CompTIA A+
A+ is the credential IT support job adverts name more than any other, and it is two exams rather than one. Core 1 covers hardware, mobile devices, networking and virtualisation; Core 2 covers operating systems, security, software troubleshooting and procedure.
Ninety minutes each, and you need both.
Exam facts
- Exam code
- 220-1201 + 220-1202
- Level
- Foundational
- Field
- IT service management
- Duration
- 90 minutes
- Questions
- maximum of 90 per exam (multiple choice with one or several answers, drag-and-drop, performance-based tasks)
- Passing score
- Core 1: 675, Core 2: 700 (scale 100 to 900)
- Languages
- English, German, Japanese
- Price
- 548 USD (read 8 September 2026)
- Validity
- 3 years, renewable
- Exam delivery
- Pearson VUE (test centre or online proctored)
Prerequisites: No formal prerequisites. CompTIA recommends twelve months of hands-on IT support experience. Both exams must be from the same version (V15).
Renewal: Continuing Education: 20 CEUs within three years, or pass the current A+ exams; higher CompTIA certificates renew A+ as well
Source: exam page at CompTIA · Price: Two exams at 274 USD each (CompTIA list price since June 2026, partner price list, read 2026-09-08); CompTIA shows your local price in its purchase widget
How to prepare
1. 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.
2. A practice test in the exam format
MeasureUp sells a practice test for 220-1201 + 220-1202 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 220-1201 + 220-1202 at MeasureUp (opens in a new tab)Book the exam
Delivered by Pearson VUE (test centre or online proctored). Schedule with CompTIA (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.
Two exams, and the second is the one people underestimate
A+ is the certificate that IT support adverts name more than any other, and it is two papers rather than one. Core 1, exam 220-1201, covers hardware, mobile devices, networking and virtualisation. Core 2, exam 220-1202, covers operating systems, security, software troubleshooting and operational procedure. Candidates who fix machines assume Core 1 is the hard half. In practice Core 2 is where the marks go missing, because procedure, documentation and the security basics are the parts a workplace teaches by osmosis and never writes down, and the exam expects the written version.
| Paper | Core 1 (220-1201) | Core 2 (220-1202) |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Hardware, mobile, networking, virtualisation | Operating systems, security, software troubleshooting, procedure |
| Questions | Up to 90 | Up to 90 |
| Time | 90 minutes | 90 minutes |
| Pass mark (of 900) | 675 | 700 |
| Languages | English, German, Japanese | English, German, Japanese |
Version 15 and its clock
This version launched on 25 March 2025, and CompTIA retires a version roughly three years after launch, so the current papers have a long run ahead of them. There is no announced date yet, and nothing to wait for. Buy material written for V15, check that a practice set names the 1201 and 1202 codes, and ignore anything still selling the previous version at a discount.
The format is broader than multiple choice
- Performance-based items open a simulated environment and ask you to do something. They carry disproportionate weight and cannot be reasoned around.
- Drag-and-drop questions test sequence and matching, and punish candidates who learned lists without learning order.
- Different pass marks per paper, which surprises people: Core 1 and Core 2 are not scored on the same threshold.
- A maximum of 90 questions each, and the paper ends when it ends rather than at a fixed count.
- Both must be passed before the certificate exists, and there is no partial credential in between.
CompTIA suggests about twelve months in a support role first, and the suggestion is fair rather than protective. What a year on a help desk gives you is the troubleshooting order the exam keeps rewarding: the cheap, reversible check before the expensive or destructive one. Without that year, a second-hand machine you can take apart, reinstall and break teaches Core 1 faster than any book, and a ticketing habit of writing down what you did teaches Core 2. Renewal runs three years and needs 20 continuing-education credits or a resit, and in practice most holders renew it by passing something higher, since any senior CompTIA certificate refreshes the ones below.
Two exams means two fees, and that changes the comparison
People compare A+ against a single-exam certificate and quietly compare one fee against two. Before deciding this is the affordable entry point, work out the real total, then compare it with Network+, which costs one fee and is frequently the more useful certificate for anyone who already supports machines competently.
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.
A laptop powers on, shows the manufacturer logo, then returns to it repeatedly without reaching the operating system. The user reports the machine was working yesterday and that nothing was installed. What should you check first?
Several answers would eventually find the fault and the word first is doing the work. The exam consistently rewards ordering: cheapest and least destructive check before the expensive or irreversible one. Candidates who know the technology but have never been taught a troubleshooting method lose marks here rather than on knowledge.
What it costs to get and to keep
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Core 1 exam, 220-1201 | 274 USD | partner price list after CompTIA's June 2026 price round; CompTIA publishes prices only in its own purchase widget (read 8 September 2026) |
| Core 2 exam, 220-1202 | 274 USD | the second half of the same certificate, not an optional extra (read 8 September 2026) |
| Renewal every three years | not published | 20 continuing-education credits, or passing the current A+ exams again. Earning a higher CompTIA certificate renews it automatically, which is the route most people end up using (read 12 September 2026) |
How much preparation, from where you are
- You already work on a help desk
- CompTIA suggests about a year in a support role, and that experience covers a great deal of Core 2. The gaps are usually the hardware detail on Core 1 and the formal procedure material, which real workplaces rarely teach explicitly.
- You fix machines for friends and family
- More preparation than you expect, and less than the syllabus implies. You will know the troubleshooting instinct and not the vocabulary, and the performance-based items will be the unfamiliar part.
- You are coming from another career entirely
- Budget for both papers and treat them as one project. Hands-on time matters more than any book: a cheap second-hand machine you can take apart and reinstall teaches Core 1 faster than reading about it.
What passing this does not prove
- Whether you can handle a frustrated user, which decides most support careers.
- Anything at network-engineering depth; that is the next certificate along.
- Scripting or automation, despite both being increasingly ordinary in support work.
- Whether you can work a ticketing system, which is what your first day will actually involve.
Against the alternatives
- N10-009 — CompTIA Network+
- One exam rather than two, and often the better purchase for anyone already comfortable with machines. Passing it also renews A+ if you hold it, which reorders the sensible sequence for some people.
- FC0-U71 — CompTIA Tech+
- The tier below, aimed at people for whom computers are genuinely new. Skip it if you have ever confidently reinstalled an operating system.
- SY0-701 — CompTIA Security+
- Two rungs up and the certificate with the strongest hiring pull in this vendor's range. Holding it renews everything beneath it.
220-1201 + 220-1202 — quick answers
Do I really need both exams?
Yes. The certificate does not exist until both are passed, and there is no interim credential for passing one. That also means two fees, which is the detail most comparisons against single-exam certificates quietly omit.
Is A+ still worth it?
For entry into support work, yes, because it is the certificate job adverts name and filters match on. For anyone already working in IT it is largely redundant, and their money is better spent one or two rungs up.
How is A+ kept current?
Three years, kept current by 20 continuing-education credits or by sitting the exams again. In practice most people renew it by passing something higher, since any senior CompTIA certificate refreshes the ones below it, which is worth planning for rather than discovering.
How do the performance-based questions work?
They present a simulated environment and a task, and they are marked on the outcome. You cannot eliminate your way through them, which is exactly why they are there. Practise in a real environment rather than only reading, because recognising a screen is not the same as operating it.
Which paper should I sit first?
Core 1, for most people. Its material is the more concrete and the more likely to be familiar, and a pass builds the confidence the procedure-heavy Core 2 needs. Sit them close together rather than months apart: the certificate needs both, and the study for one keeps the other warm.
What comes next
Concepts this exam draws on
Glossary entries with the reason each one matters for 220-1201 + 220-1202.
- Web Server
Core 1 names the common server roles a technician meets, web servers among them.
- IP Addressing
Core 1 networking: private ranges, what a client's address should look like, and the self-assigned one that means it never got one.
- DHCP
The address a workstation shows is the first thing a support technician reads, and this is where it came from.
- TCP/IP
Ports and protocols at support depth: which service answers on which port, and what a refused connection looks like.
- Wi-Fi
Configuring and troubleshooting small wireless networks is a stated Core 1 objective.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 · Getting Digital