SAA-C03
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
Exam facts, domains and a practical study plan. Best suited to: Aspiring cloud engineers, solutions architects, DevOps engineers and developers who design on AWS.
- Level
- Associate
- Questions
- 65
- Duration
- 130 minutes
- Passing score
- 720 out of 1000
- Exam fee
- USD 150
Exam details change; confirm on the official AWS certification page before booking.
Exam domains
- Design secure architectures
- Design resilient architectures
- Design high-performing architectures
- Design cost-optimized architectures
How to prepare
- Spend the first weeks on IAM, VPC, EC2, S3, RDS and ELB in your own free-tier account.
- Learn why you would choose one service over another; the exam is scenario-based.
- Take timed practice exams and review every wrong answer until you can explain it.
- Build one multi-tier architecture end to end before booking the exam.
FAQs
- Is SAA-C03 hard for beginners?
- It is moderately difficult. Beginners usually need 2–3 months of consistent hands-on study. Linux and networking basics make it much easier.
- Does SAA-C03 help get a job?
- It is one of the most commonly requested AWS certifications in cloud and DevOps job descriptions, but employers also expect projects you can explain.
- How long is the certification valid?
- AWS associate-level certifications are valid for three years.