What is the AWS SAA-C03 exam?
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) is one of the most widely recognised cloud certifications in the world. It validates your ability to design secure, resilient, high-performance, and cost-optimised architectures on AWS. SAA-C03 is the current version of the exam, replacing the retired SAA-C02.
This certification is aimed at individuals with at least one year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions on AWS. It is not an entry-level exam — if you are brand new to AWS, start with the Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 first.
Exam format at a glance
The SAA-C03 exam consists of 65 questions to be completed in 130 minutes. The passing score is 720 out of 1000, which equates to approximately 72%. Questions are a mix of multiple choice (one correct answer) and multiple response (two or more correct answers from five or more options).
Multiple response questions do not offer partial credit. You must select all correct answers to receive marks for that question. These are the questions most candidates lose marks on.
AWS does not publish an exact pass/fail score breakdown per domain. The 720/1000 scaled score is the overall threshold. Unscored questions (used for future exam development) are included but not identified — treat every question as scored.
Domain breakdown and weightings
The SAA-C03 exam is divided into four domains. Understanding the weighting helps you prioritise your study time effectively.
| Domain | Weighting | Focus area |
|---|---|---|
| Domain 1: Design Secure Architectures | IAM, VPC security, encryption, data protection | |
| Domain 2: Design Resilient Architectures | Multi-AZ, auto scaling, fault tolerance, DR | |
| Domain 3: Design High-Performing Architectures | Compute, storage, databases, caching | |
| Domain 4: Design Cost-Optimised Architectures | Cost models, right-sizing, storage tiers |
Domain 1 (Secure Architectures) carries the highest weighting at 30% — prioritise IAM policies, VPC design, security groups, NACLs, KMS, and S3 bucket policies in your study plan.
Key AWS services to know
Compute
EC2 instance types and purchasing options (On-Demand, Reserved, Spot, Dedicated), Auto Scaling groups, Elastic Load Balancers (ALB, NLB, CLB), Lambda functions, ECS and EKS basics.
Storage
S3 storage classes (Standard, IA, Glacier, Intelligent-Tiering), EBS volume types (gp2, gp3, io1, io2), EFS for shared file storage, S3 lifecycle policies and versioning.
Databases
RDS Multi-AZ vs Read Replicas, Aurora Serverless, DynamoDB capacity modes and DAX, ElastiCache (Redis vs Memcached), Redshift for data warehousing.
Networking
VPC design with public and private subnets, Internet Gateways, NAT Gateways, VPC peering, Transit Gateway, Route 53 routing policies, CloudFront distributions.
Security
IAM roles vs users vs policies, SCP in AWS Organizations, KMS key policies, Secrets Manager vs Parameter Store, WAF and Shield, GuardDuty, CloudTrail.
Question types and how to approach them
SAA-C03 questions are scenario-based. AWS gives you a business or technical scenario and asks you to identify the most appropriate architecture. The questions test judgement, not just knowledge — there are often two or three plausible answers, and you must identify the best one based on the constraints given.
Always read the constraints in the question carefully. Words like "most cost-effective", "highest availability", "least operational overhead", and "most secure" narrow the answer significantly. A technically correct answer that ignores the stated constraint is wrong.
How long does it take to prepare?
Most candidates with some AWS experience need 4–8 weeks of focused preparation. If you have passed CLF-C02 recently, 4–6 weeks is realistic. If you are coming from a non-cloud background, allow 8–12 weeks.
A realistic study plan looks like this: spend the first two weeks on AWS fundamentals and service overview, weeks three and four on deep-diving the four domains, and the final two weeks on practice questions and timed mock exams. The mock exam phase is the most important — it is where most marks are gained or lost.
Exam booking and delivery
SAA-C03 can be taken at a Pearson VUE test centre or online via OnVUE proctoring. The exam fee is $300 USD. In South Africa this translates to approximately R5,500 at current exchange rates — making thorough preparation before attempting the exam financially important.
AWS offers a free practice exam (20 questions) through your AWS Certification account. Use it, but supplement with a full question bank — 20 questions is not enough exposure to the exam's range of scenarios.
Practice with GetCert
GetCert has 64 SAA-C03 practice questions written by practitioners who have passed the exam. Questions mirror the real exam's scenario-based format, with full explanations for every answer. At R100 for 3 months access you also get the full SAP C_ACT_2403 and AWS CLF-C02 question banks.
64 SAA-C03 practice questions — R100 for 3 months
Timed simulation, adaptive drilling, full explanations. Includes SAP C_ACT_2403 and AWS CLF-C02.
Start practising now →