met and the test data is available
• The necessary test tools are available
• The test scripts have been written and are stored in the Git repository
• Any interfaces (or test stubs/harnesses) are available
• Appropriately skilled testers are available to conduct the testing
• [In the case of Performance Testing] The build has been proven to be functionally sound through a series of functional acceptance tests

A service delivery team may add other criteria to ensure there is sufficient governance around their release.

---

Improve the playbook

If you spot anything factually incorrect with this page or have ideas for improvement, please share your suggestions.

Before you start, you will need a GitHub account. Github is an open forum where we collect feedback.