Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305)
Microsoft
Complete guide to passing the Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) exam on your first attempt.
$165
~50%
1 year (renewal required)
Global
Microsoft
$120k-$170k
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Complete Overview
Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert is earned by passing a single exam, AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, which Microsoft prices at 165 USD for associate and expert exams with variation by country or region and possible local tax. The role Microsoft describes is an architect who advises stakeholders and translates business requirements into Azure designs that align with the Azure Well-Architected Framework and the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure, across compute, network, storage, monitoring and security.
Microsoft updated the English version of AZ-305 on April 17, 2026, and localized versions follow roughly eight weeks later. The current skills measured list has four areas with published weight ranges: Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions at 25 to 30 percent; Design data storage solutions at 20 to 25 percent; Design business continuity solutions at 15 to 20 percent; and Design infrastructure solutions at 30 to 35 percent. Microsoft publishes ranges rather than fixed percentages, and the midpoints of the four ranges add to 100.
The passing score is 700 on a scale of 1 to 1,000. That is a scaled score, so it does not correspond to 70 percent of the points available. Microsoft does not publish a question count for AZ-305 specifically; its published guidance is that most Microsoft Certification exams typically contain between 40 and 60 questions and that the number varies by exam. Microsoft also does not publish a per-exam duration. Its policy page gives 100 minutes of exam time with 120 minutes of seat time for associate and expert role-based exams without labs, and 120 minutes with 140 minutes of seat time for those that may contain labs. You are told the exam time when you register, and the introduction screen tells you how many items, case studies and labs your particular form contains.
AZ-305 is a design exam, and almost every skill statement starts with the word recommend. You are asked to recommend a logging solution, an authentication solution, a management group structure, a database service tier, a recovery solution meeting stated objectives, a container-based or serverless compute approach, a migration path, and a load-balancing and routing solution. Case studies appear on this exam, and Microsoft's guidance is specific about them: you can review questions inside a case study until you move on, after which you cannot return to them.
One feature separates Microsoft's role-based exams from most vendor exams. You can open learn.microsoft.com in a split screen during an associate or expert exam, excluding Q&A, Practice Assessments and your own profile. No extra time is added and the clock keeps running, so it is a lookup tool for a handful of questions rather than a substitute for preparation.
The certification expires after one year. Renewal is free, unproctored and open book, taken online through Microsoft Learn within a six-month window before expiry, and passing extends the certification one year from its existing expiration date.
Why Get Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305) Certified?
It is a single-exam expert credential. Microsoft lists AZ-305 as the only exam required for Azure Solutions Architect Expert, so there is no second exam to schedule or pay for.
At 165 USD for an expert-level certification it is materially cheaper than the 300 USD AWS charges for its professional-level exams.
Renewal costs nothing. Microsoft's annual renewal assessment is free, unproctored and open book, and there is no limit on renewal retakes as long as you pass before expiry.
Design infrastructure solutions carries the largest weight at 30 to 35 percent and covers compute, application architecture, migration and networking together, which is the combination most architect job descriptions list.
You may consult learn.microsoft.com during the exam, which rewards candidates who know where documentation lives rather than only what it says.
The April 17, 2026 update keeps the syllabus current with the Azure Well-Architected Framework and the Cloud Adoption Framework, both of which Microsoft names in the audience profile.
Every skill statement is phrased as a recommendation, so preparation builds the habit of justifying a design choice against a stated requirement rather than memorising service limits.
Exam Format & Structure
Duration
Microsoft does not publish a per-exam duration for AZ-305. Its published policy for associate and expert role-based exams is 100 minutes of exam time and 120 minutes of seat time without labs, or 120 minutes of exam time and 140 minutes of seat time for exams that may contain labs. You are given the exam time when you register, and five minutes of break time is built into the exam clock.
Questions
Microsoft does not publish a question count for AZ-305. Microsoft states that most of its certification exams typically contain between 40 and 60 questions and that the number varies by exam. The exam introduction screen tells you how many items, case studies and labs your form contains.
Passing Score
700 on a scale of 1 to 1,000. The score is scaled, so it does not equal 70 percent of the points available.
Question Types
- Case studies, with a scenario you can refer back to while answering its associated questions
- Multiple choice and multiple select
- Drag and drop
- Build list
- Hot area
- Active screen
- Problem and solution sets, where you judge whether a proposed solution meets a stated goal
- Performance-based labs, which Microsoft may include or remove from any role-based exam without publishing a list
Delivery Method
Pearson VUE test center or Pearson VUE online proctored exam
Exam Domains & Topics
Covers three groups of skills: designing logging and monitoring, designing authentication and authorization, and designing governance. The framing is consistently advisory, so questions describe an organization with compliance or access requirements and ask which structure or service to recommend rather than how to configure it.
Key Topics to Master:
- Recommending a logging solution and a solution for routing logs
- Recommending a monitoring solution across Azure and hybrid resources
- Recommending an authentication solution and an identity management solution
- Authorizing access to Azure resources and to on-premises resources
- Managing secrets, certificates and keys
- Structuring management groups, subscriptions and resource groups
- Designing a resource tagging strategy
- Recommending a solution for managing compliance
- Recommending a solution for identity governance
Covers relational data, semi-structured and unstructured data, and data integration. Questions ask you to pick a storage service and a tier against stated performance, durability, cost and protection requirements. This is where balancing features, performance and cost is called out explicitly in the skill statements.
Key Topics to Master:
- Recommending a solution for storing relational data
- Recommending a database service tier and compute tier
- Recommending a solution for database scalability
- Recommending a solution for data protection of relational data
- Recommending solutions for storing semi-structured data and unstructured data
- Balancing features, performance and cost in a storage recommendation
- Recommending a data solution for protection and durability
- Recommending a solution for data integration
- Recommending a solution for data analysis
The smallest area, covering backup and disaster recovery and high availability. Recovery objectives are named directly in the skill statements, so scenarios that quote an RTO or RPO are answered by matching the objective to the recovery capability rather than by preferring the most resilient option available.
Key Topics to Master:
- Recommending a recovery solution for Azure and hybrid workloads that meets stated recovery objectives
- Recommending a backup and recovery solution for compute
- Recommending a backup and recovery solution for databases
- Recommending a backup and recovery solution for unstructured data
- Recommending a high availability solution for compute
- Recommending a high availability solution for relational data
- Recommending a high availability solution for semi-structured and unstructured data
- Distinguishing between availability zone, regional and geo-redundant protection
The largest area, spanning four groups: compute, application architecture, migrations and networking. It is where the exam most resembles real architecture work, because a single case study can require a compute choice, a messaging pattern, a migration approach and a connectivity design that all have to be consistent with each other.
Key Topics to Master:
- Specifying compute components based on workload requirements, and recommending virtual machine, container and serverless solutions
- Recommending a compute solution for batch processing
- Recommending messaging and event-driven architectures, and solutions for API integration
- Recommending caching, application configuration management and automated application deployment
- Evaluating a migration solution using the Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
- Evaluating on-premises servers, data and applications for migration
- Recommending migration paths to infrastructure as a service and platform as a service, and migration solutions for databases and unstructured data
- Recommending connectivity from Azure resources to the internet and to on-premises networks
- Recommending solutions to optimize network performance and network security, and a load-balancing and routing solution
Recommended Study Plan
- 1Read the AZ-305 study guide on Microsoft Learn, including the change log for the April 17, 2026 update
- 2Take the free AZ-305 Practice Assessment on Microsoft Learn and record your score per skill area
- 3Visit the Microsoft exam sandbox to interact with case studies, drag and drop, hot area and build list question types before exam day
- 4Read the Azure Well-Architected Framework pillar overviews, which Microsoft names in the audience profile
- 5Build a tracker weighted toward Design infrastructure solutions at 30 to 35 percent and identity, governance and monitoring at 25 to 30 percent
- 1Work through the Microsoft Learn path on designing authentication and authorization solutions
- 2Compare Microsoft Entra ID authentication methods and decide when each is the right recommendation
- 3Design conditional access for a scenario with contractors, managed devices and unmanaged devices
- 4Compare managed identities, service principals and workload identity federation for application access
- 5Design access to an on-premises resource from an Azure-hosted application and write down the identity flow
- 1Design a management group, subscription and resource group hierarchy for a company with three business units and two compliance regimes
- 2Compare Azure Policy, role-based access control and Azure Blueprints or deployment stacks for enforcing a rule
- 3Design a tagging strategy that supports cost allocation and write the policy that enforces it
- 4Design a log routing solution: which logs go to a Log Analytics workspace, which to storage, and which to an event stream
- 5Compare Azure Monitor, Log Analytics, Application Insights and workbooks and state what each is the right answer for
- 1Compare Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Managed Instance and SQL Server on Azure Virtual Machines against a migration constraint list
- 2Compare the vCore and DTU purchasing models and the General Purpose, Business Critical and Hyperscale tiers
- 3Design a scalability approach using read replicas, elastic pools and Hyperscale, and state when each applies
- 4Design data protection using transparent data encryption, Always Encrypted and dynamic data masking
- 5Complete the Microsoft Learn modules on designing data storage solutions for relational data
- 1Compare Azure Cosmos DB APIs and consistency levels and pick one for a stated latency and correctness requirement
- 2Compare Azure Blob Storage access tiers and Azure Files and Azure NetApp Files for a shared file workload
- 3Design a storage redundancy choice among LRS, ZRS, GRS and RA-GRS against a durability requirement
- 4Compare Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics and Microsoft Fabric for a data integration recommendation
- 5Design an analytics path from raw ingestion through curated storage to a reporting layer
- 1Write one page mapping RTO and RPO targets to Azure Site Recovery, Azure Backup, zone-redundant deployment and geo-replication
- 2Design backup for virtual machines, an Azure SQL Database and a blob container, including retention and immutability
- 3Compare availability sets, availability zones and paired-region designs and their failure domains
- 4Design an active-passive and an active-active pattern for the same web application and state the cost difference
- 5Complete the Microsoft Learn modules on designing business continuity solutions
- 1Compare Azure Virtual Machines, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Azure Container Apps, Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure Functions on a decision table
- 2Design a batch processing solution and state why you chose Azure Batch, AKS or Functions
- 3Compare Azure Service Bus, Event Grid, Event Hubs and Storage queues, and pick one for a stated ordering and throughput requirement
- 4Design an API integration using Azure API Management and state what it adds over exposing the service directly
- 5Design a caching layer with Azure Cache for Redis and an application configuration approach with App Configuration and Key Vault
- 1Read the Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure migration guidance, which the skill statements name explicitly
- 2Run an Azure Migrate discovery and assessment against a test environment and read the readiness report
- 3Compare Azure Database Migration Service, backup and restore, and transactional replication for a database move
- 4Compare AzCopy, Azure Data Box and Azure File Sync for moving unstructured data at different volumes
- 5Write a rehost, replatform and refactor recommendation for the same legacy application and justify each
- 1Compare hub and spoke, Azure Virtual WAN and mesh peering topologies and state when each is the recommendation
- 2Compare ExpressRoute, site-to-site VPN and point-to-site VPN on bandwidth, SLA and cost
- 3Compare Azure Load Balancer, Application Gateway, Azure Front Door and Traffic Manager on layer, scope and use case
- 4Design network security with network security groups, Azure Firewall, Web Application Firewall and private endpoints
- 5Design private connectivity to a PaaS service and state the DNS implications of a private endpoint
- 1Work through the Microsoft Learn AZ-305 Practice Assessment again and compare with your week 1 baseline
- 2Practise case studies by writing the requirement list first, then answering, since you cannot return to a case study once you leave it
- 3Watch the Exam Readiness Zone session for AZ-305 in the Microsoft Learn video library
- 4Work a MeasureUp AZ-305 practice test if you want additional timed exposure
- 5Practise using learn.microsoft.com search on a topic you know weakly, and time how long a lookup actually takes
- 1Rebuild your compute, storage, database, connectivity and load-balancing decision tables from memory
- 2Spend the bulk of the week on the skill area where your Practice Assessment bar chart was shortest
- 3Re-read the four skill areas in the study guide and confirm you can answer every recommend statement out loud
- 4Review the Cloud Adoption Framework and Well-Architected Framework terminology so case study wording is familiar
- 5Schedule the exam, noting that Microsoft allows scheduling no more than 90 days ahead and a maximum of two exams booked at a time
- 1Review decision tables only, and stop adding new material
- 2Re-run the exam sandbox so the case study review screen and the Take a break control are familiar
- 3Plan how you will use the five minutes of built-in break time, remembering the clock keeps running and you cannot return to earlier questions
- 4If testing online, run the Pearson VUE system check on the exact machine and network you will use
- 5Confirm your ID and, at a test center, plan to arrive early enough to complete check-in
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Best Study Resources
Study guide for Exam AZ-305: Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions
Official exam blueprintThe authoritative skills measured list with the four weight ranges, every bulleted skill under each objective, and a change log comparing the current version with the version before April 17, 2026.
Free
Microsoft Learn training paths for AZ-305
Official self-paced trainingMicrosoft's own modules mapped to the four skill areas, including designing identity, governance and monitoring, data storage, business continuity and infrastructure solutions. Free and updated alongside the exam.
Free
AZ-305 Practice Assessment on Microsoft Learn
Official practice questionsA free practice assessment you can retake as many times as you want, with an answer, a rationale and a documentation link for each question. Microsoft notes these are not the same questions as the exam and do not reflect its length or complexity.
Free
Microsoft exam sandbox
Interface demoA working demo of the exam user interface with the same introductory screens, instructions and Candidate Agreement, plus every question type including case studies and labs. The secure browser is not enabled, so assistive device users still need an accommodation for the real exam.
Free
Azure Well-Architected Framework and Cloud Adoption Framework for Azure
Official documentationBoth are named in the AZ-305 audience profile, and the Cloud Adoption Framework is named directly in a migration skill statement. Case study wording borrows heavily from their vocabulary.
Free
Azure Architecture Center and the Azure Architectures browser
Official reference architecturesMicrosoft lists both as study resources on the AZ-305 study guide. Reading complete reference designs builds the recommendation instinct the exam tests more efficiently than service-by-service study.
Free
Exam Readiness Zone for AZ-305
Official video seriesMicrosoft-produced videos that walk each skill area and explain how objectives are assessed. Linked from the AZ-305 study guide under study resources.
Free
MeasureUp practice test for AZ-305
Third-party practice examMicrosoft links MeasureUp practice tests from exam details pages for exams that have them. Useful as timed practice once the free Practice Assessment stops finding gaps.
Paid
John Savill's AZ-305 study cram on YouTube
Video courseA long-form single-video walkthrough of the AZ-305 objectives from a Microsoft technical architect, widely used as a final consolidation pass. Check that the version you watch matches the current skills measured list.
Free
Microsoft Certification renewal page for Azure Solutions Architect Expert
Official renewal resourceHosts the free renewal assessment and its preparation modules. Worth bookmarking on the day you pass, since the renewal window opens six months before your expiration date.
Free
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Assuming AZ-104 is a required prerequisite because older guidance said so.
Microsoft lists AZ-305 as the single exam required for Azure Solutions Architect Expert and states no prerequisite exam. AZ-104 is useful preparation because the audience profile expects Azure administration experience, but you can book AZ-305 without it.
Studying how to configure Azure services rather than how to choose between them.
Nearly every AZ-305 skill statement begins with recommend. Practise by taking a requirement, listing two or three viable services, and writing the sentence that eliminates each one. That sentence is the exam answer.
Answering case study questions before reading the full scenario, then discovering a constraint later.
Microsoft's guidance is explicit that once you leave a case study you cannot return to its questions. Read all the tabs, write the requirements down, and only then start answering, because the review screen inside the case study is your last chance.
Taking a break in the middle of a case study to buy thinking time.
Once a break is launched you cannot return to any question you have already seen, even if it is unanswered or marked for review, and the clock keeps running. Microsoft also blocks breaks inside labs and inside problem-and-solution question sets.
Planning to look up answers on learn.microsoft.com during the exam.
Access to Microsoft Learn is real but no extra time is added and the timer runs while you browse. Microsoft designed it so that using it on every question makes the exam impossible to finish. Budget it for two or three questions at most.
Treating high availability and disaster recovery as the same requirement.
The business continuity area separates them into distinct skill groups. High availability answers what happens when one instance or zone fails, and is usually availability zones or a redundant tier. Disaster recovery answers a stated RTO and RPO across regions, and is usually Azure Site Recovery, geo-replication or a paired-region design.
Choosing Azure Front Door, Application Gateway, Load Balancer and Traffic Manager interchangeably.
Build one table before exam day: Load Balancer is layer 4 regional, Application Gateway is layer 7 regional with WAF, Front Door is layer 7 global with WAF and edge acceleration, and Traffic Manager is DNS-based global routing. Case studies frequently hinge on global versus regional scope.
Recommending a storage redundancy option without checking the stated availability requirement.
LRS, ZRS, GRS and RA-GRS differ in what failure they survive and whether the secondary copy is readable. When a scenario states a regional outage requirement plus read access during failover, RA-GRS or a zone-redundant plus geo option is the intended answer, not simply the most expensive one.
Preparing from material written before the April 17, 2026 exam update.
Read the change log at the bottom of the AZ-305 study guide, which lists the current skill areas against the version before that date. Localized exam versions update about eight weeks after English, so check which version you are booking if you test in another language.
Exam Day Tips
- 1
Microsoft does not publish an AZ-305 duration in advance. Your exam time is shown when you register, and the introduction screen tells you how many items, case studies and labs your form has. Read that screen rather than skipping it.
- 2
Five minutes of break time is built into the exam clock. You can take multiple unscheduled breaks without requesting them in advance, but the timer keeps running the whole time.
- 3
Once you start a break you cannot return to any question you have already seen, answered or not. The break screen tells you how many you have seen, how many are unanswered and how many are flagged, so clear those first.
- 4
You cannot start a break in the middle of a lab or inside a problem-and-solution question set. Breaks are allowed during case studies, but the same no-return rule applies.
- 5
You can open learn.microsoft.com in split screen during this exam, excluding Q&A, Practice Assessments and your profile. Ctrl+F on Windows or Command+F on Mac searches the current page only, and no extra time is added.
- 6
Case studies are not timed separately from the rest of the exam. Once you leave one, its questions are closed, so use the review screen at the end of each case study before moving on.
- 7
There is no penalty for guessing, and multi-part questions award one point per correctly answered component unless the question says otherwise, so answer every part.
- 8
Most Microsoft exams return a result within minutes, with a score report and a per-skill-area bar chart. If your form included labs, scoring takes about 30 minutes longer, and the result reaches your Learn profile within 24 hours.
- 9
If you believe a question was technically inaccurate, use the Exam item challenge process afterwards. Microsoft rarely changes a result, but where a question is found to be flawed it may offer a free retake.
Career Paths & Salary Ranges
Azure solutions architect
Translates business requirements into Azure designs across compute, network, storage, monitoring and security. Microsoft's own role description for this certification matches the job title almost word for word.
$120k-$170k
Cloud architect in a multi-cloud organization
Owns design decisions where Azure is one of several platforms. The identity, governance and monitoring area at 25 to 30 percent transfers directly, since management group hierarchy and policy enforcement have close analogues on other clouds.
$120k-$170k
Infrastructure architect leading a migration programme
Plans and sequences moves from on-premises to Azure. The migration skills group names the Cloud Adoption Framework, on-premises assessment, IaaS and PaaS target selection, and database and unstructured data migration explicitly.
$120k-$170k
Enterprise architect with an Azure specialisation
Advises stakeholders on platform strategy, governance and compliance. Microsoft's audience profile expects you to manage how decisions in networking, identity, security, continuity, data and governance affect an overall solution.
$120k-$170k
Technical pre-sales or Microsoft partner solution architect
Designs proposed solutions for customers and defends the choices. The recommendation-shaped skill statements mirror the work of justifying a design against a customer requirement list.
$120k-$170k
Platform engineering lead
Builds the shared Azure platform other teams deploy onto, including subscription structure, tagging, logging routes and connectivity. Three of the four skill areas contribute directly to this scope.
$120k-$170k
Prerequisites & Requirements
- There is no required prerequisite exam. Microsoft lists AZ-305 as the single exam needed to earn Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert.
- Microsoft expects advanced experience and knowledge of IT operations, including networking, virtualization, identity, security, business continuity, disaster recovery, data platforms and governance.
- Microsoft expects you to manage how decisions in each of those areas affect an overall solution rather than treating them separately.
- Microsoft also expects experience with Azure administration, Azure development and DevOps processes.
- AZ-104: Microsoft Azure Administrator is a common route to the Azure administration experience the audience profile assumes, but it is a recommendation rather than a requirement.
- You need a Microsoft Learn profile connected to your certification profile to schedule the exam and, later, to take the free renewal assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does the AZ-305 exam cost?
Microsoft states that associate and expert exams typically cost 165 USD, priced according to currency values in specific countries and regions, and that additional taxes may apply in some places. Exam prices are subject to change, and the current price for your region appears on the AZ-305 exam details page. Academic pricing is available to verified students and educators, and that verification lasts 12 months.
What is the passing score for AZ-305?
700 on a scale of 1 to 1,000. Because the score is scaled, it does not equal 70 percent of the points available. Microsoft sets the passing score against the knowledge and skills needed to demonstrate competence and against the difficulty of the specific questions, so easier question sets require more points and harder sets require fewer.
How many questions are on the exam and how long is it?
Microsoft does not publish either figure for AZ-305 specifically. Its published guidance is that most Microsoft Certification exams typically contain between 40 and 60 questions, with the number varying by exam. For associate and expert role-based exams, Microsoft publishes 100 minutes of exam time and 120 minutes of seat time without labs, or 120 minutes and 140 minutes for exams that may contain labs. Your exam time is confirmed at registration and the introduction screen states how many items, case studies and labs your form has.
Do I need to pass AZ-104 first?
No. Microsoft lists AZ-305 as the only exam required for the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification and does not list a prerequisite exam. The audience profile assumes Azure administration experience, which AZ-104 is a good way to acquire, but it is not a gate on booking or passing AZ-305.
What happens if I fail?
You can retake it 24 hours after the first attempt. A 14-day waiting period applies between all subsequent attempts, and you may not take the exam more than five times within 12 months of your first attempt. If you fail five times you become eligible again 12 months from the date of that first attempt. You pay for each attempt, and Microsoft does not refund failed exams.
Can the retake waiting period be waived?
Only in narrow circumstances. Microsoft grants waivers where you had internet connectivity issues or equipment failure during the exam and a Pearson VUE case was created, and the waiver request must include that case number. Waivers are not granted for any other reason.
How long do results take?
For most exams you get a result within minutes of finishing, along with a score report and a bar chart of performance by skill area. If your form included labs, scoring takes about 30 minutes longer, and the score reaches your Microsoft Learn profile within 24 hours.
How do I renew the certification, and does it cost anything?
Microsoft associate, expert and specialty certifications expire annually and are renewed by passing a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn. The assessment is unproctored, open book, and shorter than the original exam, and it focuses on recent technology and industry updates. The renewal window opens six months before your expiration date, and passing extends the certification one year from that expiration date. There is no limit on renewal retakes, although after the second attempt you wait at least 24 hours between tries. Microsoft certifications do not use continuing education credits.
What identification do I need on exam day?
Pearson VUE sets the identification requirements for Microsoft exams, and they differ between test center and online proctored delivery. Check the ID rules on your Pearson VUE confirmation before exam day, and make sure the name on your Microsoft certification profile matches your identification, because a mismatch will stop you testing.
Can I take a break during the exam?
Yes. Microsoft has built five minutes of break time into the exam clock and you do not need to request breaks in advance. You may take multiple breaks and stay away as long as you like, but the exam timer keeps running. Once a break starts you cannot return to any question you have already seen, and you cannot take a break inside a lab or inside a problem-and-solution question set.
Can I use reference materials, notes or a calculator?
You may not access any unauthorized materials, including during a break, and doing so revokes your exam. What you can use is the built-in split-screen access to learn.microsoft.com, available on role-based exams like AZ-305 but not on fundamentals exams. Q&A, Practice Assessments and your own profile are blocked, no extra time is added, and the timer keeps running while you browse.
Are accommodations available?
Yes. Microsoft has a request accommodations process for assistive devices, extra time and modifications to the exam experience, and accommodations must be requested in advance. Separately, if you must take the exam in English rather than your native language, you can request additional time through the English as a Second Language process, and if the exam is not available in your preferred language you can request an additional 30 minutes. Approval is case by case.
How are case studies handled?
A case study presents a scenario you can refer back to as often as you like while working on its questions. You may review and change answers within the case study until you move to the next case or section, after which you cannot return to it. Case studies are not timed separately from the rest of the exam, and the number of case studies is shown on the exam introduction screen.
How is the exam scored and can I see which questions I got wrong?
Scores are reported on a 1 to 1,000 scale with 700 required to pass. Multi-part questions usually award one point per correctly answered component, and there is no penalty for guessing. Some questions are unscored while Microsoft gathers data on them, and they are not identified. Microsoft does not share which questions you answered incorrectly, only a bar chart of performance by skill area, which cannot be used to calculate how many questions you got right.
Can I challenge a question or request a rescore?
You can raise a concern about the technical accuracy of a specific item through Microsoft's Exam item challenge process. Microsoft says final results are rarely changed on re-evaluation, because a flawed question does not prove you would have answered it correctly. Where a challenge is upheld, Microsoft may offer a free retake instead of changing the score.
How far in advance can I schedule, and how many exams can I book?
You can schedule Microsoft Certification exams through Pearson VUE no more than 90 days in advance. Since January 16, 2023 you can have a maximum of two Microsoft Certification exams scheduled at a time, on the same day or separate days. After you take or cancel one, you can register for another.
What languages is AZ-305 available in?
English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Traditional) and Italian. Microsoft updates the English version first and localized versions roughly eight weeks later, so a localized exam may still reflect the previous skills measured list for a period after an update.
How does AZ-305 compare to AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional?
AZ-305 costs 165 USD, needs 700 of 1,000 to pass, expires after one year and renews free online. The AWS professional exam costs 300 USD, needs 750 of 1,000, runs 180 minutes with 75 questions and stays valid three years but must be retaken to recertify. AZ-305 uses case studies and lets you consult vendor documentation during the exam; AWS uses long single-scenario questions with no documentation access.
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