--- title: "Claude Certified Associate Foundations (CCAO-F) Exam Guide" url: "https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-associate" description: "Claude Certified Associate – Foundations (CCAO-F): $99, 60 questions, 720 to pass, no coding. The 7 domains, who can register, how to prepare." --- # Claude Certified Associate – Foundations (CCAO-F): exam facts and how to prepare The Claude Certified Associate – Foundations certification (CCAO-F) is Anthropic's Claude associate certification for people who use Claude to get work done, not to build software. The CCAO-F exam checks that you can prompt well, check what Claude gives you, pick the right product and model, and set up Claude Projects safely. ![](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/authors/craig-li.jpg) By [Craig Li, Ph.D](https://www.linkedin.com/in/guanyi-li-91662016) Claude Certified Architect – Professional Updated October 2026   CCAO-F Associate – Foundations Questions 60 Time 120 min To pass 720 / 1,000 Anthropic fee $99 per attempt Valid for 12 months [Start with 20 free questions](https://certmadeeasy.com/catalog/set-anthropic-ccao-f) No sign-up to start Other Claude exams - [**CCDV-F** · Developer](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-developer) - [**CCAR-F** · Architect](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-architect) - [**CCAR-P** · Architect Professional](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-architect-professional) - [All four compared](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification) ## CCAO-F exam at a glance Each item is multiple-choice or multiple-response, and a multiple-response item tells you how many answers to pick. The exam is proctored and closed book, through Pearson VUE, online or at a test centre: no notes, translation tools or AI assistants. It is offered in English and Japanese. You will not write any code: the questions are about using Claude well at work. Scoring runs from 100 to 1,000 against a fixed standard, not a curve. ## Who the Claude Certified Associate is for It suits people who use Claude every day and set up Claude Projects: operations, marketing, project management, teaching, communications and other knowledge work. Anthropic's [certifications page](https://anthropic-partners.skilljar.com/page/partner-certifications) also names partner consultants, sellers and delivery leads. It is explicitly not for developers building on the API or people designing agent systems. Associates hand that work to the Developer and Architect credentials. There are no prerequisites and no required courses. Anthropic recommends regular hands-on use of Claude at work, a basic grasp of structured problem-solving and workflow design, and a practical sense of Claude's limits, such as hallucinations, context limits and data sensitivity. Registration is through the Anthropic Partner Academy with a partner email ([who can take a Claude certification exam](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification#who)). If your company is a Claude partner, note that the Associate exam does not count toward Claude Partner Network tier eligibility. ## The seven CCAO-F exam domains (the syllabus) Anthropic gives each domain a weight, the approximate share of scored items. It publishes no question counts per domain. Output Evaluation and Validation is the largest at 21%: a fifth of the exam is about checking Claude's work, not producing it. Anthropic updates this exam's content on 7 December 2026, and the new exam guide is due on 17 November 2026 ([Pearson VUE](https://home.pearsonvue.com/anthropic)). The domains and weights below are from the current guide; we will update them when the new one is out. ### Prompting and task execution 14% Writing prompts for business tasks, breaking a big request into steps, and iterating until the output is right for analysis, research, drafting or brainstorming. Its task statements cover improving a weak output or an oversized request: what context to add, whether to split it, or what to change. ### Output evaluation and validation 21% Checking what Claude gives you: spotting hallucinations, inconsistencies and bias, fact-checking, and knowing when a person has to review it. The heaviest domain. Its task statements also cover reworking one output for a different audience, and whether it belongs inline, in an artifact or as structured data. ### Product and model selection 12% Choosing between Projects, research mode, chat and artifacts, and between Haiku, Sonnet and Opus on cost, speed and quality. Also what a context window is and when to start fresh. Its task statements cover choosing the feature and model tier that fit a job, and whether to keep going, summarise, save or start over. ### Workflow integration and solution design 16% Using Claude to analyse requirements, plan and redesign workflows, and explaining what Claude can and cannot do to stakeholders. Its task statements cover choosing between adding Claude to a client's current workflow or redesigning it, and what you can honestly promise. ### Configuration and knowledge management 12% Setting up Claude Projects: instructions, knowledge sources, connectors such as Google Drive and Gmail, and keeping them current. Its task statements cover where things go: what belongs in instructions, what in uploaded knowledge or a connector, and what to update once it goes stale. ### Governance, risk and responsible use 15% Which uses are appropriate, data sensitivity and privacy, following your organisation’s AI policy, and the ethics of AI use. Its task statements cover deciding whether a proposed use or a file of sensitive data can go ahead, and under which controls or policy. ### Troubleshooting and optimisation 10% Diagnosing a prompt or workflow that underperforms, adjusting from feedback, and making a recurring workflow faster. Its task statements cover finding what causes a poor result, and whether to fix the prompt or change the wider approach. ## Claude Certified Associate exam cost The CCAO-F exam costs $99 per attempt at list price, and a retake costs the full fee again. Select and Preferred partners get 50% off at checkout, and Global Premier partners 100% off until 31 December 2026. Renewing on time is free. [All four Claude certification fees and partner discounts](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification#cost). ## How to register for CCAO-F You sign in to the Anthropic Partner Academy with your company's partner email, pay there, and then book a Pearson VUE slot, online with a proctor or at a test centre. You need to be 18 or older with a government-issued ID, and online testing isn't open to every country's ID. After a fail you wait 14, 30 and 90 days before a retake (after the first, second and third fail), and you get at most 4 attempts per exam in a rolling 12 months. [How to register, step by step](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification#register). ## How hard is CCAO-F? Anthropic publishes no pass rate. How hard it feels depends on how you already work with Claude. ### You use Claude most days Much of the content will be familiar. The exam tests judgement: which product and model fit a task, when a person must review the output, and what counts as sensitive data. ### You use it now and then Spend extra time on the parts you may not touch day to day: configuring Projects and connectors, and choosing between Haiku, Sonnet and Opus. ### You are new to Claude Start with the free Claude 101 course and use Claude for real work for a while before you book. ## CCAO-F study guide: how to prepare Our suggested steps: Anthropic publishes no study plan. How long this takes depends on what you already do. If you use Claude at work every day, it can take as little as a few days; if you are new to it, give it a couple of weeks. 1. Step 1 Read the [official exam guide](https://everpath-course-content.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/instructor/6nizmqk8tpzpfjvt6qmmav7rh/public/1783542847/Claude+Certified+Associate+%E2%80%93+Foundations+Exam+Guide.pdf). New to Claude? Take the free Claude Academy courses such as Claude 101 and AI Fluency first ([the free Claude courses](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification#free)). 2. Step 2 Practise by domain, starting with Output Evaluation and Validation, the heaviest at 21%. Read why each wrong option is wrong. 3. Step 3 Take a timed 60-question mock exam, fix your weakest domain, then book. ## After you pass CCAO-F The credential is valid for 12 months from the award date, and passing earns a Credly badge. On-time renewal is a free, non-proctored assessment on the Partner Academy, though Anthropic can require the full exam after a substantial update. If it lapses, you sit the full exam again. If you start building on Claude, the next step is the [Claude Certified Developer exam](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-developer) or the [Claude Certified Architect exam](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-architect). ## Practise for the CCAO-F Exam-style questions for every CCAO-F domain, each with an explanation for every option, and timed 60\-question mock exams. 20 free questions, the first 5 without signing up. Anthropic has no official practice exam: the old one was retired in the move to Pearson VUE, so the sample questions in the exam guide are its only official practice. [Start with 20 free questions](https://certmadeeasy.com/catalog/set-anthropic-ccao-f) Prefer paper? [Download free CCAO-F practice questions as a PDF](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-associate/dumps), each with the answer and why every other option is wrong. ## Other Claude exams Claude Certified Developer – Foundations (CCDV-F) For engineers who build and ship applications on Claude: the guide names AI and ML engineers, technical leads and senior software engineers. A third of the exam is building applications on the Claude API. Anthropic recommends: 1 to 5 years of software engineering, 6 months or more hands-on with Claude or a similar LLM, Python or TypeScript, and fluency with REST APIs and command-line tools. [Claude Certified Developer – Foundations Exam guide](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-developer) [Start free questions](https://certmadeeasy.com/catalog/set-anthropic-ccdv-f) ## CCAO-F FAQ ### Do I need to code for the Claude Certified Associate? No. The exam guide states that no software-development or API experience is needed. Regular hands-on use of Claude at work is recommended, not required. ### Should I take the Associate or the Architect exam? Take the Associate if you use Claude for your own work and build Claude Projects. Take the Architect (CCAR-F) if you design systems on the Claude API, the Agent SDK, Claude Code and MCP. See the [Claude Certified Architect exam](https://certmadeeasy.com/claude-certification/certified-architect). ### How long should I study for the CCAO-F exam? Anthropic publishes no study time. If you already use Claude at work most days, it can take as little as a few days: read the official guide, practise each domain, then take a timed mock exam. If you are new to Claude, allow a couple of weeks and start with the free Claude 101 course. ### Can I take CCAO-F without a partner email? No. Registration is only for people at Claude Partner Network companies, signing in with a partner email. Exam facts from the official CCAO-F exam guide and [exam page](https://anthropic-partners.skilljar.com/claude-certified-associate-foundations-certification), and Anthropic's [certification FAQ](https://anthropic-partners.skilljar.com/page/faq-certifications) and [certification policies](https://anthropic-partners.skilljar.com/page/policies-certifications), checked October 2026. Cert Made Easy is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic, PBC. Our practice questions are exam-style questions we write against the official exam guides; they are not questions from the real exam.