Certifications
Claude certification: the Anthropic exams explained
The four Claude certifications Anthropic runs, side by side: who each one is for, what it costs, who is allowed to take it, and which to prepare for first.
Anthropic runs four certifications. Three are Foundations exams, one per role: Associate, Developer and Architect. The fourth is the Architect exam at Professional level. All four are proctored by Pearson VUE, scored on one scale with one pass mark, and open only to people at organisations in the Claude Partner Network. The Claude Certified Architect — Foundations exam (CCAR-F) came first, and it is the one "Claude certification" names in a search bar.
| Certification | Code | Who it is for | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Certified Associate — Foundations | CCAO-F | non-technical roles that use Claude every day | $99 |
| Claude Certified Developer — Foundations | CCDV-F | engineers building on the Claude API | $125 |
| Claude Certified Architect — Foundations | CCAR-F | solution architects designing agent systems | $125 |
| Claude Certified Architect — Professional | CCAR-P | architects running large enterprise deployments | $175 |
- Claude Certified Associate — FoundationsCode: CCAO-FWho it is fornon-technical roles that use Claude every dayFee$99
- Claude Certified Developer — FoundationsCode: CCDV-FWho it is forengineers building on the Claude APIFee$125
- Claude Certified Architect — FoundationsCode: CCAR-FWho it is forsolution architects designing agent systemsFee$125
- Claude Certified Architect — ProfessionalCode: CCAR-PWho it is forarchitects running large enterprise deploymentsFee$175
Fees run from $99 to $175 before any partner discount, and every exam but the Associate counts toward an organisation's standing in the network. What the Architect exam costs has the discounts, the retake rules and the booking steps.
Which one you mean
The Claude Certified Architect — Foundations exam opened on 12 March 2026, the day the Partner Network launched, as "a technical exam for solution architects building production applications with Claude". The other three followed later that summer. It is the exam with a public guide, a domain blueprint and a body of preparation material behind it, and it is the one this site teaches. Its code is CCAR-F; it is also written CCA-F, and both mean the same exam.
- Associate — Foundations is for people who use Claude in their work without building on it: consultants, project leads, analysts. It is the only one of the four that does not count toward partner standing.
- Developer — Foundations is for engineers writing code against the Claude API: tool use, agents, the SDKs.
- Architect — Foundations is for people who design systems built on Claude and decide how they are put together: the agent loop, the tools, the context, the guardrails. The exam guide covers its format and domains.
- Architect — Professional is the advanced credential: integration architecture, governance and evaluation across a large enterprise deployment. There is no prerequisite; a candidate may take it without the Foundations exam.
Who can take one
Only people at organisations in the Claude Partner Network. Registration asks for a work email on a recognised company domain and blocks a personal address at checkout, and the FAQ says customers and non-partners are excluded for now. Joining the network is free of charge: any organisation bringing Claude to market can apply at claude.com/partners, and membership starts at the Registered tier. Candidates must be at least 18 and show government-issued ID at check-in.
How every exam runs
- Delivery. Pearson VUE, either online with a proctor watching through your webcam (OnVUE) or at a test centre. You choose when you schedule.
- Time. 120 minutes of testing; allow about 135 with check-in. Closed book: no notes, no AI assistant, no browser translation.
- Scoring. A scaled score from 100 to 1000. 720 passes, on all four exams. The score is on screen when you finish, and a pass earns a digital badge through Credly.
- Validity. 12 months from the day it is earned. Renewing on time is a free, unproctored assessment in Partner Academy covering what changed; a lapsed credential means the full exam again at the full fee.
- Retakes. A failed attempt starts a wait of 14 days, then 30, then 90, with at most 4 attempts per exam in a rolling year. Each retake is charged.
Which to prepare for first
If you design or build systems on Claude, start with the Claude Certified Architect — Foundations exam. It has the only published blueprint of the four, five domains with stated weights, so preparation can be planned. Its questions are production scenarios with four remedies, and the skill they test is telling similar mechanisms apart under time pressure. A set of practice questions shows the shape.
Spaced teaches every module of that exam and brings each one back on a plan that runs itself around your evenings, with every mistake filed under the principle behind it. Domain 1 is free in full. The study plan explains how the evenings are shaped.
Fees, eligibility and policy here are the Partner Academy certification FAQ's as of 10 October 2026. The FAQ is the source that moves; check it before you pay.
