Abstract: It is intended to provide a test method and a test apparatus for determining breakdown strength which are not affected by statistic capacity in measurement environment or the like, and can be applied to any semiconductor elements. A capacitor with known capacitance is connected to a semiconductor element, and voltage is applied to the capacitor to charge and discharge it. It is detected whether or not the semiconductor element is broken down at the moment of discharge. Either one of charge or energy injected in charging and discharging is calculated from the capacitance and voltage at the moment of breakdown, and the result of calculation is determined as the breakdown strength.