AWS Certifications Explained for Beginners

AWS certifications are credentials issued by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that verify, through a proctored exam, that you understand how to work with its cloud platform at a defined level. As of 2026 the portfolio is organised into four levels — Foundational, Associate, Professional and Specialty — priced at $100, $150 and $300 USD respectively (Professional and Specialty share the $300 tier), and every certification is valid for three years before it must be renewed.

That one-paragraph summary hides a surprising amount of confusion, though. People new to the system routinely believe there are prerequisites (there are none), that exams include hands-on labs (they do not), or that a retired-sounding certification like "SysOps Administrator" simply vanished (it was renamed). This article untangles the whole system in plain language: what the levels mean, how the exams actually run, what they cost, and how renewal works. It deliberately stops short of telling you which certification to take or in what order — those are separate decisions covered in our best AWS certification for beginners article and the full AWS certification roadmap for 2026.

What is an AWS certification, exactly?

An AWS certification is a pass/fail credential earned by sitting a timed, question-based exam at a Pearson VUE test centre or online under remote proctoring. There is no coursework requirement, no interview and no project submission: the exam is the whole assessment. Pass it and you hold the certification for three years. AWS reported more than 1.42 million active AWS Certifications held by over 1.05 million people as of January 2025, which gives you a sense of how mainstream these credentials have become.

Each certification maps to a specific exam with a version code. "AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner" is the certification; CLF-C02 is the current exam version behind it. When AWS revises an exam, the code increments (CLF-C01 became CLF-C02 in 2023) but the certification name usually stays the same. This matters when you buy study materials: a course built for an old exam code may cover outdated content.

The four certification levels

AWS groups its certifications into tiers by depth, not by topic. You can think of the levels as answering different questions.

Foundational — "Do you understand what the cloud is and what AWS sells?"

Foundational exams test broad, conceptual knowledge: what cloud computing is, how AWS pricing and support work, and what the major services do at a headline level. They are the only tier genuinely written for people who may never touch a terminal — analysts, salespeople, project managers and career changers.

As of August 2026 there are two: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) and AWS Certified AI Practitioner (AIF-C01), each costing $100 USD, running 65 questions in 90 minutes, and requiring a scaled score of 700 to pass. Whether the Cloud Practitioner pays off for your particular situation is a question we weigh separately in Is AWS Cloud Practitioner worth it?

Associate — "Can you build and run real workloads?"

Associate exams are the technical workhorses of the portfolio, aimed at people doing hands-on cloud work. As of 2026 the tier includes Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03), Developer Associate (DVA-C02), CloudOps Engineer Associate (SOA-C03), Data Engineer Associate (DEA-C01) and Machine Learning Engineer Associate (MLA-C01, with an MLA-C02 update opening registration on 1 September 2026). All cost $150 USD, run 65 questions in 130 minutes, and require a 720 scaled score.

One naming trap: the CloudOps Engineer Associate is the renamed and updated successor to the well-known SysOps Administrator Associate. The last day for the old SOA-C02 exam was 29 September 2025, and SOA-C03 opened the next day. Anyone telling you "SysOps was retired" is half right at best — the ops-focused Associate certification is alive under a new name.

Professional — "Can you design and automate at scale?"

Professional exams are the deep end: longer scenarios, more reading, and answer options that are all technically workable, forcing you to judge trade-offs. The tier holds Solutions Architect Professional (SAP-C02), DevOps Engineer Professional (DOP-C02) and, new for 2025/26, the Generative AI Developer Professional (AIP-C01). SAP-C02 and DOP-C02 each run 75 questions over 180 minutes; all Professional exams cost $300 USD and require a 750 scaled score.

Despite the intimidating reputation, there are no formal prerequisites — you may legally book SAP-C02 as your first-ever AWS exam. AWS recommends around two years of relevant experience, and that recommendation is worth taking seriously, but it is guidance rather than a gate.

Specialty — "Are you an expert in one domain?"

Specialty certifications go deep on a single subject instead of broad across the platform. This tier has been shrinking. As of August 2026 it contains the Security Specialty (SCS-C03, which replaced SCS-C02 and added generative AI security coverage) and the Advanced Networking Specialty (ANS-C01), which AWS has scheduled for retirement on 31 December 2026. The Database, Data Analytics and SAP on AWS specialties retired in April 2024, and the Machine Learning Specialty followed on 31 March 2026. Specialty exams cost $300 USD and require a 750 scaled score, and — unlike other tiers — can only be renewed by retaking the specialty exam itself.

How the exams actually work

A few mechanics apply across the whole portfolio and are worth understanding before you go anywhere near a booking page.

Question style. AWS exams are question-based only: multiple choice and multiple response on the classic exams, with newer ordering, matching and case-study question types debuting on the AI exams (AIF-C01 and MLA-C01). There are no hands-on labs on any current AWS exam.

Scoring. Results are reported on a scaled band from 100 to 1,000, not as a percentage of questions answered correctly. The pass marks are 700 for Foundational, 720 for Associate, and 750 for Professional and Specialty. Because the score is scaled, you cannot translate it directly into "I can miss N questions" — AWS explains the mechanism in its exam-score guidance on the Training and Certification blog.

Delivery. Every exam can be taken at a Pearson VUE test centre or online from home with a remote proctor. Online delivery uses the same exam, same timing and same rules about a clear desk and identity checks.

Language and naming details. Exams now display short AWS service names, with a full-name glossary available behind the Help button — helpful when you have studied "Amazon Simple Storage Service" and the exam says "Amazon S3". Language availability varies by exam; check the specific exam page before booking if you plan to test in a language other than English.