ProfessionalVendor-specificAWS· issued from US

AWS SAP

Amazon Web Services Certified Solutions Architect - Professional

Official page at AWS ↔ Compare with another cert

Exam fee

$300

Ongoing

—

Study time

120–240 hrs

Delivery

Hybrid

Validity

3 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

32.5 / 40

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.

Blueprint rigor

How well-defined and rigorous the exam blueprint is.

AWS publishes an extensive task-based exam guide; one of the most rigorous AWS exams.

8.5/10

Practical evidence

Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.

Multi-step scenario items resemble design reviews; no live lab.

6.0/10

Currency & upkeep

How aggressively content is kept current with the field.

Refreshed continuously; current SAP-C02 reflects 2023-era services.

9.0/10

Market recognition

How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.

Universally cited on senior cloud-architect listings; the default senior-AWS signal.

9.0/10

› Exam format

75 questions (multiple-choice + multiple-response), 180 minutes. Proctored via Pearson VUE / PSI. Passing score: 750/1000.

Retake policy

Fee: $300 per attempt

Wait: 14d between attempts

14-day wait between attempts. AWS occasionally provides 50% retake vouchers after a fail.

› Recertification

Valid for 3 years. Renewal by re-exam or higher-level AWS cert.

› NICE Framework work roles

The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.

DD-WRL-002DD-WRL-001

Recognition

Global

Exam languages

› Core domains covered

The 3 domains this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.

A5Cloud Security

AWS/Azure/GCP security controls, IAM policies, CSPM, container security, shared responsibility model.

A25Security Architecture & Engineering

Reference architectures, control frameworks (NIST SP 800-53, CIS Controls), secure-by-design patterns, threat modeling, trust-boundary design, technology standards.

A23Recovery, Resilience & Cyber Recovery

Backup integrity, immutable snapshots, cyber-recovery vaults, restore orchestration, BCM/DR, tabletop exercises, ransom-scenario restoration drills.

› Prerequisites

Experience

No formal prerequisites. Recommended: 2+ years hands-on AWS experience + AWS Solutions Architect Associate.

› Progression

requiredrecommended

Where this cert fits in the typical learning path. Required edges are vendor-gated; recommended edges reflect de facto industry progression.

Required prereqs (0)

No vendor-gated prereqs.

Recommended priors (1)

AWS SAAAWS

AWS SAP

AWS

Required by (0)

No certs require this one.

Recommended next (0)

No follow-on certs reference this one yet.

› 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.

Browse all 25 cert-exam traps Start with: BEST vs correct

See this cert’s domains highlighted on the interactive map, or compare it against the rest of the catalog.

Highlight on the domain map Browse all certifications