BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis Syllabus

The course BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis helps you to find business problems, understand what business needs and helps to make improvements.This course syllabus covers 14 topics.

For those looking to develop their knowledge in this field, the BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis course offers a way to explore this subject in more detail.

This qualification is suitable for people who want to learn about Business Analysis and improve business processes. It may be useful for:

• People who want to become Business Analysts
• Junior Business Analysts
• Project Managers
• For those who help businesses improve their processes.
• People who want to explore a career in Business Analysis.

There are no formal entry requirements for this qualification.

This qualification helps you,

• Learn how to find business problems.
• Understand what stakeholders exactly need.
• Learn how to make business processes better.
• Learn how to record and manage business needs.
• Prepare for other BCS Business Analysis qualifications.

Even though this qualification can help you develop your career, job opportunities also depend on your skills, experience and what employers are looking for.

The syllabus covers 14 topics. Each topic has a percentage showing how much of the exam it covers.

1. What Is Business Analysis?

Under this topic you will understand the exact role of a Business Analyst, the principles of Business Analysis and also how analysis supports for the business change.

2. The Competencies of a Business Analyst

Under this topic it mostly covers overall qualities a Business Analyst should have like personal qualities, professional skills and gives the business knowledge a Business Analyst should have to do the work effectively.

3. The Strategic Context for Business Analysis

From the third topic you will learn how Business Analysis supports organisational goals using techniques such as PESTLE, VMOST and SWOT. You can also learn critical success factors and key performance indicators under this topic.

4. The Business Analysis Service Framework

Under this topic you can learn the main activities involved in investigating business situations, improving processes, defining requirements and supporting business change.

5. Investigating the Business Situation

This section is focused on how to collect and analyse data using methods such as interviews, workshops, observations, surveys, prototyping, and document review.

6. Analysing and Managing Stakeholders

This section explains how to identify stakeholders and then evaluate what they want from the project and how to get them involved with the project through the use of methods like the Power/Interest Grid and RACI Chart.

7. Improving Business Services and Processes

This topic covers improving business operations. It covers process modelling and methods along with making tasks simpler, reducing delays and using automation.

8. Defining the Solution

From this topic you will learn how to understand the current situation, find what needs to change and choose possible solutions.

9. Making the Business Case

Understand how to assess feasibility, consider costs and benefits, evaluate investment options and develop a business case.

10. Establishing the Requirements

Explore different types of requirements, ways to gather them, business rules and prioritisation techniques such as MoSCoW.

11. Documenting and Modelling Requirements

Learn how to represent requirements using tools and models such as requirements catalogues, user stories, use-case models, class models and business process models.

12. Validating and Managing Requirements

Understand how to check requirements, maintain traceability and manage changes throughout a project.

13. Delivering the Requirements

Explore different delivery approaches, including Waterfall, the V-model, incremental delivery and iterative Agile methods.

14. Delivering the Business Solution

Learn about the Business Analyst's involvement in solution development, testing, implementation, business readiness and benefits realisation.

The qualification is assessed through a supervised, closed-book examination. According to the official syllabus, the exam details are:

The syllabus gives the highest weightings to these areas:

• Investigating the Business Situation: 12.5%
• Improving Business Services and Processes: 12.5%
• Analysing and Managing Stakeholders: 10%
• Establishing the Requirements: 10%
• Documenting and Modelling Requirements: 10%

Use a structured study plan to go through the syllabus and identify the topics that you need to work on.

• Before the exam you should go through all 14 topics that are in the official syllabus.
• Study all the techniques so that you know when to use them.
• Practicing how to investigate problems, how to identify the stakeholders and how to gather the requirements is important. That will help you to apply the concepts to a business situation.
• Revision is important. So spend more time on the higher weight topics, just don't ignore the others.
• Practicing MCQs is the way to see how well you actually understand the topic. You can go back to the topics where you've made mistakes.