Waterfall SDLC Documentation for a University Course Registration & Scheduling Web Portal

8. Testing Phase: Strategy, Test Cases, Defects, and Exit Criteria

Test Strategy

Testing validates functional requirements, business rules, integrations, security controls, accessibility, reliability, and performance before the production deployment gate.

Test Levels

• Unit Testing: validation rules, utilities, data transformations, and service functions.
• Integration Testing: API, database, identity, and student/course record interactions.
• System Testing: complete browser-based workflows.
• Regression Testing: previously passed critical workflows after defect fixes.
• Performance Testing: expected and peak registration demand.
• Security Testing: authentication, authorization, input handling, session behavior, and privilege boundaries.
• Accessibility Testing: keyboard operation, labels, focus behavior, status messaging, and representative assistive-technology checks.
• User Acceptance Testing: registrar and student-representative validation against approved acceptance criteria.

Representative Test Cases

• TC-03 Course Search: search by subject and availability. Expected: only matching active sections appear.
• TC-06 Schedule Conflict: register for overlapping sections. Expected: second conflicting enrollment is rejected.
• TC-07 Prerequisite: register without required prerequisite. Expected: registration rejected with prerequisite message.
• TC-08 Capacity: register for full section. Expected: enrollment rejected and capacity remains valid.
• TC-09 Registration Window: attempt registration outside allowed period. Expected: operation rejected.
• TC-10 Successful Registration: eligible student registers for available section. Expected: enrollment saved, schedule updated, audit entry created.
• TC-11 Drop Course: eligible student drops enrolled section. Expected: schedule and enrollment state update correctly and audit entry is created.
• TC-13 Unauthorized Override: Student role calls registrar override endpoint. Expected: access denied and no override created.
• TC-21 Keyboard Workflow: complete course search and registration using keyboard navigation. Expected: workflow remains operable with visible focus.
• TC-22 Transaction Failure: force persistence failure during registration. Expected: no partial enrollment transaction remains.
• TC-23 Concurrent Seat: simultaneous requests compete for the final seat. Expected: at most the allowed number of enrollments succeeds.
• TC-24 Peak Load: execute approved concurrency scenario. Expected: performance meets agreed thresholds without data corruption.

Defect Severity

• Critical: data corruption, unauthorized student-data exposure, widespread inability to register, or incorrect enrollment transaction.
• High: major required workflow fails with no acceptable workaround.
• Medium: requirement partially fails but a reasonable workaround exists.
• Low: minor visual or usability issue that does not block the workflow.

Testing Exit Criteria

• 100% of mandatory requirements have executed test coverage.
• All Critical and High defects are closed or formally accepted under documented release exception authority.
• Required regression suite passes.
• Performance test meets the approved registration-load target.
• Security review has no unresolved release-blocking finding.
• Registrar UAT signs off the critical registration and administrative workflows.
• Traceability matrix is updated with final test evidence.

Testing Phase Gate

The QA Lead, Registrar Business Lead, Security Representative, Technical Lead, and Project Manager sign the Test Completion Report before Deployment.