BCS Agile Foundation Certificate (BCSAF) – Outline

Detailed Course Outline

The course is designed to present theoretical models and current industry practices, with an emphasis on understanding the intentions behind the four value statements of the Agile Manifesto. Towards the end of the course, we look at Agile approaches in use today, at a high level only.

The course includes the following syllabus areas:

The Agile Manifesto

  • 4 Values

  • 12 Principles




Rationale & Benefits of Agile


  • History of Agile

  • Empirical and defined processes

  • The pillars of the empirical process

  • The waterfall approach

  • The iron triangle of project constraints

  • Working with uncertainty and volatility

  • Agile myths

  • Empirical models for improvement and change

  • Business culture and Agile

  • The economic case for Agile

  • The lifecycle of product development


Individuals and their Interactions over Processes and Tools


  • Motivated and Talented Individuals

  • Emergent design from Self-Organising Teams


Working Systems over Comprehensive Documentation


  • Satisfy the Customer with Continuous Delivery of Value

  • Deliver Working Systems Frequently

  • Working Systems as a Measure of Progress

  • Technical Excellence and Good Design


Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiations


  • Business People and Developers Must Work Together

  • Face-to-face Communications

  • Reflect and Adjust Regularly


Responding to Change over Following a Plan


  • Embrace Change

  • Sustainable Pace

  • Simplicity - The Art of Maximising the Amount of Work Not Done

Common Agile Roles


  • The Role of the Customer

  • The Role of the Team

  • The Role of the Agile Leader

  • The Role of Stakeholders

  • The Agile Mindset


Common Agile Techniques


  • User Stories

  • Acceptance Criteria and Scenarios

  • MoSCoW Prioritisation

  • Estimation using Story Points

  • Agile quality assurance and testing


Common Agile Practices


  • Short Feedback Loops

  • Focus on Quality
  • Emergent Documentation

  • Visual Boards

  • Team Synchronisation Meeting

  • Show and Tells

  • Retrospectives

  • Continuous Improvement


Relevant Methods and Approaches for Agile Teams

  • Scrum

  • XP (Extreme Programming)
  • DSDM Atern

  • Kanban

  • Lean
Software Development
  • Lean Startup