How hard is the Databricks Data Analyst Associate exam?

It is the most approachable Databricks certification. You get 45 scored multiple choice questions in 90 minutes, and Databricks recommends only about six months of hands-on analyst experience. Analysts who already write SQL day to day usually find the query and dashboard sections straightforward. The parts that catch people out are AI/BI Genie spaces, which is a full 12 percent of the exam and is new enough that many candidates have never used it in production.

What does the Databricks Data Analyst Associate exam cover?

Nine weighted sections. The largest are executing queries using Databricks SQL and warehouses at 20 percent, creating dashboards and visualizations at 16 percent, and analyzing queries at 15 percent. Then AI/BI Genie spaces at 12 percent, understanding the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform at 11 percent, managing data and securing data at 8 percent each, and importing data and data modeling with Databricks SQL at 5 percent each. The weights total 100 percent.

What is the passing score for the Databricks Data Analyst Associate exam?

Databricks does not publish a passing score for this exam. Neither the live certification page nor the exam guide PDF states a threshold percentage. Any figure you find quoted on third-party sites is an estimate rather than an official number. Because the exam is only 45 scored questions, each one carries meaningful weight, so aim for consistent accuracy across all nine sections instead of targeting a specific percentage.

How many questions is the Databricks Data Analyst Associate exam and how long is it?

The exam has 45 scored multiple choice questions and runs 90 minutes. Some unidentified unscored questions may be included, and the time allowance accounts for them. It costs US$200, is delivered in English only, and can be taken online with a proctor or at a test center. The certification is valid for two years, and recertifying means retaking the currently live version of the full exam.

What are AI/BI Genie spaces on the Databricks exam?

Genie spaces are Databricks' natural language analytics surface: you point a Genie space at a set of tables and business users ask questions in plain English. On the exam it is a dedicated 12 percent section covering how to develop, share, and maintain them. Expect questions on configuring a space with sample questions and domain instructions, and on optimizing accuracy by reviewing the questions users actually ask and correcting poor responses.

Should I take the Data Analyst Associate or the Data Engineer Associate?

Pick by the work you do. Data Analyst Associate is 45 questions in 90 minutes and centers on Databricks SQL, dashboards, Genie spaces, and analysis, so it suits analysts and BI developers. Data Engineer Associate covers building and managing pipelines, ingestion, and production data workflows, so it suits engineers. They are both associate level and neither is a prerequisite for the other, so there is no need to take both unless your role genuinely spans them.

Databricks Certified: Data Analyst Associate

Databricks Data Analyst Associate Practice Exam: Databricks SQL and AI/BI Genie Questions

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The Databricks Certified Data Analyst Associate exam has 45 scored multiple choice questions, runs 90 minutes, and costs US$200. It covers nine weighted sections, led by executing queries using Databricks SQL and warehouses (20%), creating dashboards and visualizations (16%), analyzing queries (15%), and AI/BI Genie spaces (12%). It is delivered in English only, is valid two years, recommends about six months of hands-on analyst experience with no formal prerequisite, and Databricks does not publish a passing score.

Last updated July 2026

Where the section weights actually come from. This trips up a lot of candidates: the downloadable exam guide PDF contains no percentages at all. The nine weights exist only on the live Databricks certification page, so if you planned your study from the PDF alone you never saw them. The two sources also word a couple of section titles slightly differently, for example the PDF says working with dashboards where the live page says creating dashboards. The scope is the same, but treat the live page as the current authority on weighting.

What the Data Analyst Associate exam tests

Nine sections, and they are not evenly sized. Roughly half the exam sits in querying, analyzing, and visualizing, which is exactly the work a Databricks analyst does daily. The rest spreads across platform knowledge, governance, and the newer AI/BI content. Here is what each section actually asks.

Section	Weight	What is actually in it
Executing queries using Databricks SQL and warehouses	20%	Running and tuning queries in the SQL editor, choosing and sizing SQL warehouses, understanding serverless versus classic, and managing query history and caching.
Creating dashboards and visualizations	16%	Building AI/BI dashboards, picking appropriate visualization types, adding filters and parameters, scheduling refreshes, and sharing dashboards with the right audience.
Analyzing queries	15%	Reading query profiles and execution plans, spotting why a query is slow or expensive, and applying the right fix rather than just adding compute.
Developing, sharing, and maintaining AI/BI Genie spaces	12%	Creating Genie spaces over a set of tables, writing sample questions and domain instructions, sharing access, and improving answer accuracy by reviewing real user questions.
Understanding Databricks Data Intelligence Platform	11%	Lakehouse architecture, the medallion pattern, Unity Catalog, Delta Lake fundamentals, and how the analyst-facing surfaces fit with the wider platform.
Managing data	8%	Working with catalogs, schemas, tables, and views, managed versus external tables, and basic table maintenance and lifecycle tasks.
Securing data	8%	Unity Catalog permissions and grants, row and column level controls, sharing data safely, and the governance model behind who can see what.
Importing data	5%	Getting data in from files and external sources, small-scale uploads, and the ingestion options an analyst is expected to know.
Data modeling with Databricks SQL	5%	Practical modeling for analytics: star schemas, dimensional design, joins, and structuring tables so dashboards stay fast and understandable.

Weights as published on the live Databricks certification page. Guide version as of October 30, 2025. Weights total 100 percent.

Notice that querying, dashboards, and analysis together are just over half the exam. If that is your daily work, your effort is better spent on the sections you never touch: Genie spaces, security, and modeling. Generate practice questions from your own Databricks SQL notes per section, so the gaps get exercised instead of skipped.

Questions: 45
Time: 90 min
Exam fee: $200
Validity: 2 years

The AI/BI Genie section is where most candidates are underprepared

Twelve percent of the exam, roughly five or six questions, sits in a topic that did not exist in older Databricks analyst material. Genie spaces let business users ask questions of your data in plain English, and the exam treats setting them up well as an analyst responsibility rather than an admin one. That framing matters, because the questions are about curation and quality, not clicking through a wizard.

What the questions actually target

Choosing which tables belong in a space, writing sample questions that teach it the domain, adding instructions that resolve ambiguous business terms, controlling who can access it, and using the record of real user questions to find and fix wrong answers. It is an iterative maintenance loop, and the exam tests that you understand the loop.

Why it is easy to lose points here

Most candidates have read about Genie without configuring one. If you cannot answer why a space returns a confidently wrong number, or what you would change first when business users complain about accuracy, this section will cost you. Spin up a space against sample tables before exam day, even briefly.

Beyond Genie, the other reliable point loser is analyzing queries. Reading a query profile and identifying the actual bottleneck is a skill people assume they have because they write SQL. The exam asks you to pick the correct fix, and adding a bigger warehouse is usually the wrong answer.

Where the Data Analyst Associate fits in the Databricks path

Databricks runs associate and professional credentials across analytics, data engineering, and machine learning. The Data Analyst Associate is the analyst entry point and is not a prerequisite for anything else. Here is how the associate level certifications compare.

	Data Analyst Associate	Data Engineer Associate	ML Associate
Focus	SQL, dashboards, Genie	Pipelines and ingestion	ML basics on Databricks
Questions	45	45	45
Time	90 min	90 min	90 min
Fee	$200	$200	$200
Best for	Analysts and BI developers	Data engineers	ML practitioners

Building pipelines instead? Compare the Databricks Data Engineer Associate practice exam and the Databricks Data Engineer Professional practice exam. Moving toward modeling? See the Databricks Machine Learning Associate practice exam.

How to build Data Analyst Associate practice questions that reinforce the exam

Forty-five questions means every one counts. Your practice should push you toward the sections your day job never covers.

1 Upload current material: Feed in your Databricks SQL notes and current documentation. Check that your source covers AI/BI Genie spaces, since material written before that section was added will leave a 12 percent hole.
2 Weight toward the big three: Querying, dashboards, and query analysis are 51 percent between them. Generate the most questions there, then make sure Genie, security, and modeling each get real coverage rather than a skim.
3 Practice diagnosis, not recall: Write questions that describe a slow query or a wrong Genie answer and offer several plausible fixes. Picking the right remedy is what the analyzing and Genie sections actually test.
4 Pair with the workspace: Six months of hands-on work is the recommendation. Build a dashboard and a Genie space against sample data, then use questions to lock in the platform and governance detail you would otherwise memorize cold.

Data Analyst Associate questions, answered

How hard is the Databricks Data Analyst Associate exam?: It is the most approachable Databricks certification. You get 45 scored multiple choice questions in 90 minutes, and Databricks recommends only about six months of hands-on analyst experience. Analysts who already write SQL day to day usually find the query and dashboard sections straightforward. The parts that catch people out are AI/BI Genie spaces, which is a full 12 percent of the exam and is new enough that many candidates have never used it in production.
What does the exam cover?: Nine weighted sections. The largest are executing queries using Databricks SQL and warehouses at 20 percent, creating dashboards and visualizations at 16 percent, and analyzing queries at 15 percent. Then AI/BI Genie spaces at 12 percent, understanding the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform at 11 percent, managing data and securing data at 8 percent each, and importing data and data modeling with Databricks SQL at 5 percent each. The weights total 100 percent.
What is the passing score?: Databricks does not publish a passing score for this exam. Neither the live certification page nor the exam guide PDF states a threshold percentage. Any figure you find quoted on third-party sites is an estimate rather than an official number. Because the exam is only 45 scored questions, each one carries meaningful weight, so aim for consistent accuracy across all nine sections instead of targeting a specific percentage.
How many questions is the exam and how long is it?: The exam has 45 scored multiple choice questions and runs 90 minutes. Some unidentified unscored questions may be included, and the time allowance accounts for them. It costs US$200, is delivered in English only, and can be taken online with a proctor or at a test center. The certification is valid for two years, and recertifying means retaking the currently live version of the full exam.
What are AI/BI Genie spaces on the exam?: Genie spaces are Databricks' natural language analytics surface: you point a Genie space at a set of tables and business users ask questions in plain English. On the exam it is a dedicated 12 percent section covering how to develop, share, and maintain them. Expect questions on configuring a space with sample questions and domain instructions, and on optimizing accuracy by reviewing the questions users actually ask and correcting poor responses.
Should I take the Data Analyst Associate or the Data Engineer Associate?: Pick by the work you do. Data Analyst Associate is 45 questions in 90 minutes and centers on Databricks SQL, dashboards, Genie spaces, and analysis, so it suits analysts and BI developers. Data Engineer Associate covers building and managing pipelines, ingestion, and production data workflows, so it suits engineers. They are both associate level and neither is a prerequisite for the other, so there is no need to take both unless your role genuinely spans them.

PDFQuiz is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Databricks. Databricks, Lakehouse, Unity Catalog, and Delta Lake are trademarks of Databricks, Inc. This generator builds practice questions from material you upload and is a study aid, not a substitute for hands-on Databricks practice or official exam preparation. Exam details change, so always confirm current details on the Databricks certification page before you book.

Related study tools

Building the Databricks path? Compare the Databricks Data Engineer Associate practice exam, the Databricks Data Engineer Professional practice exam, and the Databricks Machine Learning Associate practice exam. Working with cloud analytics elsewhere? See the Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer practice exam. Any notes work with the certification exam generator, or start from any PDF with the PDF to practice test generator.

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