AWS Certified Solutions Architect - AssociateSAA-C03Exam Guide
An Associate exam that validates designing secure, resilient, high-performing, and cost-optimized distributed systems based on the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
Associate · AvailableInformation verified 2026-08-24
English questions for this exam are not yet available. Practice links open the Japanese version.
Exam overview
- Exam code
- SAA-C03
- Level
- Associate
- Exam status
- Available
- Intended candidate
- Solutions architects with at least one year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions using AWS services.
- AWS-recommended knowledge and experience
- At least one year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions on AWS
- Question formats
- Multiple choice and multiple response
- Languages
- English, Japanese, and other languages; confirm current availability when scheduling
- Testing options
- Pearson VUE testing center or online proctored exam
- Certification validity
- Three years from the date earned; see AWS recertification guidance for renewal options
Who this exam is for
- People responsible for designing or reviewing AWS architectures
- On-premises architects expanding into cloud architecture
- Learners who want to organize broad AWS knowledge around requirements
These learning profiles are organized from the AWS intended-candidate and recommended-experience guidance.
Official exam domains
A concise rendering of the domains, weights, and task statements in the official exam guide.Design Secure Architectures
30%Designs secure access, workloads, and data protection from requirements.
Key tasks
- Design secure access to AWS resources
- Design secure workloads and applications
- Determine appropriate data security controls
Services and concepts to review
AWS IAMAWS OrganizationsAWS KMSAWS WAF
Design Resilient Architectures
26%Designs loose coupling, scalability, high availability, and fault tolerance.
Key tasks
- Design scalable and loosely coupled architectures
- Design highly available and fault-tolerant architectures
Services and concepts to review
Elastic Load BalancingAmazon SQSAmazon Route 53AWS Auto Scaling
Design High-Performing Architectures
24%Selects storage, compute, database, networking, and data services for performance requirements.
Key tasks
- Determine high-performing storage and compute solutions
- Design high-performing database and network solutions
- Design data ingestion and transformation
Services and concepts to review
Amazon EC2Amazon S3Amazon RDSAmazon DynamoDBAmazon CloudFront
Design Cost-Optimized Architectures
20%Optimizes storage, compute, database, and network cost while preserving requirements.
Key tasks
- Design cost-optimized storage and compute
- Design cost-optimized database and network solutions
Services and concepts to review
AWS Cost ExplorerAWS Compute OptimizerAmazon S3 storage classesSavings Plans
Suggested study path
- Map Well-Architected principles to the four exam domains
- Compare services through requirements and trade-offs instead of memorizing them
- Practice security, resiliency, performance, and cost domain by domain
- Use scenario questions to practice prioritizing competing design requirements
Relevant AWS services and concepts
Compute and decoupling
Why review these: To compare synchronous/asynchronous patterns, state, and scaling decisions.
Amazon EC2AWS LambdaAmazon ECSAmazon SQSAmazon EventBridge
Data
Why review these: To judge durability, consistency, performance, and cost trade-offs.
Amazon S3Amazon EBSAmazon RDSAmazon DynamoDBAmazon ElastiCache
Networking and protection
Why review these: To treat connectivity, delivery, perimeter defense, and encryption as one design.
Amazon VPCRoute 53CloudFrontAWS WAFAWS KMS
How this exam differs from other AWS Certifications
CLF-C02
CLF-C02 checks foundational service knowledge; SAA-C03 emphasizes architecture decisions from requirements.
Open exam guideSOA-C03
SAA-C03 emphasizes design; SOA-C03 emphasizes day-to-day operations, monitoring, change, and recovery.
Open exam guideLearning with Path & Pass
Practice questions: 140 questions
- Practice by domain
- Quick practice
- Review and bookmarks
- Mock exams
- Progressive hints
- Immediate scoring and detailed explanations
- On-device learning history and progress
All questions are original practice content based on public exam objectives. They are not actual, recalled, or past AWS Certification exam questions.
Frequently asked questions
No. AWS Certifications have no mandatory sequence. If you have little cloud or IT experience, CLF-C02-level fundamentals can make preparation easier.
AWS does not require deep hands-on coding, but familiarity with basic programming concepts helps with design decisions.
No. They are original practice questions based on public exam guides and primary sources, not actual or recalled AWS Certification exam questions.
Official sources
Last verified:
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