Training, exams and certification
Training, exams and certification
Forty questions, ninety minutes, open book, twenty-eight to pass, in nine languages. It is the module about deciding where an organisation goes rather than running what it has — and two of its nine syllabus areas are about AI.
Reviewed by GoToCertify’s accredited trainers
ITIL Strategy (Version 5) covers developing, delivering and optimising strategies that create lasting value. Every figure below is published by PeopleCert on the certification’s own page.
| Questions | 40, multiple choice |
|---|---|
| Duration | 90 minutes |
| Pass mark | 70% — 28 correct answers out of 40 |
| Materials | Open book |
| Prerequisites | Any ITIL 4 certification, or ITIL Foundation (Version 5), or ITIL Foundation Bridge (Version 5) |
| Accredited training | Mandatory. An Accredited Training Organization or ITIL Official eLearning |
| Languages | Nine — Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish |
The scheme is becoming uniform on this. Foundation, Foundation Bridge, Service, Product, Experience, Strategy and AI Governance are offered in nine languages: Japanese was the last one added to Experience and Strategy, and AI Governance went from English only to nine. Transformation, English only until now, joins them on 12 November 2026.
| Foundation | 9 languages | |
| Service | 9 languages | |
| Product | 9 languages | |
| Experience | 9 languages | |
| Strategy | 9 languages | |
| AI Governance | 9 languages | |
| Transformation | English — 9 from 12 Nov 2026 |
One consequence worth planning around: your accredited training may be delivered in one language and the paper sat in another, so the terminology you rehearse and the terminology you are examined on can differ. Choose the exam language when you book and rehearse in it. If it is not your first language, check with PeopleCert whether you qualify for the additional time allowance offered to candidates sitting an exam in a non-native language — it is worth asking before you book, not after.
Notice the shape: development and implementation are separate areas, and so are decision-making and leadership. The syllabus is deliberate about the gap between having a strategy and getting one to happen — PeopleCert names the skills the module builds as strategic alignment and direction, confident decision-making amid complexity, and effective execution and value realisation.
Two of the nine are about AI. Strategy in AI-driven environments and AI governance in strategy are separate areas, which means roughly eight or nine of the forty questions can be expected to sit there.
Accredited training is part of the certification, not a recommendation. Strategy requires an Accredited Training Organization or ITIL Official eLearning, and PeopleCert states that exam results will not be released without proof of completion.
ITIL Foundation (Version 5) is the only exam in the scheme you may prepare for alone. From there upwards the course is a gate on the result itself: the paper can be sat, but the score is held until proof of completion reaches PeopleCert.
Strategy is the module where open book helps least. Questions about decision-making in complex environments do not have a page you can turn to; they have a judgement you either rehearsed or did not.
Rehearse in the language you will sit the paper in. If your course was in one language and you book the exam in another, read the syllabus terms in the exam language until they stop needing translation.
Separate development from implementation in your head. The syllabus does, and questions test whether you can tell which one a scenario is asking about.
Give the two AI areas real time. They are new, they are a fifth of the syllabus, and they are the areas least likely to be covered by experience you already have.
Rehearse at 135 seconds a question. Twelve wrong answers is the entire margin.
Nine: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish. Foundation, Service, Product, Experience and AI Governance are offered in the same nine; Transformation is English only until 12 November 2026, then nine as well.
Yes. Accredited training or ITIL Official eLearning is mandatory, and the result is not released without proof of completion.
Twenty-eight correct answers out of forty. The published figure is 70%.
Any ITIL 4 certification, or ITIL Foundation (Version 5), or ITIL Foundation Bridge (Version 5).
Yes, ninety minutes, open book. Only Foundation and Foundation Bridge are closed book.
No. Every module above Foundation sits directly on the Foundation-level prerequisite; they are not a ladder.
Sources. Every figure on this page comes from PeopleCert’s own published certification pages, checked in September 2026.
Strategy cannot be self-studied: without proof of an accredited course your result is never released. That rules out the self-study Exam Bundle here. eLearning is the package that satisfies the rule — the accredited course itself, alongside the official eBook, the exam voucher, a learning resource kit and auto-marked sample papers. It is on sale here, with eLearning+ adding the Official Mock Exam and a free re-take.
See the packagesNot sure yet? Create a free account and try 10 free practice questions first: original questions with an explanation after every answer.
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