- How many questions are on the AWS Solutions Architect Professional exam?
- The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional exam, code SAP-C02, has 75 questions and you get 180 minutes to answer them. Of the 75, 65 are scored and 10 are unscored questions AWS uses to evaluate future items; they are not identified, so answer every one. Questions are either multiple choice with one correct answer, or multiple response where you must select two or more correct answers out of five or more options and get no partial credit. There is no penalty for guessing. If your study notes are on paper, run them through an OCR tool like DocuOCR first so the text is selectable.
- What is the passing score for the SAP-C02 exam?
- You need a scaled score of 750 on a 100 to 1000 scale to pass the SAP-C02 exam. AWS uses a compensatory scoring model, so you do not need to pass each domain individually; only your total scaled score matters. Because the scaling weights questions by difficulty, there is no fixed percentage of items you must get right, but 750 out of 1000 is a demanding bar on a professional level exam, so aim to score consistently in the high 70s to 80s percent on quality practice questions before you book.
- What does the SAP-C02 exam cover?
- SAP-C02 covers four domains: Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity at 26 percent, Design for New Solutions at 29 percent, Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions at 25 percent, and Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization at 20 percent. The exam is scenario heavy: most questions describe a real architecture problem across multiple accounts, networking, security, cost and resilience, then ask for the best design. It expects you to weigh trade-offs among valid options, not just recall a single service, so knowing when to use each service matters more than definitions.
- Is the AWS Solutions Architect Professional harder than the Associate?
- Yes, the Professional is considerably harder than the Associate. SAP-C02 questions are longer and more scenario driven, often with several plausible answers where you must pick the best design for cost, security, resilience and organizational complexity at once. It covers advanced topics such as multi-account strategy, hybrid networking and large-scale migration that the Associate only touches. Many people pass the Associate, then spend several more months on hands-on architecture work before attempting the Professional.
- Do I need the Associate certification before the Professional?
- No. AWS retired the prerequisite in 2018, so you can sit the Solutions Architect Professional without holding the Associate first. That said, AWS recommends about two or more years of hands-on experience designing and deploying cloud architecture on AWS before attempting it, and most candidates find the Associate content is a natural foundation. Earning the Associate first is a common path because it builds the service knowledge the Professional then tests at a deeper, more scenario based level.
- How long should I study for the SAP-C02 exam?
- Most candidates prepare over about 2 to 4 months, depending on how much hands-on AWS architecture experience they already have. Because the exam is scenario based, reading alone is not enough; you need to understand trade-offs among services for cost, security, resilience and migration. A practical loop is to study a domain such as new solution design or migration, generate practice questions from those exact notes to lock in the concepts, then read AWS whitepapers and the Well-Architected Framework so recall and design judgment build together.
- Is this an official AWS practice exam?
- No. PDFQuiz is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon Web Services. This tool generates practice questions from the study material you upload so you can rehearse recall across all four SAP-C02 domains, and it does not reproduce real AWS exam questions. Use it alongside official AWS resources, the exam guide, AWS whitepapers and hands-on practice, not as a replacement for the official preparation materials.