About
CompTIA A+ consists of 2 exams. The 220-1001 and 220-1002 versions of the exam were first released on January 15, 2019.
In order to achieve an A+ certification you need to pass both the 220-1001 and the 220-1002 exams. You don’t need to take the exams in a specific order, so you can choose to take the 220-1002 exam first if you so desire.
Comptia generally releases new exams every 3 years so you’ll have to make sure you can pass both exams before the exam series retires. For example, if you passed the previous series 220-901 exam and then passed the 220-1002 exam, this wouldn’t count as an A+ certification.
Exam Format
The Comptia A+ is a computerized test, meaning you take your test on a computer at a testing center. The majority of questions on the 220-1001 and 220-1002 exams are multiple choice questions with either a single answer or multiple correct answers.
At the beginning of each exam will be a few performance based questions, called PBQs. These questions will ask you to complete a task, fill in the blank, perform matching or sorting scenarios, drag and drops, etc. The Comptia A+ allows you to mark questions to come back to them later. Therefore, it’s often recommended to skip over the PBQ questions and come back to them after the multiple choice questions. This ensures you don’t waste too much of your time on these questions. Secondly, your nerves will be at its peak when you first begin the exam so answering the multiple choice questions first may help to calm your nerves and jog your memory on certain topics to help you tackle the PBQs.
To try a PBQ for yourself, Comptia provides an example PBQ simulation here:https://simulation.comptia.org/
Unanswered questions do count against you, so there’s no harm in guessing. Questions that are incomplete will be marked with a letter “I” so that once you’ve finished all the questions you an go back and complete those. After you complete the last question, the exam screen will allow you to go back and finish incomplete items, finish unmarked items, and questions that you flagged for review.
Pricing
The straightforward answer to pricing is that each exam costs $219 in the United States, so a total of $438 . But there are many ways to get discounted pricing. Check out the _____ page for tips on how to pay less for your exam.
How to Study
You may want to employ different methods of studying depending on the best way that you learn. For example, studies have shown that when you physcially write something down, you are more likely to remember that information. So you may want to grab a notebook to jot down your study notes.
Check out the resources page for the various recommended tools, quizzes, and other study materials.
Taking the Test
Prior to taking the test make sure you get a good night’s sleep instead of staying up all night cramming.
On the day of, plan to arrive a few minutes early to your testing center. Be sure to bring two forms of identification. One of which must have your picture on it.
Don’t spend too much time on a single question. If you’re having trouble with it, just mark it and return to it later if you have time.
Once you’ve taken the exam, you’ll see your results immediately in the form of a bar graph on the screen. The testing center will also print out a hard copy of the report. Even if you don’t pass, be sure to keep a copy of this report which will tell you how well you did in each section. This way you’ll know which sections you need to refocus your studying on in order to pass the test next time.
After you’ve passed both exams, you’ll receive a CompTIA A+ certificate by mail within a few weeks. You can then use the Comptia A+ logo on your business cards as well, so long as they follow CompTIA’s guidelines.
Use our guides to help you start studying!