AWS Recertification: What’s Changed & What Still Matters
A personal take on recertifying the AWS Solution Architect - Professional exam —what’s changed, why it matters, and thoughts on making it more practical.
Published May 1, 2025
So, I’ve recently renewed my AWS Certified Solution Architect – Professional, and I’ve got to tell you — it’s not what it used to be. In this article, I want to share what’s new, what caught me off guard, and why I still believe it’s totally worth the time and effort. Whether you're renewing or tackling it for the first time, this might just save you a headache or two.
Main Points:
- The need to stay current in a fast-changing cloud world.
- Why renewing every two years keeps your skills sharp and industry-relevant.
- AWS certifications have a real impact on how you approach and design solutions, so they're more than just a resume boost.
Overview:
Let’s start with the most obvious change — the number of questions and the overall exam structure. It’s a small shift on paper, but a big difference in reality.
Let’s start with the most obvious change — the number of questions and the overall exam structure. It’s a small shift on paper, but a big difference in reality.
Key Points:
- The exam now includes 75 questions, up from the previous 65 questions.
- The duration has been extended to 180 minutes to match the added complexity.
- Increased mental fatigue — requires deeper focus and time management.
- Tips from my experience: pacing strategies, how I flagged questions, and how I dealt with tricky scenarios.
The new exam AWS Certified Solution Architect - Professional (SAP-C02) digs deeper into services you may not use on a daily basis — though you probably should. It really pushes you to think outside the box and consider architecture from a broader, more modern perspective.
Main Points:
- There’s a stronger focus on Analytics, Machine Learning, Containerization, and Application Integration.
- It challenges you to think not just in silos, but in terms of how these services work together to build something scalable and efficient.
- I’ll walk you through what I studied, what surprised me, and how real-world experience with these services gave me a serious edge.
- Some of the best prep resources for me: AWS whitepapers, hands-on labs, and a few workshop links that were absolute game-changers.
Workshop Reference Link : https://workshops.aws/
If you're renewing your AWS certification, there are some updated rules you’ll want to keep on your radar. The criteria around what gets renewed has shifted — and not necessarily in a way that benefits everyone.
Main Points:
- At the moment, only the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate is renewed automatically when you pass the Professional exam.
- Previously, this renewal would also cover certs like AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional, AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate and AWS Certified Developer - Associate
- So what does that mean for you? Well, depending on your job title or long-term goals, you might need to take on multiple exams just to keep everything active.
- I’ll also drop a few suggestions that helped me stay on top of renewals — without burning out or overloading myself.
Reference Link : https://aws.amazon.com/certification/recertification/
After spending years working hands-on with AWS services, I’ve come to believe that these exams should do more than test how well you can pick the right answer from a list. They should test how well you can actually do the job.
Main Points:
- It would be a game-changer if AWS introduced practical troubleshooting tasks or interactive lab-style challenges.
- Sure, it would raise the difficulty — but it would also build real-world skills instead of just theoretical knowledge.
- This shift is especially valuable for AWS Certified Solution Architect – Professional and AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional exams.
- A few ideas? Think drag-and-drop architecture design, fixing broken deployments, or tracking down permission errors in IAM under pressure.