Training, exams and certification
Training, exams and certification
The same shape as Foundation — forty questions, an hour, closed book, twenty-six to pass — asked from the other side of the table. And it is the one level APMG does not offer for self-study.
Reviewed by GoToCertify’s accredited trainers
The APMG ISO/IEC 20000 Auditor certificate is for people who audit a service management system: internal auditors, supplier auditors and auditors working for certification bodies.
| Questions | 40, multiple choice |
|---|---|
| Duration | 60 minutes |
| Pass mark | 65% — 26 correct answers out of 40 |
| Materials | Closed book |
| Prerequisites | None formal; around three years of auditing experience in an IT environment is recommended |
| Accredited training | Required: APMG does not offer the Auditor level as self-study |
| Languages | English, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Spanish |
| Typical course | Two days |
On paper the Auditor exam looks like Foundation. The difference is the angle. Foundation asks what the standard requires; Auditor asks whether what you are shown meets it, what evidence would prove it, and what you would write down if it does not.
Expect questions about audit principles and terms, the types of audit (first, second and third party), planning and conducting an audit, sampling and evidence, and how nonconformities are classified, reported and followed up.
For Foundation and Practitioner, APMG lets you buy the standard, buy an exam and sit it. For Auditor it does not: the qualification is reached through an accredited course. Plan the budget accordingly — the exam is not something to book on its own.
ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018 is the edition organizations are certified against today. APMG’s Auditor description still refers to the 2011 edition, so ask your trainer which edition the course and the exam are aligned with before you start. The audit skills do not change; the clause numbers do.
Know the requirements well enough to recognise them in someone else’s evidence. Practise turning a situation into a finding: what was required, what was observed, why it is or is not a nonconformity. Sixty minutes for forty questions leaves no time to look anything up.
Forty multiple-choice questions.
Twenty-six out of forty — 65%.
Sixty minutes, closed book.
No. APMG does not offer the Auditor level as self-study: you take it through an accredited course.
It is not a formal prerequisite, but a working knowledge of ISO/IEC 20000-1 is assumed, and auditing experience is recommended.
Not on its own. Certification bodies set their own competence requirements for their auditors.
Sources. Every figure on this page comes from APMG International’s own published certification pages and from accredited training material, checked in October 2026.
We run it as a two-day in-company course with an APMG-accredited trainer, the exam at your premises or by voucher. From €640 per participant, exam included, minimum four.
See the courseBITIL.COM is an ATO (Accredited Training Organization) of APMG-International for ISO/IEC 20000® & ISO/IEC 27001® courses.
