How many questions are on the SAA-C03 exam?

The exam consists of 65 total questions. This includes 50 scored questions that count toward your final result and 15 unscored pretest questions.

How much time do I have to complete the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam?

Candidates are allotted a total time limit of 130 minutes to complete the SAA-C03 exam.

What is the passing score for the SAA-C03 certification?

You need to achieve a scaled score of at least 720 out of 1000 to pass. The passing score is set by the provider and is the same for every candidate.

What types of questions will I encounter?

The exam utilizes two formats: multiple-choice questions (one correct answer out of four options) and multiple-response questions (two or more correct answers out of five or more options). There is no penalty for guessing.

How much time should I spend studying for the AWS SAA-C03?

We estimate around 80 hours of structured study time, though this can vary depending on your existing hands-on experience with AWS cloud services and general IT infrastructure.

Are there any unscored questions on the test?

Yes, 15 of the 65 questions are unscored. AWS uses these questions to gather statistical information for future exams, but they are not identified, so you should treat every question as if it counts.

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SAA-C03 · Syllabus & Exam Outline 2026

AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate

Study secure, resilient, high-performing, and cost-optimized AWS architectures through focused lessons mapped directly to the SAA-C03 exam domains and the Well-Architected Framework.

Start studying free see the outline ↓

Questions: 65 questions (50 scored, 15 unscored)
Time limit: 130 minutes
Passing score: 720
Cost: $150 USD
Format: Multiple choice · Multiple response
Delivery: Pearson VUE (testing center or online proctored)
Prep time: ~80 hours

Exam overview

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (SAA-C03) exam evaluates your capability to architect secure, robust, highly available, and cost-efficient solutions on Amazon Web Services. This certification serves as a benchmark for cloud professionals who have a solid understanding of the AWS Well-Architected Framework and practical hands-on experience deploying distributed systems. Navigating the expansive scope of AWS services requires a structured approach to properly master compute, storage, networking, and database technologies. To help you maximize your preparation, this syllabus breaks down the four core domains of the exam: designing secure, resilient, high-performing, and cost-optimized architectures. You will learn to navigate key design decisions, such as choosing the right compute instance type, establishing rigorous identity controls, and building resilient disaster recovery environments. Our platform, Only Ever, takes this official exam outline and maps every domain into highly focused, 15-minute study topics. This granular approach ensures you can systematically build your cloud architecture knowledge, transforming a massive list of AWS services into an achievable and measurable daily study plan.

Exam domains & weighting

Each domain's share of the exam — study deepest where the weight is highest. Open one for how to study it and its objectives.

How to study this domain

Focus heavily on Identity and Access Management (IAM), VPC security components like security groups and NACLs, and encryption mechanisms via AWS KMS. Practice designing architectures that implement the principle of least privilege and grasp the core nuances of the AWS Shared Responsibility Model.

Key objectives

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Multi-Account Security & Global Infrastructure
VPC Architecture Security
Application and Edge Security
Hybrid Network Security
Data Encryption & Key Management
Data Recovery and Retention Policies

Study this domain

Readiness self-check

Tick off everything you can confidently explain. Anything left unchecked is your study list — tap “Review” to jump straight into that domain.

Readiness

0 / 8

Domain 1: Design Secure Architectures

Review

Can I explain the functional differences between a resource-based policy and an IAM identity-based policy?
Do I know how to structure public and private subnets to properly isolate backend database workloads?

Domain 2: Design Resilient Architectures

Review

Can I describe the architectural differences between pilot light, warm standby, and multi-site active/active disaster recovery strategies?
Am I able to identify single points of failure within a traditional multi-tier web application stack?

Domain 3: Design High-Performing Architectures

Review

What are the core performance characteristics of an Application Load Balancer (ALB) compared to a Network Load Balancer (NLB)?
Can I correctly determine when to implement Aurora Serverless versus standard provisioned Amazon RDS?

Domain 4: Design Cost-Optimized Architectures

Review

Which Amazon S3 storage class provides the most cost-effective solution for long-term data archival with unpredictable retrieval patterns?
Can I explain how EC2 Spot Instances and Compute Savings Plans actively reduce compute expenditures?

Quick reference

AWS Storage Types

Core storage paradigms and their primary AWS service mappings.

Object Storage

Amazon S3

Includes various storage tiers and lifecycle management capabilities.

Block Storage

Amazon EBS

Attaches directly to EC2 instances; includes SSD and HDD options.

File Storage

Amazon EFS / Amazon FSx

Shared file systems for Linux (EFS) or Windows/Lustre (FSx).

Common Exam Acronyms

Essential AWS and industry abbreviations frequently used in the exam.

IAM: Identity and Access Management
VPC: Virtual Private Cloud
KMS: Key Management Service
SQS: Simple Queue Service
RTO: Recovery Time Objective
RPO: Recovery Point Objective

Disaster Recovery Strategies

Standard cloud disaster recovery models tested in the Resilient Architectures domain.

Backup and Restore

Data is backed up to a durable storage service and restored to infrastructure only when a disaster occurs.

Pilot Light

A minimal version of the core environment is kept continually running in the cloud, ready to quickly scale out during a failure.

Warm Standby

A scaled-down version of a fully functional environment is actively running and can rapidly be scaled up to handle full production traffic.

Multi-Site Active/Active

The workload is fully deployed across two or more Regions, actively serving traffic from all locations simultaneously.

Frequently asked questions

Good to know

The exam utilizes a compensatory scoring model, meaning you only need to achieve an overall passing score rather than passing each domain individually.
Unanswered questions are automatically scored as incorrect, so candidates should attempt every question.
Scores are calculated using a scaled scoring model ranging from 100 to 1,000 to account for slight difficulty variations between test forms.
There are 15 unidentified pretest questions mixed into the exam that do not impact the final score.

Reading isn’t remembering.

The SAA-C03 exam tests architectural judgment, not service memorization. It expects you to weigh compute, storage, database, and networking trade-offs against security, resilience, performance, and cost requirements, which is hard to internalize from scattered service documentation.

Only Ever turns the official SAA-C03 exam domains into focused 15-minute study sessions so you build durable decision-making across secure, resilient, high-performing, and cost-optimized design without drifting off-spec.

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