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Overview
This BCS Business Analysis Foundation course gives you a clear, practical introduction to modern business analysis. You’ll learn the key concepts, techniques, and language needed to support successful change in any organisation.
What you will gain
- Understand the role and core competencies of a business analyst
- See how business analysis supports strategy and organisational change
- Learn techniques to investigate and model business situations
- Gain confidence working with stakeholders and requirements
- Prepare for the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam
Who this course is for
- New or aspiring business analysts
- Professionals involved in change, projects, or product development
- Project managers, product owners, and change managers
- Stakeholders who work closely with BAs or requirements
- Anyone seeking the BCS Business Analysis Foundation certificate
Benefits
Recognised certification
Earn an industry-respected BCS qualification aligned to the Business Analysis 4th edition book.
Stronger analysis skills
Develop practical tools to investigate problems, analyse processes, and define better solutions.
Better stakeholder engagement
Learn techniques to identify, analyse, and manage stakeholders more effectively.
Improved requirements quality
Understand how to elicit, document, and validate clear, traceable requirements.
Practical, real-world focus
Apply concepts through examples and scenarios drawn from real business change.
Career development
Strengthen your CV and open up progression paths into business analysis and change roles.
Delivery
Compare learning options to find the format that suits you best.
Delivery
Duration
Trainer interaction
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Course
This course gives you a structured overview of the business analysis lifecycle - from understanding the organisation’s strategy through to delivering solutions and realising benefits. You’ll build confidence using key techniques and terminology that you can apply immediately in your role.
Understand the BA role
Clarify what business analysts do, where they add value, and how their competencies support successful change.
Work in the strategic context
See how business analysis links to strategy, business models, and performance measures such as CSFs and KPIs.
Investigate business situations
Use workshops, interviews, observation, and other techniques to explore problems and opportunities.
Improve processes and services
Model processes at different levels, identify issues, and propose improvements that enhance customer journeys.
Define solutions and business cases
Apply gap analysis, option development, and business case techniques to justify change initiatives.
Manage requirements effectively
Elicit, document, model, validate, and manage requirements across different delivery lifecycles, including Agile.
Curriculum
The BCS Business Analysis Foundation course covers all topics in the official syllabus, giving you the knowledge required for the exam.
- What is business analysis?
- The competencies of a business analyst
- The strategic context for business analysis
- The business analysis service framework (BASF)
- Investigating the business situation
- Analysing and managing stakeholders
- Improving business services and processes
- Defining the solution
- Making the business case
- Establishing the requirements
- Documenting and modelling requirements
- Validating and managing requirements
- Delivering the requirements
- Delivering the business solution
Full curriculum details
What is business analysis?
- The business change lifecycle and where business analysis fits
- Core principles of business analysis in today’s organisations
- Variants of the business analyst role across projects and products
The competencies of a business analyst
- The T-shaped professional concept
- Personal qualities, business knowledge, and professional techniques
- Developing capability as a practising business analyst
The strategic context for business analysis
- Using PESTLE to analyse the external environment
- Applying VMOST to understand vision, mission, objectives, strategy, and tactics
- Using CSFs, KPIs, POPIT™ and the business model canvas in strategy execution
The business analysis service framework (BASF)
- Key BA service activities from investigation to deployment
- How the framework adapts to different organisational contexts
- The BA role across the end-to-end change lifecycle
Investigating the business situation
- Workshops, observation, interviews, scenarios, and prototyping
- Quantitative techniques such as surveys and document analysis
- User role analysis, personas, rich pictures, and mind maps
Analysing and managing stakeholders
- Identifying stakeholders using the stakeholder wheel
- Power/interest grid and stakeholder management strategies
- Defining responsibilities with RACI charts
Improving business services and processes
- The business process hierarchy: enterprise, event-response, and actor-task levels
- Enterprise-level models: SIPOC, value chain analysis, and value propositions
- As-is and to-be process modelling and improvement strategies
Defining the solution
- Gap analysis between current and target states using POPIT™
- Developing solution options and assessing feasibility
- The principles and stages of design thinking
Making the business case
- The lifecycle of a business case from idea to deployment
- Assessing business, technical, and financial feasibility
- Business case structure, CARDI logs, and investment appraisal techniques
Establishing the requirements
- The requirements engineering framework and key activities
- Actors in requirements engineering and types of requirements
- Requirements hierarchy, elicitation techniques, and analysis filters
Documenting and modelling requirements
- Text-based and diagrammatic documentation styles
- Requirements catalogues, user stories, and product backlogs
- Use case diagrams and class models for data and functional views
Validating and managing requirements
- Formal and Agile approaches to requirements validation
- Horizontal and vertical traceability of requirements
- Change control and maintaining a clear audit trail
Delivering the requirements
- Waterfall, V-model, incremental, and iterative (Agile) lifecycles
- When to use each lifecycle and their pros and cons
- Implications for requirements definition and management
Delivering the business solution
- The BA role during design, development, testing, and implementation
- Readiness assessment, transition and migration options
- Benefits planning and managing realisation through the change lifecycle
Read more
Exam & certification
What to expect from the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam and how we help you pass.
- Format: Multiple choice (objective test)
- Questions: 40
- Pass mark: 65% (26/40)
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Materials: Closed book
- Prerequisites: None
- Results: Same day
- Exam access: Online
Your path to success
Learn
Build a solid understanding of business analysis with clear, structured lessons.
Practice
Reinforce key ideas with practice questions, recap activities, and tutor tips.
Pass
Enter the exam confident, with focused preparation and clear knowledge checks.
99% pass rate
Our students consistently achieve top results - well above the national average.
Reviews & success stories
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FAQs
Do I need any previous experience or prerequisites to study the BCS Business Analysis Foundation course?
No previous experience or formal prerequisites are required to study the BCS Business Analysis Foundation course. The qualification is designed as an entry-level certification, making it accessible to anyone who wants to learn business analysis from the ground up.
The course is suitable for a wide range of learners, including:
- New or aspiring business analysts with no prior BA experience
- Project managers, product owners, and change managers who work alongside business analysts
- Professionals involved in change, projects, or product development who want to formalise their knowledge
- Stakeholders who collaborate closely with BAs or work with business requirements
Because there are no entry requirements, the BCS Business Analysis Foundation course is often the natural starting point for anyone entering the profession. The course covers core concepts from scratch – including the business analyst role, stakeholder management, requirements engineering, process modelling, and business case development – so prior knowledge of these topics is not assumed.
Learners who already have some experience in change or project environments may find the course reinforces and structures knowledge they have already built informally, as well as preparing them for the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam, which is a 60-minute, 40-question multiple choice test with a 65% pass mark.
Should I choose instructor-led or self-paced BCS Business Analysis Foundation training?
The right format depends on how you learn best, how much flexibility you need, and how quickly you want to prepare for the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam.
Use the decision criteria below to compare the two options offered by Knowledge Train:
- Choose instructor-led if you prefer a structured timetable, want live interaction with an accredited trainer, and value being able to ask questions in real time. The instructor-led course runs over 3 days of live online sessions, includes the official BCS manual and sample papers, and suits learners who benefit from guided learning and group discussion.
- Choose self-paced if you need flexibility to study around work or other commitments. The self-paced option gives you 12-month access to approximately 30 hours of interactive online modules, with tutor and technical support available by email and phone. You can start at any time and revisit topics as often as needed.
Both formats include the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam and sample papers, so neither option disadvantages you in terms of exam preparation. The exam itself is a 40-question multiple-choice test, 60 minutes long, taken online with results available on the same day.
If you are studying as part of a team, the instructor-led format is also available as private group delivery, which can be tailored to your organisation’s schedule.
How do I take the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam?
The BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam is taken online and is included as part of the course, so there is no need to book or pay for it separately.
Here is what to expect from the exam format:
- Format: Multiple choice (objective test)
- Number of questions: 40
- Pass mark: 65%, which means 26 out of 40 correct answers
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Materials permitted: Closed book – no notes or reference materials are allowed
- Prerequisites: None
- Results: Returned on the same day
- Access: Online
The exam is set and awarded by BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, which is the UK’s leading professional body for the technology and computing sector. Passing the exam earns you the BCS Business Analysis Foundation certificate, a recognised qualification aligned to the Business Analysis 4th edition book.
Both the instructor-led (3-day live online) and self-paced (30-hour e-learning) versions of the course include the exam and sample papers to help you prepare. There are no formal entry requirements, making the qualification accessible to anyone working in or moving into business analysis, change management, or related roles.
When will I receive my BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam results and certificate?
Provisional results for the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam are available immediately after you complete the online test, with your official digital certificate confirmed and available within one week.
The BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam is taken online via the BCS e-professional portal, which candidates must register on before sitting the exam. Once you finish the 60-minute, 40-question multiple choice test, a provisional result is displayed on screen straight away, so you will know whether you have passed (the pass mark is 65%, or 26 out of 40 correct answers) before you leave the session.
BCS then formally confirms the result and makes your digital e-certificate available in your BCS e-professional portal within one week of the exam date. There is no need to wait for a physical certificate to arrive in the post.
Key points to note
- Register on the BCS portal before your exam date – access to your result and certificate depends on having an active portal account.
- The exam is closed book, so no reference materials are permitted during the test.
- Both the instructor-led (3-day) and self-paced (30-hour) options offered by Knowledge Train include the exam as part of the course fee.
If you have any questions about accessing your results or certificate after sitting through Knowledge Train, tutor support is available by email within one business day.
Is BCS Business Analysis Foundation hard to pass?
The BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam is considered achievable for most candidates who prepare thoroughly, with Knowledge Train reporting a 99% pass rate across its learners.
The exam itself is structured as follows:
- Format: 40 multiple-choice questions
- Pass mark: 65% (26 out of 40 correct answers)
- Duration: 60 minutes
- Closed book – no reference materials are permitted
- Results: Provisional results are available on the same day
The pass mark of 65% means candidates do not need to answer every question correctly, which makes the exam accessible to those who have covered the core syllabus. The BCS Business Analysis Foundation syllabus is broad, covering topics such as stakeholder analysis, process modelling, requirements engineering, business cases, and strategic frameworks like PESTLE and VMOST. The volume of material is the main challenge, not the depth of technical complexity.
Candidates who attend a structured three-day instructor-led course or complete the 30-hour self-paced programme – both of which include the exam and sample papers – are well placed to pass first time. There are no formal prerequisites, so the course is designed to bring learners from little or no prior knowledge up to the standard needed.
If a candidate does not pass first time, an exam resit is available, though an additional fee applies.
Can I retake the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam if I fail, and does it cost extra?
Yes, you can retake the BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam if you do not pass, but an additional exam resit fee applies.
The BCS Business Analysis Foundation exam is a 60-minute, closed-book, multiple-choice test consisting of 40 questions. The pass mark is 65%, meaning you need to answer at least 26 questions correctly. Provisional results are available on the same day you sit the exam, so you will know quickly whether a resit is needed.
If you do not reach the pass mark, Knowledge Train confirms that a resit is available, though you will need to pay a separate resit fee to book it again. The cost of the resit exam is not included in the original course fee.
A few practical points worth knowing:
- The exam is taken online via the BCS candidate portal, so you will need to be registered on the portal before sitting.
- BCS confirms your result and makes your digital certificate available in the BCS e-professional portal within one week of the exam date.
- Knowledge Train reports a 99% pass rate for its learners, which significantly reduces the likelihood of needing a resit.
- Tutor support is available after your course ends, which can help you prepare if you do need to resit.
Still have questions? Contact us by phone on 0207 148 5985, via live chat, email, or by completing the form below.
How to find us
Knowledge Train
20 Old Bailey, London, EC4M 7AN,
England, United Kingdom.
Call +44 (0)207 148 5985
Opening hours
Monday to Friday – 09:00 to 17:15