What is CSM?
The Certified Scrum Master (CSM) certification is a project management credential that proves your knowledge and understanding of the Scrum software development framework.
To receive the CSM certification, you must pass a rigorous exam. No, you won’t need to study until your brain explodes to pass it, but you need to take your studies seriously.
Fortunately, many CSM training courses are available to help you prepare for the exam. In this article, we give you an overview of the best CSM training courses. Our reviews will help you decide which works best for you.
Best CSM Courses of 2023
Below, you’ll discover the seven best CSM training courses. We’ll also review two Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) courses.
1. Master of Project Scrum Master Training Course
Master of Project Academy produces this Scrum Master Training self-paced CSM training course. The company produces many other courses in areas like the following.
- CAPM certification
- PMP certification
- Corporate training
- Microsoft Project
- Agile training
Students of the Master of Project Academy courses boast a 99.6% pass rate on their first attempt. Companies like Volvo, Moody’s, Ericsson, Hewlett Packard, KPMG, and Roche trust Master of Project Academy courses. You can feel comfortable that you’re getting an A-class education when going through its Scrum Master Training material.
Course Features: The Certified Scrum Master Training course provides over 12 hours of instruction. You will receive more than 150 CSM practice questions, cheat sheets, and a CSM practice test to ensure you’re ready to take the exam.
Pros:
- Affordable
- Flexible self-paced option
- Quality instruction
- 30-day money-back guarantee
- Course completion certificate
With its 50+ lectures, 30-day guarantee, and plenty of practice questions, you’re giving yourself an advantage using this CSM training course. If you’re working full-time, you can use the self-paced track to improve your skills around a busy schedule.
2. Project Management Academy Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Training
The Project Management Academy specializes in certification prep and skills training. The Academy has advanced the careers of more than 100,000 people over the years. Ninety-eight percent of the Fortune 100 companies use the Academy’s courses. It serves more than 10,000 students per year.
Course Features: Taken as a “live” professional scrum master course over two days, you will learn everything required for the exam. The course outline includes scrum roles, scrum theory, scrum artifacts, scrum ceremonies, scrum values, and scrum master skills.
Pros & Cons:
- Classes run even if you’re the only student
- Taught by Certified Scrum Trainers
- Comprehensive student guide
- Plenty of test examples
- Course pricing includes exam cost
- Must attend “live”
You will achieve 16 units to put toward the CSM exam. In addition to these 16 Scrum Education Units (SEUs), you’ll also get 14 Professional Development Units (PDUs). Use these PDUs toward your continuing education.
3. KnowledgeHut’s CSM Certification Training
KnowledgeHut specializes in providing on-demand digital training courses to further career opportunities for its students. You can take the CSM course as an individual or help your product development team members improve their scrum skills. Coca-Cola, Accenture, FedEx, HSBC, Nokia, Amazon, Dell, UST Global, and Daimler all use KnowledgeHut’s training platform.
Course Features: The course features “live” virtual training sessions. An instructor will lead you through the preparation phase over 16 hours of class time. You will receive real-world case studies as a part of the course. Use these case studies to more effectively learn how to pass the CSM exam. You will be ready to take the test after only two days of study.
Pros & Cons:
- Attain 16 PDUs and SEUs
- Learn from experienced instructors
- Receive a two-year Scrum Alliance membership
- Includes role plays and simulations
- Must attend “live” (no self-paced option)
- Must initiate the refund request within seven days of purchase
4. Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification Training Course (From Simplilearn)
Companies like Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, and Facebook trust Simplilearn to educate their employees. As well, universities such as Purdue, Caltech, Wharton, and UMass Amherst use the company to train project managers. Simplilearn holds more than 1500 monthly classes. Over the years, the training company helped advance more than three million careers.
Course Features: The course occurs over two days and helps with the following skills.
- Scrum terminologies
- Scrum methodologies
- Daily scrum and review
- Importance of agile project management
- Roles involved with scrum
- Scrum lifecycle
You receive a two-year membership in the Scrum Alliance upon enrolling in this course. A quality course feature includes access to fifteen additional courses.
Pros & Cons:
- Attain 20 PDUs
- Attain 16 SEUs
- Take the virtual course from anywhere
- Course fees include the CSM exam fee
- Free exam retake
- Doesn’t include a self-paced option
- Must hold at least a high school diploma to attend
You can rest assured that you will receive expert training and education when taking the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification training course. Simplilearn offers a 100% money-back guarantee. Get your money back if you’re unsatisfied with the course for any reason.
5. PM Training’s Certified ScrumMaster Training Course
PM Training offers a full roster of expert instructors to learn scrum from. The company offers payment plan options. Companies like Northrop Grumman, Towson, Amazon, Hytrol, Kindred Healthcare, and Kaiser Permanente use its training courses.
Course Features: Inside its “live” class structure, you will use the course curriculum that includes practice questions and exams. It also provides you with expert instruction to help you understand its study activities and materials.
Pros & Cons:
- 16 PDU credits
- Exam pass guarantee
- You can do the final exam online
- Payment plan
- First-time pass rate lower than other courses
- Doesn’t offer a self-paced program
6. Learning Tree Scrum Master Certification Course
- Classroom: Learning Tree International prides itself on their ability to provide students with the highest quality classroom experience possible. With a number of locations all over the country, students shouldn’t have much difficulty finding a session close enough for reasonable travel arrangements. What’s even better is the classroom experience itself: held in a clean and state-of-the-art building with knowledgeable instructors and numerous amenities. They even go so far as to provide a continental breakfast and snacks during breaks.
- CPE: The most obvious reason for any student to enroll in Learning Tree International’s CSM course is to learn Scrum. However, their course offers a decent amount of PDUs on top of the requisite SEUs needed to achieve certification. As a result, this course can serve as an excellent resource for individuals who are already established project managers who need to accrue CPE in order to maintain certification status. Additionally, students who wish to continue their project management education after achieving Scrum mastery can harness these PDUs for other certifications.
- Guarantee: This CSM course is anything but cheap. Students interested in enrolling will need to pay up, which can cause some apprehension. However, Learning Tree International alleviates some of this anxiety by offering all students a very generous satisfaction guarantee. Their guarantee stipulates that if any student isn’t completely satisfied with the quality of their education then they won’t have to pay a single dime of their tuition fees. The reason why Learning Tree can offer such an appealing guarantee is because just about every single enrolled student is fully satisfied with their course.
- Price: Something that is likely to turn off many prospective students to Learning Tree International’s CSM study course is its price. Out of all the CSM courses listed here, this one is the most expensive by a few hundred dollars. What’s particularly damning about this is the fact that some of the more affordable courses listed here offer more PDUs and features, which can make it difficult to justify the increased cost. Fortunately, the aforementioned guarantee makes this investment a bit easier to justify.
7. Certified Scrum Master Certification Training Course From StarAgile
StarAgile offers over 250 “live” classes each month. Past course graduates report getting a new job or promotion at a 92% rate and the company boasts a 100% exam success rate. Kanban University, IBM, Axelos, and ICAgile trust StarAgile’s library of courses.
Course Features: The two-day course covers the scrum and agile frameworks. It also includes the Scrum Alliance exam fee with the course fee, a 100% money-back guarantee, and a community of over 20 scrum community groups.
Pros & Cons:
- 16 SEUs and PDUs
- Games and simulations
- 2-year membership in the Scrum Alliance
- Role-plays for test questions
- A few negative TrustPilot reviews
- You don’t receive physical course documents
8. Udemy’s Scrum Master Training Course
As one of the most affordable options on our list, this CSM training course on Udemy will help you pass the CSM exam. When selecting this option, you will use the same course material used by NetApp, Nasdaq, Eventbrite, Box, and Volkswagon.
Course Features: The course provides two hours of on-demand video training and over 20 minutes of audio material. You will also gain access to 21 articles and will receive a certificate of completion.
Pros & Cons:
- Instructor possesses almost 50,000 reviews
- Concepts clearly explained
- Access the course on TV and mobile
- Affordability
- Less in-depth than other options
- No instructor help if you get stuck
- Only available in English
9. Disciplined Agile Scrum Master Certification From Project Management Academy
We mentioned the Project Management Academy above when discussing its CSM course. It doesn’t disappoint with this course if you need to become certified as a disciplined agile scrum master.
Course Features: You will become certified in DASM over two days. The instructor teaches the course between 9 AM and 5 PM Central time. You will learn agile fundamentals, its underlying principles, and methods like Kanban.
Pros & Cons:
- Exam fee included
- Achieve 14 PDU hours
- Taught by an industry expert
- Live training allows you to ask questions
- Bring instructors on-site for team members
- Limited availability
- More expensive than other options
10. PM Training’s DASM Certification Course
PM Training shows up a second time as a product owner on our list for its DASM online course. You will learn everything you need to know about SAFe, Kanban, and Scrum best practices. Individuals and team members can benefit from the course.
Course Features: The course includes 14 PDUs and one-on-one instructor access. You can use the exam voucher included with the course at exam time. You receive all the online class materials and practice tests required to prepare properly.
Pros & Cons:
- Exam pass guarantee
- Taught “live” by expert Agile instructors
- Solid TrustPilot rating
- The support team answers questions
- Non-technical students can use the course
- Doesn’t include a self-paced course
- Classes fill up quickly
Certified Scrum Master Exam Information
When you’re ready to take the Certified Scrum Master exam, you’ll want all the help you can get to succeed.
Want to know the best tips? Then hang around.
You need to gain full knowledge about scrum best practices to do so. Selecting one of the CSM training courses above will help you learn the scrum framework. Take your exam within 90 days of completing your course to avoid extra exam fees.
You have one hour to complete the CSM exam.
The exam consists of 50 true/false and multiple-choice questions. To pass, you must answer 37 of the 50 questions correctly. Answering at least 37 correct answers gives you the lowest passing grade of 74%. The exam covers crucial scrum fundamentals such as the following.
- Scrum roles
- Scrum knowledge
- Scrum artifacts
- Scrum meetings
Conclusion
Now that you know what to expect from the different CSM training courses, it should be easier for you to decide which one is best for you. All of the courses we’ve reviewed are excellent and will prepare you to pass the Certified Scrum Master certification exam.
Our top selection is the Master of Project Academy’s Scrum Master Training course. It sits as the best because you can fit the self-paced style around any schedule. As well, the 99.6% pass rate is outstanding. You get all the instruction you need in the course.
FAQs
Do you still have a few questions about CSM training courses? Here are the answers to three commonly asked questions.
The best way to pass the CSM exam is to take a certified CSM training course. Get the training required to understand all the fundamentals that result in a passing grade.
What is the cost of CSM? A CSM training course typically ranges in price from $400 to over $1000. Most courses include the exam cost in the course pricing.
If you use one of the courses listed above, you will see that most courses provide a 100% pass guarantee. The majority of people who pay attention during course time will pass the CSM exam without much trouble.
James Edge
James is on a mission to uncover the greatest study guides and prep courses to ensure you pass your exam on your first attempt. He has personally assessed hundreds of study materials and developed courses himself.
