Before you start: what this course is
Read these three points first.
- Ownership. ITIL, the ITIL Foundation (Version 5) syllabus and the official ITIL book belong to PeopleCert. None of them is attached to or reproduced in this course. Get them from peoplecert.org.
- Status. This course is independent. It is not accredited by PeopleCert.
- No guarantee. The course prepares you for the exam. It does not promise a pass.
Task 1: Learn the exam format
Memorise these figures. They decide how you study and how you pace yourself.
| Item | ITIL Foundation (Version 5) |
|---|---|
| Questions | 40, multiple choice |
| Time | 60 minutes |
| Materials | Closed book: no notes, no book |
| Pass mark | 65%, which is 26 correct out of 40 |
What this means in practice:
- You have 90 seconds per question on average.
- You may get 14 questions wrong and still pass. 25 correct is a fail.
- Closed book means every definition must be in your memory on the day.
Training providers also report that there is no negative marking, that questions test recall and understanding (not scenario analysis), and that candidates sitting in a non-native language may get 75 minutes. This course could not check these three points on PeopleCert's own pages. Confirm them with PeopleCert when you book.
Task 2: Learn the seven syllabus sections
PeopleCert's syllabus v5.0 has seven sections. Published summaries of the syllabus give these weightings. The question counts are the weightings applied to 40 questions.
| # | Section | Weight | About |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Key ITIL terms and definitions | 30% | 12 questions |
| 2 | The ITIL Four Dimensions of Product and Service Management | 10% | 4 |
| 3 | The ITIL Product and Service Lifecycle | 10% | 4 |
| 4 | The ITIL Value System | 40% | 16 |
| 5 | Value stream identification, mapping and management | 5% | 2 |
| 6 | ITIL and AI | 2.5% | 1 |
| 7 | ITIL and other frameworks | 2.5% | 1 |
Do this: spend your study time by weight. Sections 4 and 1 together are 70% of the exam, about 28 questions. You need 26 to pass. This course follows the same weighting.
Task 3: Keep Version 5 separate from ITIL 4
ITIL (Version 5) was released in February 2026. ITIL 4 Foundation is a different exam with a different syllabus. PeopleCert still lists it, and its current stated plan is to retire the ITIL 4 modules on 31 December 2027.
Much free material online (videos, flashcards, practice questions) is still written for ITIL 4. Version 5 renamed and reworked models. One example: ITIL 4 has a "service value system"; Version 5 has the "ITIL Value System". An ITIL 4 definition can look right and still be the wrong answer in a Version 5 exam.
Do this for every study resource:
- Check that it names "ITIL Foundation (Version 5)" or "syllabus v5.0".
- Check that it is dated February 2026 or later.
- If it fails either check, do not learn definitions from it.
Task 4: Understand digital product and service management
This is the first key term in the syllabus, and it names the subject of the whole framework.
Reported PeopleCert wording. Public study sources quote the ITIL definition as: "the set of specialized organizational capabilities for enabling value for customers and stakeholders in the form of digital products and services". The wording is PeopleCert's. This course could not open PeopleCert's own glossary to compare it, and one other source gives a shorter paraphrase. Check the exact words in the official glossary before you memorise them.
In this course's own words:
- A capability is something an organisation is able to do. It rests on people, skills, ways of working and technology together.
- Specialized means these capabilities are developed deliberately for this purpose.
- Enabling value means making it possible for people to get something that matters to them.
- Customers and stakeholders means the people who receive that benefit, plus others who are affected by it.
Example. A bank offers a mobile banking app. To make the app useful to its customers, the bank must decide what the app should do, build it, release changes, keep it running, answer users' questions and improve it. No single team or tool does all of that. The combined ability to do it is digital product and service management.
Why "product and". Earlier ITIL versions centred on IT service management. Version 5 widens the scope to digital products and services managed together. The exact meanings of "product", "service", "digital product" and "digital service" come in Level 2.
Task 5: Read the three labels used in this course
The exam asks for ITIL's definitions, so you must know how sure you can be of each statement. Every lesson uses three labels.
- PeopleCert's wording. A definition quoted as public sources give it. Learn the key words closely.
- This course's own words. An explanation or example. Use it to understand. Do not expect to see it in the exam.
- Unconfirmed. A point that could not be checked on public sources. Verify it in PeopleCert's official material before you rely on it.
What the exam asks about this
The exam does not ask about its own format. It can ask you to recognise what digital product and service management is. Expect a question that gives a definition and asks for the term, or gives the term and asks for the correct description. The format facts above are for your planning.
Key takeaways
- 40 multiple-choice questions, 60 minutes, closed book, 26 out of 40 (65%) to pass.
- Seven sections weighted 30%, 10%, 10%, 40%, 5%, 2.5%, 2.5%. The ITIL Value System and key terms make up 70%.
- This is not the ITIL 4 exam. Do not learn definitions from ITIL 4 material.
- Digital product and service management is the organisation's set of specialised capabilities for enabling value through digital products and services.
- ITIL, its syllabus and its book are PeopleCert's, available from peoplecert.org. This course is independent, not accredited, and promises no pass.
- Know which label a statement carries: PeopleCert's wording, this course's own words, or unconfirmed.