How to Pass Your First IT Certification Exam

Passing a certification exam is a skill separate from knowing the subject. People who know the material fail because they studied the wrong things, ran out of time, or misread a question. This article gives you a plan you can follow for a first exam, whichever provider you choose. It is part of our certification roadmap.

Step 1: Find out exactly what is tested

Every provider publishes an outline. Read it before anything else, and read the weights.

• The Python Institute's PCEP has four blocks, and two of them carry more than half the marks (see the PCEP guide).
• AWS's Cloud Practitioner exam has four domains weighted 24%, 30%, 34% and 12%, and only 50 of its 65 questions are scored.
• Microsoft's AZ-900 has three areas weighted 25 to 30%, 35 to 40% and 30 to 35%.

Weights tell you where your time pays off. A topic worth 30% deserves roughly two and a half times the attention of one worth 12%.

Turn the outline into a checklist and mark each line as can explain, half sure or no idea. That is your study plan.

Step 2: Learn by doing, not by rereading

Rereading feels productive. Research suggests it is weak. In a 2006 study, Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke had students either restudy passages or take recall tests. Five minutes later, restudying did better. After a delay, prior testing produced substantially greater retention, even though restudying made students feel more confident.

For exam study, that means:

• Close the notes and recall. Write down what you remember about a topic before you check.
• Explain it aloud as if teaching someone.
• Do practice questions early, not only at the end.
• Space it out. Return to old topics after a few days.

For technical topics, add hands-on practice. Run the commands, write the code, click through the console. Our guide to learning by doing explains why. The same skills the exam tests are the ones you should be using.

Step 3: Study the weak spots first

After a few days, your checklist shows where you are strong and where you are not. Spend most of your time on the "no idea" and "half sure" lines, weighted by how many marks they carry. It is tempting to keep revisiting what you already know because it feels good. Resist it.

Step 4: Use practice tests properly

Practice tests have two jobs: finding gaps and rehearsing the format. Microsoft's study guides link a free practice assessment and an exam sandbox so you can see the interface before you book.

Use them well:

• Do the first one untimed to see what the questions look like.
• Review everything you missed and everything you guessed. A lucky guess hides a gap.
• Study the topic behind the question, not just the answer.
• Beware of memorising a bank. If you recognise the answer but could not explain it, you have not learned it.

Step 5: Simulate the exam

In the last week, do at least two full-length timed runs under realistic conditions.

• Know the numbers. PCEP is 30 questions in 40 minutes, roughly 80 seconds each. AWS Cloud Practitioner has 65 questions, of which 50 count.
• Practise pacing. If a question is taking too long, make your best choice and move on if the exam allows returning later.
• Practise reading carefully. Underline the constraint in your head: "most cost-effective", "least privilege", "which two".

Step 6: Understand the rules of your exam

Exams differ, and the rules can change your strategy.

• Guessing: AWS states that unanswered questions are scored as incorrect and there is no penalty for guessing, so you should answer everything. Confirm the rule for your exam.
• Scoring: AWS uses compensatory scoring, meaning you need to pass overall, not each section. That lets you offset a weak area with a strong one.
• Unscored questions: AWS includes unscored questions that are not identified, so do not panic if a few seem strange.
• Scaled scores: Microsoft and AWS report scaled scores with a pass mark of 700, not 70% of questions correct.
• Accommodations: Microsoft notes you can request an additional 30 minutes if the exam is not offered in your language, and lists other accommodations for assistive devices.

Step 7: Exam day

• Sleep, and eat something.
• Check your ID, equipment and environment the day before, especially for online proctoring.
• Read every question fully, including all the options, before choosing.
• Eliminate wrong answers first. Two clearly wrong options improves your odds on a hard one.
• Watch the clock, but do not rush the easy questions.
• Do not change answers without a reason. A better argument is a reason. A vague doubt is not.

If you do not pass

It happens, and it is useful information. AWS, for example, says a score report could contain a table of classifications of your performance in each section. Where a breakdown like that is available, use it to target your study, book a retake when your practice scores are consistently above the pass mark, and check the provider's retake policy and cost first.

Pick the right first exam

The best first certification is one that matches what you already do or want to do next. If you are new to programming, PCEP is a small goal with no prerequisites. If you are wondering whether to sit one at all, read are IT certifications worth it. Code Nexus prepares you for the exams through hands-on episodes, and the providers issue the certifications. Create a free account to start.