diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e6884bd..5cb73d6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -4,9 +4,11 @@ These jobs are using _PySpark_ to process larger volumes of data and are suppose
 
 ## Pre-requisites
 Please make sure you have the following installed and can run them
-* Python (3.11 or later), you can use for example [pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv#installation) to manage your python versions locally
+* Python (3.11.x), you can use for example [pyenv](https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv#installation) to manage your python versions locally
 * [Poetry](https://python-poetry.org/docs/#installation)
 * Java (11)
+  * To run pySpark, it's important that the environment variable `JAVA_HOME` is set correctly, check via `echo $JAVA_HOME`
+  * [test_validate_spark_environment.py](/tests/integration/test_validate_spark_environment.py) will help you figure out if your environment will work
 
 ## Install all dependencies
 ```bash
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ OR
 scripts\install_choco.ps1
 scripts\install.bat
 
-# For local laptop setup ensure that Java 11 with Spark 3.5.1 is available. More details in README-LOCAL.md
+# For local laptop setup ensure that Java 11 with Spark 3.5.1 is available.
 ```
 More: https://python-poetry.org/docs/cli/#build
 
diff --git a/tests/integration/__init__.py b/tests/integration/__init__.py
index 09e672b..e69de29 100644
--- a/tests/integration/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/integration/__init__.py
@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
-
-SPARK = SparkSession.builder.appName("IntegrationTests").getOrCreate()
diff --git a/tests/integration/conftest.py b/tests/integration/conftest.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c2018ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/conftest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import pytest
+from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def SPARK():
+    return SparkSession.builder.appName("IntegrationTests").getOrCreate()
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_distance_transformer.py b/tests/integration/test_distance_transformer.py
index 2105fa5..e812618 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_distance_transformer.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_distance_transformer.py
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 from typing import Tuple
 
 import pytest
+from pyspark.sql import SparkSession
 from pyspark.sql.types import StructField, DoubleType
 
 from data_transformations.citibike import distance_transformer
-from tests.integration import SPARK
 
 BASE_COLUMNS = [
     "tripduration",
@@ -81,8 +81,8 @@
 ]
 
 
-def test_should_maintain_all_data_it_reads() -> None:
-    given_ingest_folder, given_transform_folder = __create_ingest_and_transform_folders()
+def test_should_maintain_all_data_it_reads(SPARK) -> None:
+    given_ingest_folder, given_transform_folder = __create_ingest_and_transform_folders(SPARK)
     given_dataframe = SPARK.read.parquet(given_ingest_folder)
     distance_transformer.run(SPARK, given_ingest_folder, given_transform_folder)
 
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ def test_should_maintain_all_data_it_reads() -> None:
 
 
 @pytest.mark.skip
-def test_should_add_distance_column_with_calculated_distance() -> None:
+def test_should_add_distance_column_with_calculated_distance(SPARK) -> None:
     given_ingest_folder, given_transform_folder = __create_ingest_and_transform_folders()
     distance_transformer.run(SPARK, given_ingest_folder, given_transform_folder)
 
@@ -117,10 +117,10 @@ def test_should_add_distance_column_with_calculated_distance() -> None:
     assert expected_dataframe.collect() == actual_dataframe.collect()
 
 
-def __create_ingest_and_transform_folders() -> Tuple[str, str]:
+def __create_ingest_and_transform_folders(spark: SparkSession) -> Tuple[str, str]:
     base_path = tempfile.mkdtemp()
     ingest_folder = "%s%singest" % (base_path, os.path.sep)
     transform_folder = "%s%stransform" % (base_path, os.path.sep)
-    ingest_dataframe = SPARK.createDataFrame(SAMPLE_DATA, BASE_COLUMNS)
+    ingest_dataframe = spark.createDataFrame(SAMPLE_DATA, BASE_COLUMNS)
     ingest_dataframe.write.parquet(ingest_folder, mode='overwrite')
     return ingest_folder, transform_folder
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_ingest.py b/tests/integration/test_ingest.py
index 03df25d..366be44 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_ingest.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_ingest.py
@@ -4,10 +4,9 @@
 from typing import Tuple, List
 
 from data_transformations.citibike import ingest
-from tests.integration import SPARK
 
 
-def test_should_sanitize_column_names() -> None:
+def test_should_sanitize_column_names(SPARK) -> None:
     given_ingest_folder, given_transform_folder = __create_ingest_and_transform_folders()
     input_csv_path = given_ingest_folder + 'input.csv'
     csv_content = [
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_validate_spark_environment.py b/tests/integration/test_validate_spark_environment.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..edb1754
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/test_validate_spark_environment.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import os
+import re
+import subprocess
+
+import pytest
+
+
+def test_java_home_is_set():
+    java_home = os.environ.get("JAVA_HOME")
+    assert java_home is not None, "Environment variable 'JAVA_HOME' is not set but is required by pySpark to work."
+
+
+def test_java_version_is_greater_or_equal_11():
+    version_regex = re.compile(r'(?P<major>\d+)\.(?P<minor>\d+)\.\w+')
+
+    java_version_output = subprocess.check_output(['java', '-version'], stderr=subprocess.STDOUT).decode("utf-8")
+    print(f"\n`java -version` returned\n{java_version_output}")
+
+    version_number = java_version_output.splitlines()[0].split('"')[1].strip('"')
+    print(f"Assuming {version_number=} is the version to check.")
+
+    regex_match = version_regex.search(version_number)
+    if not regex_match:
+        pytest.fail(f"Couldn't parse Java version from {version_number=} using {version_regex=}.")
+    if regex_match["major"] == "1":
+        # we need to jump this hoop due to Java version naming conventions - it's fun:
+        # https://softwareengineering.stackexchange.com/questions/175075/why-is-java-version-1-x-referred-to-as-java-x
+        actual_major_version = int(regex_match["minor"])
+    else:
+        actual_major_version = int(regex_match["major"])
+    expected_major_version = 11
+    assert actual_major_version >= expected_major_version, (f"Major version {actual_major_version} is not recent "
+                                                            f"enough, we need at least version {expected_major_version}.")
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_word_count.py b/tests/integration/test_word_count.py
index 49c04c1..8ff15a0 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_word_count.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_word_count.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 import pytest
 
 from data_transformations.wordcount import word_count_transformer
-from tests.integration import SPARK
 
 
 def _get_file_paths(input_file_lines: List[str]) -> Tuple[str, str]:
@@ -20,7 +19,7 @@ def _get_file_paths(input_file_lines: List[str]) -> Tuple[str, str]:
 
 
 @pytest.mark.skip
-def test_should_tokenize_words_and_count_them() -> None:
+def test_should_tokenize_words_and_count_them(SPARK) -> None:
     lines = [
         "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been "
         "turning over in my mind ever since. \"Whenever you feel like criticising any one,\""