Section 1: Exam overview and domains AWS Certification program basics AWS has a global certification program to validate technical skills for building secure, reliable, scalable cloud applications on AWS. The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA) was the first AWS certification, originally released in 2013. Versions evolved over time: SAA‑C01, then SAA‑C02, then SAA‑C03 (and so on: last digit increments for each new version). Knowing the current exam code is important so you study the right and most up‑to‑date content. Target audience and question format Intended for people in solutions architect or DevOps type roles with real AWS experience designing available, cost‑efficient, fault‑tolerant, scalable distributed systems. Questions are scenario‑based, testing design and trade‑off thinking, not just definitions. Question types: Multiple choice: 1 correct answer, 3 distractors. Multiple response: 2 or more correct answers out of 5+ options. Delivery, timing, scoring You can take the exam in a test center or online proctored from home. Exam: 65 questions in 130 minutes (2 hours 10 minutes). Scoring range: 100–1000, with 720 as the minimum passing score. AWS uses a scaled scoring model so scores are comparable even if different exam forms vary in difficulty. You receive a detailed score report by email a few days after the exam. Retake policy If you fail, you must wait 14 days before retaking. There is no hard cap on attempts, but each attempt requires paying the full registration fee again. Score report and domains After the exam, your score report shows performance per domain, not per individual question. AWS uses a compensatory scoring model: You do not need to “pass” every domain individually. You pass if your overall scaled score ≥ 720. Domains have different weights, so some domains contribute more questions than others. The performance table helps you identify strengths and weaknesses for future improvement. Section 1.5: The four exam domains (high level) These are the domains and weights:
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