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CCAO-F

Table of contents

1. Claude Certified Associate, Foundations (CCAO-F) [edit]

2. Exam at a glance [edit]

3. Who it is for [edit]

4. What the exam covers [edit]

5. Does it count for your employer? [edit]

6. Preparation checklist [edit]

7. Registration, retakes and rules [edit]

8. References [edit]

Claude Certified Associate, Foundations (CCAO-F) [edit]

Claude Certified Associate, Foundations (exam code CCAO-F) is the entry-level exam in Anthropic's Claude certification program. It is the only one of the four exams written for people who do not write code. The exam guide names operations, marketing, project management, education and communications as the target roles. It says the exam is not for developers who build on the API.

The exam has 60 questions across seven domains, a 120-minute time limit, and a fee of $99. It is the cheapest of the four exams. All facts below come from the official exam guide, version 1.0 (July 2026), and from the Anthropic Partner Academy certification FAQ.

Exam at a glance [edit]

Exam code CCAO-F
Questions 60, across seven domains. Multiple choice and multiple response. Each question says how many answers to pick.
Time limit 120 minutes. Plan for about 135 minutes in the seat, including check-in and a short survey.
Passing score 720 on a scale of 100 to 1,000
Fee $99 USD per attempt, before any partner discount
Valid for 12 months
How it is delivered Proctored. Online with a webcam, or at a Pearson VUE test center.
Prerequisites None. No course is required. You get the credential by passing the exam.
Language English only. Browser translation tools are not allowed during the exam.

The exam is closed book. No notes, no documentation, no AI assistants. The score report shows a pass or fail result, the scaled score, and the percent correct in each section. Only the total score decides the result, so a weak section cannot fail you on its own.

Who it is for [edit]

The guide describes a person who uses Claude as a work tool and builds Claude Projects as part of the job. Someone who has moved past simple questions and now redesigns how work gets done. The profile covers both staff inside a company and consultants who help others set things up. It assumes you know the practical limits: Claude can invent facts, context is limited, and some data should never be uploaded.

The guide also says who it is not for: developers building on the API, people designing agent systems, and machine learning or software engineering specialists. Those roles are covered by the Developer and Architect exams.

How closely you match this description is the best guide to how much study you need. If it fits you, most of the work is learning Anthropic's words for things you already do. If it does not fit you, the gap is real experience, and practice questions cannot replace it.

What the exam covers [edit]

The seven domains are not equal in size. The weights show where study time is worth spending.

# Domain Weight ≈ questions
2 Output Evaluation and Validation 21% ~13
4 Workflow Integration and Solution Design 16% ~10
6 Governance, Risk, and Responsible Use 15% ~9
1 Prompting and Task Execution 14% ~8
3 Product and Model Selection 12% ~7
5 Configuration and Knowledge Management 12% ~7
7 Troubleshooting and Optimization 10% ~6

Two points are easy to miss. Checking Claude's output is the biggest domain at 21%. More than one question in five asks whether an answer can be trusted: can you spot invented facts, can you spot bias, and when does a human need to review the result. Prompting is only 14%, which is much less than the exam's reputation suggests.

Governance (15%) plus output checking (21%) is 36% of the exam. Both official sample questions from these domains work the same way: the fastest option is the wrong one, and the correct answer is the one that checks first.

The rest is about the product. Choosing between Projects, research mode and artifacts. Knowing how Haiku, Sonnet and Opus differ on cost, speed and quality. Handling the context limit and knowing when to restart, summarize or save. Setting up Projects with instructions and files. Managing connectors such as Google Drive and Gmail. Fixing prompts that give poor results.

Does it count for your employer? [edit]

No, not for partner status. This is the one point where CCAO-F differs from the other three exams. Anthropic's certification FAQ lists the exams that count toward Claude Partner Network eligibility: Developer Foundations, Architect Foundations and Architect Professional. Claude Certified Associate is listed as an exam that does not count.

It still has value. It is the only exam in the program written for non-technical roles, and Anthropic describes certification in general as a signal to customers that a team has built a real Claude practice. But if the goal is to raise your company's standing in the Claude Partner Network, one of the three technical exams is the one to take.

One practical rule applies to all four exams. You must register with a work email on a domain that is recognized on your company's partner record. A certification earned on an unrecognized domain, including a subsidiary or regional domain, will not be credited to the partner account. Domain changes are made by partner-support@anthropic.com and take 7 to 10 days, so ask before you book. Companies can see their total number of certifications in the Partner Portal, updated weekly.

Preparation checklist [edit]

1. Start here

2. Study the 7 exam domains

3. Hands-on practice

4. Practice tests

Note on official practice material: the practice exam that ran on the old platform was retired when the program moved to Pearson VUE. The exam guide's sample questions are now the only official example of question style.

Registration, retakes and rules [edit]

Who can register. Certification is open only to people at Claude Partner Network organizations. Registration needs a partner work email on a recognized company domain. Personal email addresses do not work, and there is no public registration route.

Booking. Register and pay on the Partner Academy first, then use the emailed link to schedule with Pearson VUE, either online or at a test center. A registration stays valid for 5 years, so you can pay now and sit the exam later.

Price and discounts. Discounts follow your company's partner tier. Registered-tier partners pay full price. Select, Preferred and Global Premier partners get 50% off automatically at checkout. Through 31 August 2026, Global Premier partners get 100% off; after that date the standard 50% applies. Discounts also apply to retakes.

Cancelling. You can reschedule or cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before your appointment, with a full refund. Inside 24 hours, or if you do not show up, you lose the fee. Cancelling in Pearson VUE only frees the time slot; it does not issue a refund. To get money back, email certifications-support@anthropic.com.

Retake rules.

  • Fail once, wait 14 days
  • Fail twice, wait 30 days
  • Fail three times, wait 90 days
  • Up to 4 attempts per exam per rolling 12 months
  • You pay the full fee every time, minus your partner discount
  • Limits are per exam. Failing this one does not block a different one.

On exam day. Bring a valid, unexpired, government-issued photo ID. The name must match your registration exactly. To fix a name, email certifications-support@anthropic.com before you book. Your desk must be clear: no phone, watch, headphones, notes or second screen. Run Pearson's system test on the computer you will use. If a managed work device blocks the exam, take it at a test center instead. Ask for accommodations at least 10 days ahead. Full rules are in the certification policies.

Results and badge. You see your score on screen at the end. If you pass, Credly emails you an invitation to claim the badge, usually within minutes for online exams. Adding a personal email to your Credly profile keeps your badges if you change jobs.

Renewal. The credential lasts 12 months. Renewing on time means reviewing what has changed and taking a short free assessment on the Partner Academy, with no proctor and no fee. If you let it lapse, you sit the full exam again at full price.

Appeals. You can appeal within 14 days of being told about a decision, or within 14 days of your exam date for a concern about a result. Appeals go to Pearson VUE. Reporting a problem with a question never counts against you, but one disputed question does not by itself change a pass or fail.

References [edit]

This page is written from the official exam guide and the Anthropic Partner Academy FAQ, with input from people who have taken the exam. Corrections are welcome.