Free DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure Exam Questions and Answers
Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure is exam DP-203, part of Microsoft Certifications. Microsoft exam codes name the solution area rather than the level — AZ for Azure, DP for data, MS for Microsoft 365, PL for Power Platform, SC for security, AI for Azure AI — with one reliable rule: any exam numbered 900 or 901 is Fundamentals. Every technical exam is scored from 1 to 1000 with 700 to pass, a scaled score Microsoft notes is explicitly not 70% of the marks.
Candidates comparing DP-203 exam dumps, ExamTopics and other DP-203 practice tests use this page for the answers and explanations behind each question. Download the free DP-203 PDF, then sit the timed DP-203 exam simulation before booking with Microsoft.
Last updated: October 3, 2026
- Exam code
- DP-203
- Provider
- Microsoft
- Questions in our bank
- 1000+
- Free to read
- First 10, with answers
- Official page
- Official Exam website
- Our test mode duration & pass mark
- 130 mins · 70%
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Question #1
The storage account container view is shown in the Refdata exhibit. (Click the Refdata tab.) You need to configure the Stream Analytics job to pick up the new reference data. What should you configure? To answer, select the appropriate options in the answer area NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
Work out the matching from the exhibit, then reveal.
Correct answer: Path pattern = {date}/product.csv; Date format = YYYY/MM/DD

Explanation
Answer as below
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Question #2
You have two Azure Blob Storage accounts named account1 and account2? You plan to create an Azure Data Factory pipeline that will use scheduled intervals to replicate newly created or modified blobs from account1 to account? You need to recommend a solution to implement the pipeline. The solution must meet the following requirements: • Ensure that the pipeline only copies blobs that were created of modified since the most recent replication event. • Minimize the effort to create the pipeline. What should you recommend?
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The metadata-driven copy task reads a control table storing the last copy watermark, so only blobs created or modified since the previous run are copied, and it is generated with minimal effort. A Data Flow or flowlet would require custom incremental logic.
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Question #3
You are designing a data mart for the human resources (MR) department at your company. The data mart will contain information and employee transactions. From a source system you have a flat extract that has the following fields: • EmployeeID • FirstName • LastName • Recipient • GrossArnount • TransactionID • GovernmentID • NetAmountPaid • TransactionDate You need to design a start schema data model in an Azure Synapse analytics dedicated SQL pool for the data mart. Which two tables should you create? Each Correct answer present part of the solution.
Select 2 answers.
Correct answer: A, E
Explanation
Reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/synapse-analytics/sql-data-warehouse/sql-data-warehouse-tables-overvie
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Question #4
A company has a real-time data analysis solution that is hosted on Microsoft Azure. The solution uses Azure Event Hub to ingest data and an Azure Stream Analytics cloud job to analyze the data. The cloud job is configured to use 120 Streaming Units (SU). You need to optimize performance for the Azure Stream Analytics job. Which two actions should you perform? Each correct answer presents part of the solution. NOTE: Each correct selection is worth one point.
Select 2 answers.
Correct answer: D, F
Explanation
Reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/stream-analytics/stream-analytics-parallelization
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Question #5
You have an Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL pool mat contains a table named dbo.Users. You need to prevent a group of users from reading user email addresses from dbo.Users. What should you use?
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Column-level security lets you deny SELECT on the email column, so the group can still query dbo.Users without reading email addresses. Row-level security and dynamic data masking do not block a specific column.
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Question #6
You are designing a dimension table for a data warehouse. The table will track the value of the dimension attributes over time and preserve the history of the data by adding new rows as the data changes. Which type of slowly changing dimension (SCD) should use?
Correct answer: C
Explanation
Type 2 - Creating a new additional record. In this methodology all history of dimension changes is kept in the database. You capture attribute change by adding a new row with a new surrogate key to the dimension table. Both the prior and new rows contain as attributes the natural key(or other durable identifier). Also 'effective date' and 'current indicator' columns are used in this method. There could be only one record with current indicator set to 'Y'. For 'effective date' columns, i.e. start_date and end_date, the end_date for current record usually is set to value 9999-12-31. Introducing changes to the dimensional model in type 2 could be very expensive database operation so it is not recommended to use it in dimensions where a new attribute could be added in the future. https://www.datawarehouse4u.info/SCD-Slowly-Changing-Dimensions.html
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Question #7
You have an Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL pool that contains a table named Table1. Table1 contains the following: One billion rows A clustered columnstore index A hash-distributed column named Product Key A column named Sales Date that is of the date data type and cannot be null Thirty million rows will be added to Table1 each month. You need to partition Table1 based on the Sales Date column. The solution must optimize query performance and data loading. How often should you create a partition?
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Need a minimum 1 million rows per distribution. Each table is 60 distributions. 30 millions rows is added each month. Need 2 months to get a minimum of 1 million rows per distribution in a new partition. Note: When creating partitions on clustered columnstore tables, it is important to consider how many rows belong to each partition. For optimal compression and performance of clustered columnstore tables, a minimum of 1 million rows per distribution and partition is needed. Before partitions are created, dedicated SQL pool already divides each table into 60 distributions. Any partitioning added to a table is in addition to the distributions created behind the scenes. Using this example, if the sales fact table contained 36 monthly partitions, and given that a dedicated SQL pool has 60 distributions, then the sales fact table should contain 60 million rows per month, or 2.1 billion rows when all months are populated. If a table contains fewer than the recommended minimum number of rows per partition, consider using fewer partitions in order to increase the number of rows per partition. Reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/synapse-analytics/sql-data-warehouse/sql-data-warehouse-tables-partitio
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Question #8
You have an Azure Factory instance named DF1 that contains a pipeline named PL1.PL1 includes a tumbling window trigger. You create five clones of PL1. You configure each clone pipeline to use a different data source. You need to ensure that the execution schedules of the clone pipeline match the execution schedule of PL1. What should you do?
Correct answer: B
Explanation
A tumbling window trigger can be associated with more than one pipeline, so associating each cloned pipeline with the existing trigger gives the clones the same execution schedule as PL1.
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Question #9
You have an Azure Data Lake Storage account that contains a staging zone. You need to design a daily process to ingest incremental data from the staging zone, transform the data by executing an R script, and then insert the transformed data into a data warehouse in Azure Synapse Analytics. Solution: You use an Azure Data Factory schedule trigger to execute a pipeline that executes mapping data Flow, and then inserts the data info the data warehouse. Does this meet the goal?
Correct answer: B
Explanation
If you need to transform data in a way that is not supported by Data Factory, you can create a custom activity, not a mapping flow,5 with your own data processing logic and use the activity in the pipeline. You can create a custom activity to run R scripts on your HDInsight cluster with R installed. Reference: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-US/azure/data-factory/transform-data
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Question #10
You are designing a folder structure for the files m an Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 account. The account has one container that contains three years of data. You need to recommend a folder structure that meets the following requirements: • Supports partition elimination for queries by Azure Synapse Analytics serverless SQL pooh • Supports fast data retrieval for data from the current month • Simplifies data security management by department Which folder structure should you recommend?
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Department top level in the hierarchy to simplify security management. Month (MM) at the leaf/bottom level to support fast data retrieval for data from the current month.
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Discussion
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FAQ
Learn More: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/
- Q1: Is the DP-203 exam retired?
- A: Yes. Exam DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure, the Azure Data Engineer Associate certification and its renewal assessment all retired on March 31, 2025, at 11:59 PM Central Time, and as of October 2026 the exam cannot be scheduled.
- Q2: What replaced the DP-203 exam?
- A: Microsoft points candidates to exam DP-700: Implementing Data Engineering Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric, which earns the Fabric Data Engineer Associate certification. An Azure Data Engineer Associate certification you already earned stays on your Microsoft Learn transcript but can no longer be renewed.
- Q3: How long was the DP-203 exam and what was the passing score?
- A: Candidates had 100 minutes to complete the exam, which could include interactive components. It was scored on a scale of 1 to 1,000 with 700 or greater required to pass.
- Q4: What skills did the DP-203 exam measure and how were they weighted?
- A: As of the final October 24, 2024 update: design and implement data storage (15–20%), develop data processing (40–45%), and secure, monitor and optimize data storage and data processing (30–35%).
- Q5: In which languages was the DP-203 exam available?
- A: English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil) and Italian.
- Q6: What experience did Microsoft expect of DP-203 candidates?
- A: Solid knowledge of SQL, Python and Scala, an understanding of parallel processing and data architecture patterns, and proficiency with Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Event Hubs, Azure Data Lake Storage and Azure Databricks.
- Q7: What was the retake policy for DP-203?
- A: A failed attempt could be retaken 24 hours later, with longer waiting periods for later attempts under Microsoft's standard retake policy, as long as the exam was taken before the March 31, 2025 retirement date.
- Q8: What is the DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure exam?
- A: DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure is a Microsoft certification exam. Judging by the questions in our bank, it concentrates on azure, synapse, named, table1 and databricks.
- Q9: What topics does the DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure exam cover?
- A: Questions in our DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure bank cluster around azure, synapse, named, table1, databricks, lake, table and pipeline. Working through the full set is the quickest way to find which of these you are weakest on.
- Q10: How should I prepare for DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure?
- A: Work through the DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure practice questions here, checking your answer on each one, then sit the practice test to rehearse the exam under timed conditions before the real thing.
- Q11: Are these real DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure exam questions?
- A: They are drawn from officially released past questions and from community members who have sat DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure. Answers are verified and updated weekly.
- Q12: Where do I register for the DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure exam?
- A: Register through Microsoft directly at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/. Exampractice is not affiliated with Microsoft and does not administer the exam.
- Q13: Is there a free DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure sample?
- A: Yes. Every DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure page shows a free sample of real questions. Upgrading opens the full bank and the practice test.
- Q14: What are Microsoft Certification Exams?
- A: Microsoft Certification Exams validate your expertise in using and managing Microsoft’s technologies and solutions, including Azure, Office 365, Windows, and more. These certifications demonstrate your proficiency in deploying, configuring, and optimizing Microsoft products to support business operations and IT infrastructure.
- Q15: Why should I pursue Microsoft Certification?
- A: Microsoft Certification enhances your professional credibility, showcasing your skills and knowledge in Microsoft technologies. This can lead to better job opportunities, higher salaries, and career advancement in IT, cloud computing, software development, and related fields.
- Q16: What are the benefits of Microsoft Certification?
- A: Benefits include recognition as a certified Microsoft professional, improved job performance, access to exclusive resources, continuing education opportunities, and staying current with the latest Microsoft technologies and best practices.
- Q17: Who should take Microsoft Certification Exams?
- A: IT professionals, system administrators, developers, cloud engineers, data analysts, and anyone involved in managing and implementing Microsoft solutions should consider these certifications to validate their expertise and advance their careers.
- Q18: What types of Microsoft Certification Exams are available?
- A: Microsoft offers various certification paths, including:
- Q19: How do I prepare for Microsoft Certification Exams?
- A: Preparation can include official Microsoft training courses, study guides, practice exams, online tutorials, and hands-on experience with Microsoft products and solutions.
- Q20: Where can I take Microsoft Certification Exams?
- A: Microsoft Certification Exams can be taken online with remote proctoring or at authorized Pearson VUE testing centers worldwide, providing flexibility to fit your schedule and location.
- Q21: How do Microsoft Certifications impact my career?
- A: Microsoft Certifications significantly boost your career by demonstrating your expertise to employers, making you a more competitive candidate for advanced roles and promotions in IT, cloud computing, software development, and other tech-related fields.
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- A: Some exams may have prerequisites, such as foundational knowledge or prior experience with Microsoft products. Check the specific requirements for each certification path on the Microsoft Learn website.
- Q23: How often do I need to recertify for Microsoft Certifications?
- A: Microsoft Certifications typically require renewal every year or two, depending on the certification, to ensure that certified professionals stay updated with the latest technologies and industry practices.



