CCNA Exam Topics Explained

Every CCNA 200-301 v1.1 domain explained — what each blueprint area tests, where the marks concentrate, and how to turn the list into a study map.

Liam Anderson25 June 2026 · 8 min read

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Blueprint-style network diagram divided into six shaded zones representing CCNA 200-301 exam domains

Everything Cisco can test on the CCNA is written down in one public document: the 200-301 exam-topics list, currently at version 1.1, in effect since 20 August 2024. It organises the exam into six domains — network fundamentals, network access, IP connectivity, IP services, security fundamentals, and automation and programmability — each with a published weighting that tells you where the marks concentrate. Understanding that document properly is the difference between studying the CCNA and studying for the CCNA.

This article decodes each domain: what the bullet points actually mean, which items carry disproportionate weight in practice, and what changed in v1.1. It deliberately stops at the syllabus — if you want a week-by-week plan for covering it, our CCNA study schedule for beginners owns that job, and the broader what-is/cost/format overview lives in the Cisco CCNA certification guide.

How to read the exam-topics document

Three rules change how you use the blueprint before you read a single domain.

First, the weightings are your budget. Each domain carries a stated percentage in the official exam-topics list (download the current version from Cisco's CCNA page and treat that copy as authoritative — Cisco revises the document, and the percentages below reflect the v1.1 list as of 2026). A domain worth a quarter of the exam deserves roughly a quarter of your preparation, however much you enjoy or dread it.

Second, the verbs are the difficulty setting. Cisco's bullets begin with verbs like "describe", "explain", "compare", "configure", "verify" and "troubleshoot". "Describe" means recognition-level knowledge and a likely multiple-choice question; "configure and verify" means you should expect lab-style or simlet items and must be able to do it at a command line, not merely recall it. Scanning the blueprint for every "configure" and "verify" bullet gives you your hands-on lab list for free.

Third, the list is a ceiling, not a script. Cisco states topics as the scope of what may appear; your exam form samples from it. That is why skipping a low-weight domain entirely is a gamble rather than a strategy — you cannot know how heavily your particular form leans on it.

The exam itself is 120 minutes, mixing multiple-choice, multi-select, drag-and-drop and lab-style items. Cisco does not publish the question count or the passing score — any specific numbers you see online are community estimates. There are no formal prerequisites, and the US fee is $300 as of 2026 (varies by country; confirm when booking).

Domain 1: Network fundamentals (~20%)

This is the vocabulary and physics of networking: the role and function of routers, switches, firewalls and access points; network topology architectures; cabling and physical interfaces; and — the domain's centre of gravity — IPv4 and IPv6 addressing and subnetting.

What actually matters: subnetting fluency. Addressing questions surface throughout the exam, not just in this domain — an IP connectivity question may quietly require you to spot that two interfaces are in different subnets before the routing logic even starts. If you can subnet quickly and verify an address plan under time pressure, this domain funds marks everywhere else. TCP vs UDP behaviour, interface counters and cable-issue symptoms are the other reliable earners.

v1.1 note: this area now expects awareness of cloud-managed networking alongside on-premises equipment — a recognition-level "describe" expectation, not a configuration one.

Domain 2: Network access (~20%)

Network access covers how endpoints join the network at layer 2: VLANs and trunking, EtherChannel, and Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), plus wireless architectures and WLAN configuration concepts.

What actually matters: VLANs and trunking are bread-and-butter configure-and-verify territory — expect to interpret switchport configurations and spot mismatched trunk settings. STP is the domain's conceptual summit: you need to reason about root bridge election and port roles, not just define them.

v1.1 note: version 1.1 deepened the STP protection features — Root Guard, Loop Guard, BPDU Guard and BPDU Filter now appear explicitly. If your study materials predate August 2024, this is one of the places they are most likely to be silent.

Domain 3: IP connectivity (~25%)

The largest domain, and the heart of the exam: how routers decide where traffic goes. It covers interpreting routing tables, the components of routing decisions (administrative distance, prefix length, metric), static routing for IPv4 and IPv6, single-area OSPFv2, and first-hop redundancy concepts.

What actually matters: two skills dominate. One is reading a routing table and predicting which route wins for a given destination — a mechanical skill that rewards drilling until it is automatic. The other is OSPF at configure-and-verify depth: neighbour relationships, why adjacencies fail, router IDs and passive interfaces. Static-versus-dynamic trade-offs and floating static routes round it out. Because this domain carries the heaviest weighting and the highest concentration of lab-style verbs, it is where underprepared candidates lose the exam; our sibling analysis of how hard the CCNA exam is looks at why in more depth.

Domain 4: IP services (~10%)

A grab-bag of the services that make networks operable: NAT, NTP, DHCP and DNS roles, SNMP, syslog, per-hop QoS concepts, SSH access and TFTP/FTP functions.

What actually matters: NAT is the one topic here that regularly appears at configure-and-verify depth — inside/outside, static and pool translations, and reading a NAT table. Most of the rest sits at describe level, which makes this domain unusually efficient revision: a well-made summary sheet covers a disproportionate share of it. Do not let its low weighting tempt you into skipping NAT, though; it is also a real-world skill interviewers probe.

Domain 5: Security fundamentals (~15%)

Security fundamentals spans concepts (threats, vulnerabilities, mitigation), device-access hardening, VPN concepts at describe level, access control lists (ACLs), layer 2 protections such as DHCP snooping and dynamic ARP inspection, and wireless security including WPA2/WPA3.

What actually matters: ACLs are the technical core — building and, more often, interpreting them, because reading someone else's ACL and predicting what it blocks is the harder and more examinable skill. Port security and the layer 2 protections are classic drag-and-drop material. The conceptual bullets (AAA, VPN types, password policy) reward precise vocabulary rather than depth.

v1.1 note: device-hardening coverage expanded in v1.1, aligning the exam with the practices you would apply on day one of a NOC job.

Domain 6: Automation and programmability (~10%)

The most modern domain: how automation changes network management, controller-based architectures and software-defined networking concepts, REST APIs, configuration-management awareness, and interpreting JSON.

What actually matters: despite the intimidating vocabulary, nearly everything here is describe-level. You need to recognise JSON structure, understand what a REST API call is doing, and compare traditional versus controller-based networking — not write code. Candidates from traditional networking backgrounds routinely over-fear this domain; a focused week is usually enough.

v1.1 note: this is where the 2024 update landed hardest — generative AI and machine-learning awareness in network operations entered the blueprint here, alongside broader automation coverage. Materials that stop at v1.0 will not mention AI at all, which is the quickest way to spot an outdated course.

What the blueprint will not tell you

Three things candidates go looking for in the exam-topics document that are not there:

Question count and passing score. Cisco publishes neither. Community estimates circulate (roughly 100–120 questions is commonly reported), but treat them as folklore, and ignore any course that promises a specific pass mark.
Question distribution on your form. Weightings describe the blueprint, and individual exam forms vary; you cannot deduce "I will get exactly N OSPF questions".
Depth calibration. The document says what, not how deep beyond the verb. This is where practice questions earn their place: working through domain-tagged questions shows you the gap between recognising a topic and answering at exam depth. ExamPractice's CCNA 200-301 practice questions are organised for exactly this kind of domain-by-domain checking, with free samples on the page and fuller timed simulation for subscribers — and our guide to CCNA practice test strategy covers how to score and interpret the results.

Common mistakes when working from the blueprint

Studying a course instead of the blueprint. Courses compress and reorder; the exam samples the official list. Cross-check any course's syllabus against the current exam-topics PDF and note what it skims.
Using pre-2024 materials unaware. The v1.1 update kept the 200-301 code — same exam number, revised content — so outdated resources look current. Check for STP guard features, AI awareness and cloud-managed networking; if they are absent, supplement.
Weighting by comfort, not by percentage. Candidates over-study fundamentals (familiar) and under-study IP connectivity (hard), inverting the exam's own priorities.
Reading "configure" bullets without a lab. Every configure/verify bullet is a promise that recall alone may not survive contact with a simlet. Free tools exist for CCNA-level practice labs — check Cisco's current offerings for what is available.
Treating 10% domains as optional. Six domains all appear; the small ones are cheap marks precisely because they are shallow.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a new CCNA exam coming to replace 200-301?

As of August 2026, no — 200-301 with exam topics v1.1 remains the current CCNA exam, and Cisco has announced no successor version or number. Cisco revised the content in 2024 without changing the exam code, so watch the official exam-topics page rather than waiting for a new number.

Did the 2026 Cisco certification changes affect the CCNA blueprint?

No. Cisco's February 2026 changes renamed the DevNet track to Automation and the CyberOps certifications to CCNA/CCNP Cybersecurity; the networking CCNA's 200-301 v1.1 topics were not altered by that announcement.

How long are the topics valid once I pass?

The certification is valid for three years. You can renew by re-passing an associate exam, passing any professional-level exam, or earning 30 Continuing Education credits.

What happens if I fail — do the topics change for a retake?

No, the blueprint stays the same; you wait five calendar days and pay the full fee again. Your score report shows domain-level performance, which is exactly the map you need — our CCNA retake strategy guide covers turning it into a second-attempt plan.

Turning the blueprint into a study map

The six domains are not equal, and the exam-topics document tells you so openly: IP connectivity is the summit, fundamentals and network access are the base camp that everything else assumes, and the three lighter domains — services, security, automation — are where disciplined candidates bank efficient marks. Download the current v1.1 list from Cisco's official CCNA page, highlight every configure/verify verb as a lab task, allocate study time roughly in proportion to the weightings, and check yourself domain by domain with practice questions before you book. The blueprint is the closest thing to seeing the examiner's notes you will ever get — most candidates skim it once; the ones who pass comfortably study from it.

Exam facts in this guide were checked against official certification-provider pages on 30 August 2026. Fees, exam codes and policies change — confirm on the provider’s own site before you book.