topic Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam? in CSSLP Study Group

Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

rjk — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 01:15:44 GMT

I completed the self-paced ISC2 CSSLP course, took the assessment and got 89%, which left me feeling confident. I booked my exam for December (first available).

I decided to do some practice exams on Udemy (couldn't find any on the ISC2 site, which seems strange) and I only got 69% on the first one I took. There was a significant number of questions that covered material not in the ISC2 course, and the level of difficulty was a step up from the ISC2 course assessment (though there were quite a few easy ones).

My question is, is the ISC2 good preparation for the exam? I've read the All-in-One Exam Guide book, and that one seems a little out of date. I've not taken that practice exam but will do so in the next day or two.

Any suggestions welcome!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

H508339 — Tue, 04 Nov 2025 22:46:28 GMT

The self-paced ISC2 CSSLP course is what I took to pass the exam. Yes the CBK seems out of date but is valuable as a desk reference, even after you pass (which you will). My advice is to keep taking those practice questions even if the adaptive learning says you've learned it. And the practice questions from the book as well as the course. When you take the exam, take your time (I'm saying this to remind myself as well). The questions can be tricky so read them carefully and then re-read them. Take a break during the exam as well to help you relax.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

dcontesti — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 16:54:29 GMT

Let's ask @CBMExamTeam to chime in on this one.

In the past there has always been a Chinese Firewall between trainings and the exam. This was done so that the organisation does not violate their Articles of Incorporation.

As a general statement, I believe (MHOO) that you should not rely on one source for training.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

CBMExamTeam — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 17:03:27 GMT

@dcontesti @rjk @H508339
Thank you for reaching out about this!

Here is what I can tell you about ISC2 exams.

Yes, @dcontesti , you are correct. ISC2 exams are experience-based. Any training, resources and tools utilized to prepare for the exam are for reference and not actual questions on the exam. We cannot teach the actual exam; there is an ethical wall between Training and Exams.

Unlike other exams where, if candidates memorize the course content, they will pass the exam, ISC2 exams test the way candidates can apply the knowledge, skills and abilities listed on the exam outline and taught in the course. So, candidates cannot rely on rote memory to pass any ISC2 exam.

A suggested methodology for tackling the exam items -

Take the time to thoroughly read and process the item (what is the question?)
Use the process of elimination
Eliminate what are obviously incorrect response(s)
Focus on the responses left and decide which is the correct response. There are no “trick” items on any of our exams; there is always one obviously correct response.

Our examinations adhere to technical guidelines which deal with the content of the items, their relevance to the profession, their appropriateness, their timeliness, their reasonableness, and their relationship to the Common Body of Knowledge (CBK). They adhere to grammatical guidelines that deal with the style of the items, their structure, consistency, clarity, bias, and readability. These guidelines ensure that the examinations remain impartial, valid, and relevant as well as maintaining our ANSI accreditation.

Hope this helps!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

dcontesti — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 17:25:37 GMT

Thank you @CBMExamTeam

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

rjk — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 18:43:21 GMT

Thank you for your response!

"There is always one obviously correct response" is music to my ears! I reviewed the Udemy practice exam I failed and found that for many of the questions I missed this was not the case.

Example: What is an important purpose of maintaining a SBOM? 2 obviously wrong answers, 2 possibles to choose from: Ensuring compliance with software licensing agreements or Identifying potential vulnerabilities. Those are both valid answers, I think. If you google "purpose of SBOM" you get both of those answers listed.

My concern was if this is the standard of exam question then I may as well toss a coin for some responses.

I've gone thru the ISC2 materials 3 times now, have read Conklin's CSSLP All-In-One book and have started Fortich's CSSLP Study Guide 2025-2026. I feel I have a good grasp of the subject matter, I just need to do practice questions and unfortunately there isn't much available out there.

Thanks again for you response, it was very helpful!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

norbertmurzsa — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 06:17:52 GMT

Hi there,

I also read several books besides the self-paced official CSSLP course and its example preparation questions.

The exam generally covered and built upon the official CSSLP course. Moreover, I experienced very low quality exam preparation questions elsewhere.

I recommend completing all exam preparation questions within the official self-paced ISC2 CSSLP course to ensure you touched all areas and review all questions you made incorrect answers.

I have another thread here about the possible incorrect Q/A in the course, I recommend to read through. I also have some additional reading materials in that thread.

Good luck!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

rjk — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 19:00:57 GMT

Hi, thanks for your response!

I did see your other posts. I had the same issues with some of the questions.

I've been using the self-paced online CSSLP course and the eBook that comes with it. I've also read the All-in-One book. I've purchased CSSLP Study Guide 2025-2026 book, mainly because it has 500 questions. At this point, I really need to do practice questions to test my understanding. My exam isn't until Dec 17th, which was the earliest available, so I've got time.

Thanks!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

Kaity — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 20:18:15 GMT

Hi folks!

You may want to download the CSSLP flash cards for some study prep as well. These are free once you fill out the form: https://cloud.connect.isc2.org/csslp-flashcards?_gl=1*1ww2c7o*_gcl_au*MTE1MTY2NjA2LjE3NjI4Nzk5MjA.*_ga*NzQ1Njk0MTYwLjE3Mzk0NTY4NzE.*_ga_7V1PGHSZT0*czE3NjM0MTAzNzMkbzExMCRnMSR0MTc2MzQxMDY2OSRqMTIkbDAkaDE3OTY4MDAxNjQ.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

norbertmurzsa — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:22:17 GMT

Good luck! Really!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

norbertmurzsa — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 14:46:54 GMT

To tell the truth, in several questions, I disagreed (or just partially agreed) with the aswers that were marked as the BEST correct. This probably comes from my past "real life" experience and the older books I have read.

I think completing the cyber exams seems a bit easier with less experience. People just need to accept all answers that are marked as correct as facts - with no questioning.

So, I suggest completing as many practice questions you can from the official ISC2 CSSLP Self-Paced Online Training. Do screenshots, make notes about your correct and incorrect answers for the practice questions to find out which domains are your weaknesses and focus much more on them. Sooner or later, the practice questions will run out and you cannot practice them without purchasing the full training again. Then, you can re-use your earlier notes, comment to re-experience those "problem" questions again.

And yes, during the exam, I read all answers even if it seems the first is the correct one. My wife always laugh at me because she says, I lose time with reading through everything. What I learnt during my work experience and exams, that we have to ensure we make the least mistake. So yes, I may lose time but I prefer understanding the questions first and then selecting the correct answer.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

nkeaton — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 16:22:07 GMT

@norbertmurzsa My friends that teach CISSP say that people generally do worst in the domain(s) that they work in most. You nailed it with experience vs the book answer. It is good to know that going into an exam though. Your advice is definitely sound. Congratulations on passing that.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

Kaity — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:14:40 GMT

I highly recommend the online self-paced courses for any certification you're preparing for. All of the ISC2 courses of this nature are adaptive, which means that the course adapts to your strengths and weaknesses, so that you're best prepared to sit for the exam.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

rjk — Thu, 20 Nov 2025 16:46:34 GMT

Thank you!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

hcamilleri — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 09:07:36 GMT

Hi,

Thank you for this discussion.

Reading through the thread, I felt many of the same challenges. I’ve gone through a great deal of material and completed all the questions across three different guides, including the self-paced training, yet I still feel as though I need many more practice questions to be confident that I’ve covered everything in the Certification Exam Outline and good for the exam.

If you have any additional resources to recommend, I’d be grateful to add them to my list. So far, I’ve completed:

Official Guide to the CBK
All-in-One
CSSLP Official ISC2 Textbook, 6th Edition

One more question @rjk regarding the SBOM discussion: since both “ensuring compliance with software licensing agreements” and “identifying potential vulnerabilities” were mentioned as valid interpretations, could someone clarify which of these was marked as the correct answer?

Thanks!

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

nkeaton — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 14:08:19 GMT

@hcamilleri While this is one exam that will probably not attempt, on the ones that I have studied for, I always check ISC2 suggested references and read the NIST documents that am unfamiliar with. isc2.org/certifications/references#CSSLP. Best wishes.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

rjk — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 18:00:45 GMT

The answered marked as correct is "ensuring compliance with licensing agreements". "Identifying potential vulnerabilities" is incorrect because the SBOM doesn't directly identify vulnerabilities, you would use some software to compare to NVD. That to my mind is pedantry and hair-splitting, because an SBOM isn't going to directly tell you if you're compliant with licensing agreements, someone will have to check.
In reality, both are important. Non-compliance can land you in legal trouble, and introducing a serious vulnerability can be catastrophic. It's a poor question, IMHO.

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

norbertmurzsa — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 12:18:04 GMT

Hi there, It is worth mentioning that both - The Official Self-Study Online Course, and - The Official Study Book have numerous overlapping reference materials. I downloaded them all into the relevant domian folders and read them all. Some AI summary (Adobe, Open AI, etc.) may help if you want to save time, but I would not fully trust in an AI summary. This is up to you. That's my final advice. Thanks and good luck! N

Re: Is CSSLP self-paced course reflective of exam?

Spencer_ — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 21:59:40 GMT

Q: "My question is, is the ISC2 good preparation for the exam?"

A: Yes, I completed the course over the course of four months and booked an appointment for the exam. Admittedly, my confidence took hits from some questions yet was boosted from others. I had plenty of time left and I passed on the first attempt.