Planning to take the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam? On September 18, 2023, the existing version of the exam (CLF-C01) will be retired and replaced with the newer CLF-C02. 

As you might expect, the new version of the exam is a slightly different beast. The domain weightings are different, and it covers a range of new services, concepts, and tools. We cover all the different changes in the CLF-C02 below.

What's the difference between CLF-C01 and CLF-C02?

At a high level, there’s a decrease in questions on cloud concepts, billing, pricing, and support (though you’ll still need to study these). This gap is filled with a greater focus on security, compliance, cloud technology and services, which collectively will make up 64% of your exam. Some of the domains have also been renamed.

Here is an exact breakdown of the new exam weightings:

• Domain 1 (Cloud Concepts): There will now be more focus on the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework.

• Domain 2 (Security and Compliance): A big jump from 25% to 30%. There is now a deeper focus on governance.

• Domain 3 (Cloud Technology & Services): Renamed and reorganized. This domain is now broken into sections like compute, database, networking, storage, AI/ML, and miscellaneous.

• Domain 4 (Billing, Pricing, and Support): Renamed to include support, but the percentage dropped from 16% to 12%.

Some of the new services, tools, and concepts covered

There’s a lot of new services and concepts that have been added to the exam: you can find a full list by AWS here. However, if you’re after something a bit shorter to help you focus your study efforts, here are some services you should check out (It still looks like a ton, but don’t get discouraged!). In particular, I’d read up on concepts like the AWS shared responsibility model, support plans, and machine learning. 

Analytics:

• AWS Data Exchange

Application Integration:

• AWS Step Functions

Business Productivity:

• Amazon Connect

Compute:

• AWS Wavelength

Containers:

• Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR)

Cost Management:

• AWS Billing Conductor

Customer Engagement:

• AWS IQ

Database:

• Amazon Neptune

Developer Tools:

• AWS AppConfig

• AWS X-Ray

End-User Computing:

• Amazon AppStream 2.0

Frontend Web and Mobile:

• AWS Device Farm

Internet of Things (IoT):

• AWS IoT Core

• AWS IoT Greengrass

Machine Learning:

• Amazon Comprehend

• Amazon Polly

Management and Governance:

• AWS Well-Architected Tool

Migration and Transfer:

• AWS Migration Hub

Networking and Content Delivery:

• AWS Global Accelerator

Security, Identity, and Compliance:

• AWS Secrets Manager

• AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM)

Storage:

• AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery

Some areas to focus on to help prepare

• Cloud Adoption: Understand the Cloud Adoption Framework as well as the Well-Architected Framework whitepapers.

• AWS Shared Responsibility Model: Understand and be able to describe customer and AWS responsibilities.

• Methods of deploying and operating in AWS: Understand different ways to provision and operate in AWS using different services in the exam guide list.

Also, something else to keep in mind is that The Well-Architected Framework has been updated this year, so take a look at it and make sure that you are all caught up on updates to the Pillars themselves. If you need to brush up on what was updated, check out our AWS Well-Architected Framework Deep Dive course.

Certified Cloud Practitioner prep courses you can take

If you haven't started studying for the exam yet, feel free to start using the current material listed below. Even though they are labeled currently as CLF-C01, they will still cover many of the same things. Keep your eyes peeled for the new course to be released for the new exam, which will be listed with CLF-C02 in the title.

1. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01) Course

2. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01) Practice Exam 1

3. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01) Practice Exam 2

Some recommended AWS Whitepapers to help prepare

• AWS Cloud Adoption Framework

• AWS Well-Architected Framework

• AWS Management and Governance Cloud Environment Guide

AWS Provided Exam Preparation

• CLF-C02 Exam Guide

• AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Official Practice Question Set

• AWS Cloud Quest: Cloud Practitioner

What hasn't changed with the CLF-C02?

Things that haven’t changed with the new AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam is the include the number of questions, how they are scored, the exam costs, and some of the services covered (they’ve just moved around a bit).

The number of questions and scoring

The exam itself will still consist of 65 multiple choice and multiple response questions. The exam questions will include 50 questions that actually affect your score. The other 15 are unscored questions used to collect performance data on their future use. It is also still pass or fail with scores ranging from 100 to 1000 and you'll need a 700 score or higher to be considered passing.

The costs

The exam is still 100 dollars US and will still be offered at a facility or remotely, but remember if you are taking it remotely, ensure that whatever device and room you are using meets requirements AHEAD of exam day!

The staple topics

AWS Fargate and AWS Lambda are now in their own category listed as Serverless. Services like Amazon EC2, Amazon QuickSight, Amazon Aurora, AWS Auto Scaling, and Amazon CloudWatch (to name a few) are still included as well.

How soon can I register to take the new exam?

According to AWS, registration for the updated exam (CLF-C02) opens August 22, 2023, and the exam is available to take starting September 19, 2023. 

Conclusion

Phew! That was a lot to take in, but don't let that keep you from starting. Luckily, we are here to help you prepare for this exam and its updates. Thank you for reading with me today. Remember, deep breaths and baby steps, and as always, keep being awesome, gurus!