How many questions are on the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam?

Our record lists 65 questions for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate. The vendor does not publish a question count, so treat that as a working figure rather than an official specification.

How long do you have to complete the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam?

Our record lists 170 minutes, roughly 157 seconds per question. The vendor does not publish a duration for this exam, so use it as a planning figure.

What score do you need to pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam?

Our record lists 72% as the pass mark for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate. Most certification bodies do not publish a numeric cut score, so treat this as our benchmark rather than an official threshold.

What are the domains on the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam?

There are 4 domains: Design Secure Architectures, Design Resilient Architectures, Design Cost-Optimized Architectures, Design High-Performing Architectures. The official weights are Design Secure Architectures 30%, Design Resilient Architectures 26%, Design Cost-Optimized Architectures 20%, Design High-Performing Architectures 24%.

How should I use the domain weights when revising?

Weight by percentage, not by domain. 30% is the one where lost points cost you the most, and Certilum scores you per domain so you can see exactly where that is.

Does Certilum have practice questions for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam?

Yes: 65 questions in our bank for this certification, each tagged to the exam domain it belongs to, with the official domain weights applied.

Exam format

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Exam Format

SAA-C03

Everything the official exam blueprint specifies: question count, time limit, scoring and the weight each domain carries. The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) exam validates a candidate's ability to design and implement distributed systems on Amazon Web Services. It assesses proficiency in architecting secure, resilient, high-performing, and cost-optimized solutions using core AWS services, the Well-Architected Framework, and architectural best practices. The certification is designed for individuals who perform a solutions architect role and have one or more years of hands-on experience designing available, cost-efficient, fault-tolerant, and scalable distributed systems on AWS. The exam covers four key domains: designing secure architectures (30%), resilient architectures (26%), high-performing architectures (24%), and cost-optimized architectures (20%). Candidates are expected to demonstrate knowledge of compute, storage, database, networking, security, and analytics services, as well as the ability to make trade-off decisions between different AWS services and architectural approaches. The exam format includes multiple-choice and multiple-response questions, scenario-based questions, and requires a strong understanding of architectural best practices, disaster recovery, migration, and hybrid architectures. Achieving this certification demonstrates that the candidate can effectively communicate technical requirements, design cloud-native or hybrid solutions, and align AWS services to business goals. It is one of the most recognized cloud certifications globally and serves as a foundation for advanced AWS certifications, including the Solutions Architect – Professional and DevOps Engineer – Professional. The exam is available in multiple languages including English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese, and can be taken at Pearson VUE testing centers or online proctored. AWS recommends candidates have at least one year of hands-on experience designing and managing AWS-based systems before attempting the exam.

65 questions

170 min

72% to pass

4 domains

certilum

Exam facts at a glance

What we know about this exam, and where the information comes from.

Specification	Value
Questions	65
Time limit	170 minutes (157s per question)
Passing score	72%
Domains	4
Level	Associate
Question bank here	65 questions
Source	Certilum's own record — the vendor does not publish this figure

Official domain weights

The percentage of the exam each domain carries. Weight your revision by these numbers, not by what you find hardest.

Domain	Weight	Topics	Practice Qs
Design Secure Architectures	30%	Design secure access to AWS resources Design secure workloads and applications Determine appropriate data security controls	19
Design Resilient Architectures	26%	Design scalable and loosely coupled architectures Design highly available and/or fault-tolerant architectures Design decoupling mechanisms using AWS services +1 more	17
Design Cost-Optimized Architectures	20%	Define cost-effective storage solutions Design cost-optimized compute and database services Design cost-optimized network architectures	13
Design High-Performing Architectures	24%	Determine high-performing and/or scalable storage solutions Design high-performing and elastic compute solutions Design high-performing database solutions +1 more	16

The heaviest domain is Design Secure Architectures at 30%, and that is where lost points cost you the most. Certilum scores you per domain so you can see the difference between a knowledge gap and a formatting problem.

Note from the vendor record: Base price in USD on the exam page. AWS also publishes regional prices (EUR 128, AUD 224, JPY 20,000, KRW 197,287, CNY 1,057, INR 12,829.50) updated at least annually in May (https://aws.amazon.com/certification/policies/before-testing/). 50% discount on the next exam if you already hold an AWS certification. Taxes may apply. Official exam page