What is Velocity?
Velocity is the amount of work (usually story points) a team actually completes per sprint, averaged over recent history. Its one legitimate job is forecasting: remaining backlog divided by velocity gives a realistic runway.
Its most common abuse is as a performance metric — comparing teams by velocity or pressuring the number upward just inflates estimates. On the exam, velocity is the team's planning instrument, never management's scoreboard.
Worked example
A team completes 21, 24, and 23 points over three sprints — velocity ≈ 23. With 160 points left in the backlog, forecast: about 7 more sprints. That\'s a forecast from evidence, not a promise.