A+
CompTIA A+
CompTIA A+
› Quality score
Four-axis SecProve rubric, each 0–10. SecProve editorial assessment — each axis carries a written justification so you can push back on any single call without dismissing the whole score.
› Market signals
public, citable inputs to the recognition score› Exam format
Two exams (Core 1 + Core 2), max. 90 questions each, 90 minutes each, proctored via Pearson VUE. Passing score: 675/900 and 700/900 respectively.
First retake immediate; 14-day wait before each subsequent attempt. Retake fee equals the standard exam fee.
› Recertification
Valid for 3 years. Renewal through 20 CEUs or higher-level CompTIA cert (stacking) or re-exam.
› NICE Framework work roles
The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.
› Core domains covered
The 1 domain this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.
› Prerequisites
No formal prerequisites. Recommended: 9–12 months hands-on experience.
› Study materials
Curated starting points. Not exhaustive — vet each against your learning style and the current exam version.
- CompTIA A+ (220-1101 + 220-1102) Study Guide — Sybex / Pearson IT Certification
- CompTIA CertMaster Learn + Labs
- Professor Messer (free)
- Jason Dion (Udemy)
- Boson ExSim-Max for A+ (220-1101 + 220-1102)
- Jason Dion Practice Exams (Udemy)
› Version & lifecycle
Two-part exam. CompTIA refreshes every ~3 years; next refresh expected 2025.
› Salary signal
Help desk / IT support, US, 0-2 years.
Robert Half Salary Guide + Glassdoor 'IT Support / Help Desk' aggregations · 2024 · US base only · p25–p75 range
› How it compares
A+ is general IT/help-desk; Network+ is the next CompTIA step into networking.
↔ Compare side-by-side› Careers that commonly pursue this cert
Monitor, detect, and respond to security threats in a Security Operations Center. The front line of cyber defense.
Owns the end-to-end find → prioritize → fix → verify loop at scale, now increasingly AI-driven.
External-first role: inventories what an attacker can see, tracks what's new, and drives closure through the org. The outside-in counterpart to vuln management.
› Common exam traps to study
Cybersecurity cert exams reuse the same 25 distractor patterns over and over — category confusion, RTO vs RPO, IDS vs IPS, MD5 vs SHA-256, and more. Once you can name the trap, you stop falling for it. Each archetype page covers what it is, the specific pairs candidates confuse, and how to avoid it.
See this cert’s domains highlighted on the interactive map, or compare it against the rest of the catalog.