IASSC Green Belt Exam Content: The Five DMAIC Phases and Their Question Counts

Last checked: 10 November 2026. The sources are PeopleCert's IASSC Certified Green Belt (ICGB) Syllabus, version 1.1 (January 2026), the Green Belt certification page on the IASSC website and the exam page on the PeopleCert website. This guide is independent: it is not affiliated with the International Association for Six Sigma Certification (IASSC), PeopleCert or any government body.

In short: the IASSC Green Belt exam has 100 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes, and the pass mark is 70%. The questions are spread across the five DMAIC phases. Measure is the largest with about 32 questions, then Analyze with about 22, Define and Control with about 19 each, and Improve with about 8.

Phases, topics and question counts

The question counts come from the test specification table in the syllabus (p. 9) and are approximate. The topics and their detailed items come from section 5, Detailed Syllabus (pp. 7 to 9). The IASSC page adds that some forms of the exam may include up to 10 extra questions that are not scored.

What each phase tests

• Define: the meanings and history of Six Sigma, project deliverables, Y = f(X), the voices of the customer, business and employee, roles, CTQs, the cost of poor quality, Pareto, the DPU, DPMO, FTY and RTY metrics, the charter, project metrics and financial benefits, and Lean, the seven elements of waste and 5S.
• Measure: fishbone diagrams, process maps, SIPOC, value stream maps, the X-Y matrix and FMEA; descriptive statistics, the normal distribution, normality tests and graphs; measurement system analysis (accuracy, precision, bias, linearity, stability, Gage R&R and attribute studies); and process capability (Cp, Cpk, Pp, Ppk and attribute capability).
• Analyze: multi-vari analysis and classes of distributions; sampling and the Central Limit Theorem; hypothesis-testing concepts and alpha and beta risk; t-tests, the 1-sample variance test and ANOVA; and non-parametric tests, proportion tests and chi-square.
• Improve: correlation, simple, multiple and non-linear regression, confidence and prediction intervals, residual analysis and the Box-Cox transformation. Designed experiments are not in the detailed syllabus.
• Control: 5S control, kanban and poka-yoke; data collection and the I-MR, Xbar-R, Xbar-S, U, P, NP, CuSum and EWMA charts; and cost-benefit analysis, the control plan and the response plan.

What the questions look like

Questions are definitions, project situations, calculations and readings of statistical output such as p-values and Gage R&R results. The syllabus says the exam tests cognitive levels up to Evaluate. Inside the exam you get the IASSC Reference Document with the formulas and tables you need, and you may not bring your own copy.

Test day

• Length: 100 questions in 180 minutes, closed book and proctored, in person or online.
• Extra time: the syllabus allows an extra 45 minutes for non-native speakers and candidates with a disability.
• Calculator: a standard or scientific non-programmable calculator is allowed, and online exams have a calculator built into the exam platform.
• Language: PeopleCert says the exam is offered in four languages and we did not find Arabic among them, so expect to answer in English.
• Pass mark: 70% (70 out of 100).

What our practice covers

Our practice questions cover all 18 topics with the syllabus weights. They are shown in English, as in the exam, with an Arabic translation, and every option has an explanation in Arabic and English that points to its syllabus item. We wrote them ourselves for practice; they are not past exam questions.