7.5Entry and Exit Criteria

Entry Criteria

Entry criteria define the conditions that must be met before testing begins. Starting to test before entry criteria are met leads to wasted effort on an unstable build.

Common entry criteria:

• Build deployed to test environment successfully
• Smoke tests passing (critical paths work)
• Test data loaded and verified
• Requirements/acceptance criteria document available and reviewed
• Test environment accessible and stable
• Known environment issues documented (so testers do not report them as bugs)

Exit Criteria

Exit criteria define when testing is "done enough" to proceed to release.

Common exit criteria:

• All critical and high-severity bugs resolved and verified
• 95% of planned test cases executed (remaining 5% justified)
• No open blockers
• Regression test suite passing (green)
• Exploratory testing sessions completed for high-risk areas
• Performance benchmarks met (response times within SLA)

When Exit Criteria Are Not Met

Sometimes the release deadline arrives before exit criteria are met. Document:

1. Which criteria are not met
2. The associated risks
3. Your recommendation (release / do not release / release with mitigations)

This is a risk acceptance decision for management, not a QA decision. QA provides the data; management accepts the risk.