What does it cost?
The MLA-C02 beta exam costs $75. AWS has not published the standard fee.
Beta exam
$75
Source: AWS exam page
AWS exam
MLA-C02 Exam facts
BetaAWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate
- Questions
- 85
- Minutes
- 170
- Exam fee
- $75
- Passing score
- 720
Independent: not affiliated with AWS. These exam facts are free; the study bundle adds a study guide and two practice exams.
Short answer
BetaMLA-C02 is the updated exam for the AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer - Associate certification, for engineers who run ML and generative AI workloads on AWS. The beta exam has 85 questions in 170 minutes, costs $75 and takes 720 of 1,000 to pass.
Sources: exam page, exam guide
Published AWS facts for MLA-C02 on one page. Last updated
Study bundle
Prepare for MLA-C02
$19
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Your receipt has a license key. Enter it at overqual.com/download for the three PDFs, stamped with your email and order number. They are yours to keep.
Try 5 free sample questions first See 3 pages inside
- A 62-page study guide: every exam domain, weighted like the exam
- Two practice exams: 130 original questions, every answer explained
- Every bundle includes 6 months of access: download the PDFs, and any new editions, until 6 months after your purchase date.
Edition 1.0, October 2026
How many questions and how long?
The MLA-C02 beta exam has 85 questions in 170 minutes. Question types: multiple choice and multiple response. The exam changes after the beta; the second card shows what AWS has announced.
Source: AWS exam page
Beta exam
- Questions
- 85
- Time
- 170 minutes
- Languages
- English only (beta)
- Offered
- Since Sep 29, 2026
After the beta
- Questions
- 65
- Time
- Not yet published
What score do you need to pass?
The MLA-C02 passing score is 720, on a scale of 100-1,000.
100-719
720+ PASS
Source: AWS exam guide
What does the exam cover?
The MLA-C02 exam covers four domains, weighted 28% / 24% / 24% / 24%.
Source: AWS exam guide
D128%
Data Preparation for ML and AI
D224%
ML Model and Foundation Model (FM) Development
D324%
Deployment and Orchestration of ML and AI Workflows
D424%
Operating, Monitoring, and Securing ML and AI Solutions
Data Preparation for ML and AI
- 1.1Collect and store data
- 1.2Transform data, engineer features, pre-process
- 1.3Validate data quality and manage bias
ML Model and Foundation Model (FM) Development
- 2.1Choose modeling approaches
- 2.2Train, fine-tune and customize
- 2.3Analyze and evaluate performance
Deployment and Orchestration of ML and AI Workflows
- 3.1Manage deployment infrastructure
- 3.2Provision and configure resources
- 3.3Automate orchestration and CI/CD
Operating, Monitoring, and Securing ML and AI Solutions
- 4.1Monitor inference and performance
- 4.2Optimize cost and performance
- 4.3Secure workloads and endpoints
Inside the study bundle
Study guide chapters
Nine chapters. Chapters 3 to 6 cover the four exam domains, weighted like the exam.
- 01 What the exam is p. 3
- 02 SageMaker AI and the data and MLOps landscape p. 9
- 03 Data preparation for ML and AI p. 16
- 04 ML model and foundation model development p. 26
- 05 Deployment and orchestration of ML and AI workflows p. 36
- 06 Operating, monitoring and securing ML and AI solutions p. 46
- 07 Final review p. 54
- 08 Sources p. 60
- 09 Edition and updates p. 62
Look inside the study guide
Three pages of the Edition 1.0 study guide: the contents and the first two pages of a chapter.
What is free here, and what is in the bundle?
The exam facts and 5 sample questions are free on this site. The study guide chapters and the two practice exams are in the bundle.
| Item | Free on this site | In the bundle |
|---|---|---|
| Exam facts and change log | Yes, with links to the AWS sources | Chapter 1 of the study guide sums up the exam's format and scoring. |
| 5 sample questions | Yes | No. None of the 5 appear in the practice exams. |
| Domain chapters and final review | No | Yes, in the study guide |
| Two practice exams with answer keys | No | Yes, 130 questions with an explanation for every answer |
Questions before you buy
Is this official?
No, the MLA-C02 bundle is not official. Overqual is independent and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by AWS.
Does it include real exam questions?
No, the MLA-C02 bundle contains no exam questions, and every practice question is original.
How is the MLA-C02 bundle different from AWS's free materials?
AWS's free pages set out what the MLA-C02 exam covers. The MLA-C02 bundle adds a 62-page study guide that covers every exam domain, and two practice exams with 130 original questions, every answer explained. When AWS revises the exam, a new edition follows if the changes warrant it, included while your access lasts.
How do I get updates?
Updates to the MLA-C02 bundle arrive as new editions. Every bundle includes 6 months of access: download the PDFs, and any new editions, until 6 months after your purchase date. Download each new edition at overqual.com/download with the license key from your receipt email. The change log on the exam facts page says what changed.
Can I get a refund?
No. Sales of the MLA-C02 bundle are final, because downloaded PDFs cannot be returned. Read the free exam facts and try the 5 free sample questions first. If a download fails or you paid twice by mistake, contact Overqual to have the download fixed or the second payment refunded.
How does MLA-C02 differ from MLA-C01?
MLA-C02 keeps the four domains of MLA-C01 and reweights them to 28% / 24% / 24% / 24%, against 28% / 26% / 22% / 24% for MLA-C01, per the AWS comparison page. It adds 45 skill statements on foundation models, RAG, agents, Amazon Bedrock, and AI cost and security, and removes seven, among them SageMaker Neo edge optimization and bring-your-own-container. The beta is 85 questions in 170 minutes; MLA-C01 is 65 questions in 130 minutes, per the certification page.
Does passing the MLA-C02 beta earn the certification?
The MLA-C02 exam guide says the pass or fail designation does not apply to the beta version of the exam (exam guide), while the AWS policies page says candidates who pass a beta exam earn the applicable certification, active for three years (before-testing policies). Results are posted within five business days. A beta can be taken only once; a retake waits for the standard version. Read both AWS pages before booking.
Does MLA-C02 include hands-on labs?
The MLA-C02 exam guide lists two question types, multiple choice (one correct response of four) and multiple response (two or more correct of five or more, all required for credit), and no lab or performance task (exam guide). Unanswered questions count as incorrect, and there is no penalty for guessing.
Ready for MLA-C02?
Three PDFs, 112 pages: the study guide and two practice exams.
Which AWS services are in scope?
81 services and features are on the AWS in-scope list for MLA-C02. The skill statements lean on Amazon SageMaker AI and Amazon Bedrock, with data, orchestration and operations services around them. The exam uses official short names, such as Amazon SNS.
Source: AWS in-scope services page
ML and AI platforms
- Amazon SageMaker AI
- Amazon Bedrock
- Amazon Bedrock AgentCore
- Amazon Comprehend
- Amazon Rekognition
- Amazon Textract
- Amazon Transcribe
Data preparation and storage
- Amazon S3
- AWS Glue
- AWS Glue DataBrew
- AWS Glue Data Quality
- Amazon EMR
- Amazon Athena
- Amazon Kinesis
- Amazon Data Firehose
- Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink
- Amazon OpenSearch Service
- Amazon RDS
- Amazon DynamoDB
Orchestration and CI/CD
- AWS Step Functions
- Amazon MWAA
- Amazon EventBridge
- AWS CodePipeline
- AWS CodeBuild
- AWS CodeDeploy
- AWS CodeCommit
- AWS CodeConnections
- Amazon ECR
- Amazon ECS
- Amazon EKS
- AWS CloudFormation
Operations and security
- Amazon CloudWatch
- AWS X-Ray
- AWS CloudTrail
- AWS Config
- IAM
- AWS KMS
- Amazon Macie
- AWS Secrets Manager
- Amazon Inspector
- Amazon CodeGuru
- Amazon VPC
- AWS Cost Explorer
- AWS Budgets
How is it delivered?
The MLA-C02 exam is proctored, at a Pearson VUE test center or online.
- Delivery
- Proctored, at a Pearson VUE test center or online
- Languages
- English only (beta)
- Validity
- 3 years
- Retakes
- Beta: once only; a retake waits until the standard version is generally available. Standard: 14 calendar days after a fail, no limit on attempts, full fee each time; no retake of the same exam for two years after a pass.
Source: AWS exam page
What are the key dates?
The dates AWS has published for MLA-C02.
- Sep 1, 2026
- Registration opens
- Sep 29, 2026
- Beta exam opens
- Jan 14, 2027
- MLA-C01 retires
- Jan 14, 2027
- General availability
Source: AWS exam page
Fact sheet
Show the 31 factsHide the facts
- Questions
- 85 Source: AWS exam page
- Time
- 170 minutes Source: AWS exam page
- Fee
- $75 Source: AWS exam page
- Passing score
- 720 Source: AWS exam guide
- Score range
- 100-1,000 Source: AWS exam guide
- Question types
- Multiple choice and multiple response Source: AWS exam page
- Languages
- English only (beta) Source: AWS exam page
- Delivery
- Proctored, at a Pearson VUE test center or online Source: AWS exam page
- Validity
- 3 years Source: AWS exam page
- Retakes
- Beta: once only; a retake waits until the standard version is generally available. Standard: 14 calendar days after a fail, no limit on attempts, full fee each time; no retake of the same exam for two years after a pass. Source: AWS page
- Beta questions
- 85 Source: AWS exam page
- Beta time
- 170 minutes Source: AWS exam page
- Questions after the beta
- 65 Source: AWS exam guide
- General availability
- Jan 14, 2027 Source: AWS page
- Domain weights
- D1 28% / D2 24% / D3 24% / D4 24% Source: AWS exam guide
- Unscored items in the beta
- Beta exams contain additional items used for statistical evaluation. These additional items do not affect your score. Source: AWS exam page
- Beta result
- Candidates who pass a beta exam earn the applicable AWS Certification, which is active for three years. Source: AWS page
- Results
- Beta results are typically available within 5 business days of exam completion. Source: AWS exam page
- Scoring model
- Compensatory. A passing score is needed on the exam as a whole, not in each section. The score report may include a table of section-level classifications. Source: AWS exam guide
- Content domains
- Four. Data Preparation for ML and AI 28%; ML Model and Foundation Model (FM) Development 24%; Deployment and Orchestration of ML and AI Workflows 24%; Operating, Monitoring, and Securing ML and AI Solutions 24%. Source: AWS exam guide
- Skill statements
- 107 across 12 task statements: 25 in Domain 1, 27 in Domain 2, 30 in Domain 3, 25 in Domain 4. Source: AWS page
- Changes from MLA-C01
- 45 skill statements added and 7 removed. Every MLA-C01 task statement maps to the same-numbered MLA-C02 task. Source: AWS page
- Recommended experience
- At least 1 year using Amazon SageMaker AI, Amazon Bedrock and other AWS services for ML engineering; at least 1 year in a related role such as backend software developer, DevOps developer, data engineer or data scientist; experience with both traditional ML and generative AI. Source: AWS exam guide
- Roles AWS names
- ML engineer, MLOps engineer, LLMOps engineer, data engineer, backend software developer, data scientist Source: AWS exam page
- Hands-on labs
- The exam guide lists two question types, multiple choice and multiple response, and names no lab or performance-based task. Source: AWS exam guide
- ESL accommodation
- A 30-minute exam extension is available on request to non-native English speakers taking an exam in English. Source: AWS page
- Reschedule and cancel
- Reschedule up to 24 hours before the appointment, at most twice. Cancel more than 24 hours before for a refund of the exam fee. Source: AWS page
- Renewal
- Renew for 3 more years by passing the latest version of the exam, with a 50% discount voucher in the AWS Certification Account; or maintain for 1 more year on AWS Skill Builder, which needs an active subscription and a certification within 90 days of expiration. Source: AWS page
- Exam guide format
- HTML pages on docs.aws.amazon.com. The certification page links no PDF. Source: AWS exam page
- Service names on the exam
- The exam uses official short names of AWS services (for example, Amazon SNS). The Help feature, available on every question, lists short names and full names. Source: AWS page
- Official prep
- An MLA-C02 Exam Prep Plan on AWS Skill Builder. The certification page also lists an AWS Certification Official Practice Question Set, an Official Pretest and an Official Practice Exam. Source: AWS exam page
What has changed, and when?
Changes to the exam and to the products it covers, newest first.
- Beta delivery began at Pearson VUE test centers and online, in English only. AWS exam page
- Beta registration opened, in English only, and AWS published the MLA-C02 exam guide. AWS page
- AWS announced MLA-C02, adding generative AI, agentic AI and foundation model content to the same four domains. AWS page
To watch AWS directly, check the exam page.