Scrum.org is an association that provides Scrum training and certifications to the agile community. Ken Schwaber, the co-creator of agile manifesto and Scrum, founded Scrum.org in 2009. Scrum.org offers several Scrum qualifications. They include:

Professional Scrum Master

Professional Scrum Product Owner

Professional Scrum Developer

Scaled Professional Scrum

Professional Scrum with Kanban

In this article, we will focus our discussion on the Professional Scrum Master qualification.

Professional Scrum Master

The Professional Scrum Master (PSM) qualification is in three levels. The levels are PSM I, PSM II and PSM III respectively. The PSM qualifications do not require you to recertify.

Professional Scrum Master I (PSM I)

PSM I is for anyone who wants to validate his or her knowledge of the Scrum framework and its application. There are no formal requirements for sitting the exam. However, it is advised that you attend training before sitting the exam. The format for the exam is shown below:

Multiple choice questions

80 questions in total

1-hour duration

Level of difficulty: Intermediate

Pass score: 85%

Professional Scrum Master II (PSM II)

This level is for those who have successfully passed PSM I. In addition, it is for anyone who wants to prove that he or she can apply the Scrum framework to solve complex and advanced real-life problems. Again, there are no pre-requisites for sitting the exam. Nevertheless, it is recommended that you attend training before sitting the exam. The exam format is shown below:

Multiple choice questions

30 questions in total

90 minutes duration

Level of difficulty: Advanced

Pass score: 85%

Professional Scrum Master III (PSM III)

PSM III is for those who have passed PSM I and PSM II assessments and want to demonstrate their mastery of Scrum. More so, PSM III-certified professionals do not only understand and apply Scrum, but they can also mentor and coach Scrum teams. To sit the PSM III assessment, you must have passed the PSM I assessment. It is also recommended that you attend training before taking PSM III assessment. The format of the exam is shown below:

Multiple choice and essay questions

2-hour duration

Level of difficulty: Advanced

Pass score: 85%

How to get certified

Getting certified is very easy. After attending a Scrum training, you will then sit the PSM exam. Harrybaker training offers the PSM I training only. After training with us, we will give you the PSM I exam voucher. With this voucher, you can sit your exam anytime and anywhere, as the exam is online.

Please visit our ‘Scrum training’ page to learn more.

Scrum Alliance is an organization that provides education, support, and resources to Agile and Scrum practitioners. It was founded in 2001 in the United States, and there are over 750,000 practitioners worldwide. Scrum Alliance offers a variety of Scrum certification some of which are:

Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM®)

Certified Scrum Developer® (CSD®)

Certified Scrum Professional® (CSP®)

Advanced Certified ScrumMaster (A-CSMSM)

Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®)

Advanced Certified Scrum Product Owner (A-CSPOSM)

We do not offer Scrum Alliance training and exam.