Anthropic · Associate
The entry-level Claude credential. Focuses on practical, everyday use of Claude — prompting, evaluating output, choosing the right product surface, and applying it safely inside real workflows.
Who it's for: Consultants, project leads, and business or technical professionals who use Claude day to day.
Exam format
The numbers that shape how you should prepare.
| Certification | Claude Certified Associate – Foundations |
|---|---|
| Exam code | CCAO-F |
| Item format | Multiple-choice and scenario-based multiple-response |
| Delivery | Proctored via Pearson VUE — online or test centre, closed book |
| Scoring | Scaled 100–1000; 720 required to pass |
| Pace | About 120 seconds per item |
Claude certification exams are currently open to people at Claude Partner Network organizations, and registration needs a partner email on a recognized company domain — a personal Gmail address will be rejected. Joining the Partner Network is free. Read the full eligibility guide →
The blueprint
7 domains and 28 published objectives. Every objective below is a skill the exam can assess — treat this as your revision checklist. The bars show how many objectives each domain carries.
Percentages show each domain's share of the published objectives — a guide to where the blueprint is densest. They are not Anthropic's official exam weightings.
Study strategy
Strategy derived from the published blueprint and the exam's format — not recollections of live exam content, which candidates are bound not to share.
Start with the blueprint, not a course. The 28 objectives above are the actual assessed skills. Rate yourself 1–5 on each, then spend your time on the 1s and 2s.
“Output Evaluation and Validation” carries the most published objectives (6 of 28), making it the densest area of the blueprint — a sensible place to go deep first.
Practise under the real clock. 60 items in 120 minutes is about 120 seconds per item. Timing pressure, not knowledge, is what most candidates underestimate.
Read every item's response count. Items state how many options to select; multiple-response questions are where careless marks are lost.
Build something real. These are scenario-based exams — questions describe situations rather than quiz definitions, so hands-on familiarity beats memorisation.
Rehearse closed-book. No notes, docs, or AI assistance are permitted, so practise the same way from the start.
Anthropic retired its official practice exam in the move to Pearson VUE. Cred Farmer covers CCAO-F with study sections mapped to all 7 domains, four full 60-question mock exams plus a mastery test, flashcard drills, and a readiness score broken down per domain. Free while in open beta.
Start CCAO-F prep freeQuestions
The questions candidates ask most often.
Claude certification exams are currently available to people at organizations in the Claude Partner Network, and registration requires a partner email address on a recognized company domain — personal email addresses are not accepted. Partner Network membership itself is free to join. Check your eligibility before you book.
Claude Certified Associate – Foundations is 60 items in 120 minutes. Items are multiple-choice and scenario-based multiple-response; each item states how many responses to select. Expect additional seat time for check-in on top of the 120-minute clock.
720 on a scaled range of 100–1000. Scaled scoring equates results across exam forms that may differ slightly in difficulty, so the raw number of questions you need right is not fixed.
No. Anthropic's practice exam was retired when exam delivery moved to Pearson VUE, so the only official practice material is the sample questions inside the exam guide. That gap is why Cred Farmer provides four full-length 60-question mock exams plus a mastery test for CCAO-F.
It depends on your starting point. If you already build with Claude regularly, working through the 7 domains and 28 objectives plus timed practice is usually a focused week or two. If the material is new, plan several weeks and lean on repetition rather than a single pass.
No. All Claude certification exams are closed book. Notes, documentation, and AI assistants are not permitted during the exam, and sessions are proctored with identity verification.
Not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Anthropic or Pearson VUE. Exam details are summarised from publicly published program information and can change — always confirm against the official exam guide before booking.
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