Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
The CCNA is the networking certificate with the strongest name recognition in the industry, covering addressing, routing, switching, wireless, security fundamentals and automation basics.
Two hours, no prerequisites, and results inside two days.
According to Cisco, this exam version (200-301) can be booked until 2 February 2027.
Exam facts
- Exam code
- 200-301
- Level
- Associate
- Field
- Networking
- Duration
- 120 minutes
- Questions
- count not published (candidates report around 100); multiple choice, drag-and-drop and lab-style items
- Passing score
- pass/fail — Cisco does not publish the cut score; results within 48 hours
- Languages
- English, Japanese
- Price
- see vendor (read 12 September 2026)
- Validity
- 3 years, renewable
- Exam delivery
- Pearson VUE (test centre or online proctored); registration through the Cisco Certification Tracking System
- Last exam day of this version
- 2 February 2027
Prerequisites: None. Cisco suggests a year of working with Cisco equipment and basic IP addressing knowledge.
Renewal: Pass any associate-level or higher Cisco exam, or earn 30 Continuing Education credits within the three years
Source: exam page at Cisco · Price: Cisco's certification page lists 400 USD and its exam page 300 USD (both read 2026-09-12); Pearson VUE shows the binding amount at booking. Cisco Learning Credits accepted.
How to prepare
1. The vendor's free learning path
Cisco publishes the exam objectives and a learning path free of charge — the authoritative source for scope and weighting. Open the learning path (opens in a new tab)
2. Online courses
Courses and practice questions from the directory that target exactly this exam — details, price and the provider link (affiliate) are on the course page.
- Preparation courseCisco CCNA 200-301 v1.1: Full Course For Networking Basics
- Preparation courseCisco CCNA 200-301 Complete A-Z Cisco CCNA Networking Course
- Preparation courseCisco CCNA 200-301 – The Complete Guide to Getting Certified
- LabsCisco CCNA 200-301 Complete Course: Packet Tracer Labs
- Practice testsCCNA 200-301 Vol 1: Quantum Mastery Practice Tests
- Practice testsCCNA 200-301 Pre-Exam Practice Tests
3. A practice test in the exam format
MeasureUp sells a practice test for 200-301 with questions in the exam format, an explanation for every answer and a timed mode; the price shows in your currency on the shop page. Affiliate link.
Practice test for 200-301 at MeasureUp (opens in a new tab)Book the exam
Delivered by Pearson VUE (test centre or online proctored); registration through the Cisco Certification Tracking System. Schedule with Cisco (opens in a new tab)
Affiliate disclosure: the course and practice-test links above are affiliate links — buying through them may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you. The vendor's learning path and booking links carry no commission.
Cisco publishes less about this exam than most vendors
- No question count is published. Candidates report somewhere around a hundred items; Cisco does not confirm it.
- No cut score is published either. The result is pass or fail, and you cannot work backwards from a percentage.
- Two different prices appear on Cisco's own site on the same day, one on the certification page and a lower one on the exam page. We record both rather than picking the flattering figure.
- Version 1.1 has a last test day of 2 February 2027, with version 2.0 from the following day.
- You cannot go back once you have started a question, which changes how you manage the clock.
What it asks that Network+ does not
Configuration. The syllabus assumes you have typed commands into a Cisco device and watched them take effect, and simulation items put you in front of something resembling one. That is the real difference between this and a vendor-neutral networking paper: the concepts substantially overlap, and only one of the two expects you to know what a particular command line will do. If your target employer runs Cisco equipment, that specificity is the point. If they do not, it is ballast you are paying for.
| What | Cisco states | What candidates report |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes | 120 minutes |
| Questions | Not published | Around a hundred |
| Pass mark | Pass or fail, cut score withheld | Results within 48 hours |
| Price | 400 USD on one page, 300 USD on another | Whatever the booking screen shows |
| Languages | English and Japanese on the exam page, English on the certification page | Both are bookable |
Version 1.1 divides the syllabus into six domains: network fundamentals and network access at 20 percent each, IP connectivity at 25, IP services at 10, security fundamentals at 15 and automation and programmability at 10. Connectivity is the largest and the most command-line-heavy, and it is where the simulation items cluster. The automation domain is what dates the exam: a tenth of the paper on controllers, APIs and configuration management, which the previous generation of network engineers never sat and the current one cannot avoid. Cisco recommends a year with its equipment and basic IP addressing knowledge, and enforces neither.
Keeping it, and the version after this one
Three years, renewed by climbing or by credits
The certificate runs three years. Pass any associate-level or higher Cisco exam inside that window and it renews; alternatively, earn 30 continuing-education credits. Passing the professional-tier core exam renews this one automatically, which is how most people who stay in Cisco networking keep it without ever resitting.
Cisco announced version 2.0 on 20 May 2026 with a first test day of 3 February 2027. The certificate does not name a version, so a 1.1 pass is not diminished by the change, and the only question is which topic list you study against. If you can sit before the cut-over, study the current one. If your preparation runs past it, wait for the 2.0 topics rather than learning a list about to be withdrawn, and expect the automation share to grow rather than shrink.
What a question looks like
Written by us in the exam's style. It is not a real question from any question bank, and we do not publish those.
Two switches are connected and devices on the same VLAN cannot reach each other across the link. Both switches show the interfaces as up, the VLAN exists on both, and devices within each switch communicate normally. What should you examine on the link between them?
Everything the candidate would check first is already ruled out in the stem, which is deliberate. What remains is a configuration property of the link itself rather than of either switch, and recognising that requires having configured one rather than having read about it. Cisco builds many questions this way, eliminating the obvious answers inside the scenario.
What it costs to get and to keep
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Exam fee, certification page | 400 USD | Cisco's certification page quoted this on the day we read it, and adds that Cisco Learning Credits may be used instead (read 12 September 2026) |
| Exam fee, exam page | 300 USD | the exam page quoted a lower figure the same day. We record the contradiction rather than resolving it, and would check the booking screen before budgeting (read 12 September 2026) |
| Renewal every three years | not published | pass any associate-level or higher Cisco exam, or earn continuing-education credits. Climbing the ladder renews this automatically (read 12 September 2026) |
How much preparation, from where you are
- You work on Cisco equipment already
- The command line will be familiar and the breadth will not. Wireless and automation are where people who administer one part of a network lose marks, because most jobs never cover the whole syllabus.
- You hold Network+ or equivalent knowledge
- The concepts transfer almost intact and the configuration does not. Build a lab, whether with simulation software or second-hand hardware, because reading commands teaches you to recognise them rather than to use them.
- You are new to networking
- A long road, and a well-trodden one. Consider learning the vendor-neutral material first so the concepts land before the syntax does, then come here if your market runs Cisco.
What passing this does not prove
- Whether you can design a network, which begins at the professional tier.
- Anything at the scale where routing protocols become interesting.
- Troubleshooting with a room full of people waiting, which is the job.
- Equipment from any other manufacturer, which is the trade you accept when you buy a vendor certificate.
Against the alternatives
- N10-009 — CompTIA Network+
- Vendor-neutral, more widely translated and cheaper. Take it for portable understanding; take the CCNA when a target employer's kit is Cisco and the configuration specifics are the point.
- 350-401 — Cisco CCNP Enterprise — ENCOR core exam
- The professional tier above, and passing it renews this. Worth planning as a sequence rather than as two separate purchases.
- 200-901 — Cisco CCNA Automation (formerly DevNet Associate)
- The same tier pointed at programmability rather than traditional networking. Neither is a prerequisite for the other, and network engineers increasingly end up wanting both.
200-301 — quick answers
Should I sit version 1.1 or wait for 2.0?
If you are ready before 2 February 2027, sit the version you have studied. The certificate does not name a version and the arrival of a successor does not diminish it. If your preparation runs past that date, study against the new topics rather than material about to be withdrawn.
Why are there two prices?
Because Cisco's certification page and exam page disagreed on the day we read them, and we are not going to guess which is authoritative. Check the figure on the booking screen before committing, and remember that Learning Credits are an alternative route where an employer holds them.
How many questions will there be?
Cisco does not publish a count and candidates report roughly a hundred. More usefully: you cannot return to a question once you have moved on, so the tactic of flagging and revisiting does not exist here and pacing matters more than on most exams.
Do I need my own equipment?
Not physical equipment. Simulation software covers the syllabus adequately and costs far less than a rack of second-hand switches. What you do need is to configure things yourself rather than watch somebody else do it, because the simulation items are unforgiving of recognition without practice.
Does the CCNA renew Network+?
No. The two programmes are separate: CompTIA's renewal system recognises CompTIA exams and continuing-education credits, and Cisco's recognises Cisco exams and its own credits. Holding both means two renewal cycles, which is one reason to sit the vendor-neutral paper first and let it lapse once the CCNA is doing the work.
What comes next
Concepts this exam draws on
Glossary entries with the reason each one matters for 200-301.
- Load Balancing
First-hop redundancy and traffic distribution concepts appear in IP connectivity.
- SSL/TLS
Security fundamentals cover VPNs, SSH and the encryption the CCNA expects you to name.
- IP Addressing
Network fundamentals: IPv4 and IPv6 addressing and the difference between public, private and link-local.
- Subnetting
The classic exam arithmetic: which subnet an address belongs to and how many hosts fit in a prefix.
- Routing
IP connectivity is the largest domain, and static and dynamic routing on IOS is its heart.
- Switching
Network access covers how a switch learns addresses, floods, and runs spanning tree.
- VLAN
Access and trunk ports, tagging and the native VLAN are configured and troubleshot in the network access domain.
- DHCP
IP services: configuring a device to hand out or relay addresses.
- NAT
IP services: source translation and port forwarding on the edge router.
- Wi-Fi
Wireless architectures, access point modes and WPA security appear in network access and security fundamentals.
- TCP/IP
TCP against UDP, ports and the handshake underpin the connectivity and services domains.
- OSI Model
The exam speaks in layers throughout and expects you to place each protocol on one.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 · Getting Digital