Free reasoning-led diagnostic
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) Mock Exam & Readiness Assessment
A free 30-question diagnostic for AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03). Answer at your own pace, then review a domain-by-domain readiness signal with fully explained reasoning for every question.
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- 30 Questions
- 24 Single-Answer / 6 Multi-Answer
- 4 Domains
- 78 minutes (~2.6 minutes per question based on the official exam)
Who This Diagnostic Is For
This assessment is for learners preparing for AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) who want an honest, evidence-based signal of where they stand today. Every question is original CertShield content, technically validated against current official documentation (Live version effective August 30, 2022) and peer-reviewed by subject-matter experts before publication.
What It Measures
| Domain | Questions |
|---|---|
| Design Cost-Optimized Architectures | 6 |
| Design High-Performing Architectures | 7 |
| Design Resilient Architectures | 8 |
| Design Secure Architectures | 9 |
Limitations of this diagnostic: 30 questions cannot cover every exam objective with equal depth. Domains with fewer than three questions are labelled "Limited evidence" in your results and can never cause a readiness downgrade on their own. This is not an official exam, an accredited course, or a pass-rate prediction.
Technically validated: Completed September 14, 2026, against the official AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) Exam Guide and current AWS service documentation (IAM, Organizations, VPC, S3, KMS, ACM, ECS, Step Functions, RDS/Aurora, Route 53, EFS, EC2, DynamoDB, Global Accelerator, Kinesis, EBS, Compute Optimizer, and VPC endpoints), cited per question below. See the assessment methodology for how scoring, confidence and readiness safeguards work.
About the Official AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate Exam
Sourced directly from the official AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate Exam Guide, published by Amazon Web Services (AWS) — Live version effective August 30, 2022.
- Questions
- 65 total questions (50 count toward the score; 15 are unscored pretest items used by AWS to evaluate future exam content and are not identified to the candidate)
- Time Limit
- 130 minutes (2 hours 10 minutes)
- Passing Score
- 720 on a scaled 100–1,000 range (compensatory scoring across the whole exam; no minimum is required in any individual domain)
- Registration Fee
- $150 USD (holders of an active AWS certification may be eligible for a 50% discount voucher)
- Delivery
- Pearson VUE — available both at an authorized testing center and via online proctoring
- Validity
- 3-year certification cycle; recertify by passing the current version of this exam, or by earning AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional, before expiration
Official exam domains this diagnostic mirrors:
- Design Secure Architectures 30%
- Design Resilient Architectures 26%
- Design High-Performing Architectures 24%
- Design Cost-Optimized Architectures 20%
Who this certification is for:
AWS recommends at least 1 year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions that use AWS services; AWS notes that candidates with 1–3 years of general IT experience have also successfully prepared for and earned this certification as a starting point, and suggests AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner first for those without prior IT experience. There is no formal enrollment prerequisite.
The exam does not require deep hands-on coding experience, although familiarity with basic programming concepts is considered an advantage. Version 1.1 of the official exam guide is the current revision; the SAA-C03 exam version itself has been live since August 30, 2022, with no successor exam code announced by AWS as of this validation date.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many questions are on the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) exam?
65 total questions (50 count toward the score; 15 are unscored pretest items used by AWS to evaluate future exam content and are not identified to the candidate)
How long is the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) exam?
130 minutes (2 hours 10 minutes)
What is the passing score for AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03)?
720 on a scaled 100–1,000 range (compensatory scoring across the whole exam; no minimum is required in any individual domain)
How much does the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) exam cost?
$150 USD (holders of an active AWS certification may be eligible for a 50% discount voucher)
What topics are covered in the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) exam?
The exam covers Design Secure Architectures 30%, Design Resilient Architectures 26%, Design High-Performing Architectures 24%, and Design Cost-Optimized Architectures 20%.
Who is the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) exam for?
AWS recommends at least 1 year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions that use AWS services; AWS notes that candidates with 1–3 years of general IT experience have also successfully prepared for and earned this certification as a starting point, and suggests AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner first for those without prior IT experience. There is no formal enrollment prerequisite.
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