Microsoft Beta Exams are full Exams that you can take at 80% off the retail price and still achieve full certification. They are designed to help Microsoft evaluate the quality and relevance of the exam and its questions.
In this post, we are going to discuss the reason for the Microsoft Beta Exam process, how you can take a Beta Exam and what you should expect the experience to entail.
If you wish to take a Microsoft Beta Exam for free you can check out our guide: How to get free Microsoft Exam Certifications.
About Microsoft Beta Exams
A Microsoft Beta Exam is a new exam that has passed the approval stage at Microsoft and a pool of questions have been written. It is then released to the public at a heavy discount in order to help the Microsoft Team improve the quality of the exam and resolve technical inaccuracies.
This heavy 80% discount on the Microsoft Beta Exam is only available to the first 300 members of the public. The Beta code is released via a Microsoft Learn blog post and its use is first come first serve. Once you take the exam, as a thank you, you also get 25% off the next Microsoft Exam you take.
Microsoft needs 400 people to take each Microsoft Beta Exam before they have enough information to check the exam quality and evaluate its effectiveness of assessing the skills to be successful in the role.
How can you take a Microsoft Beta Exam?
Microsoft Beta exams are released only occasionally. There is no set schedule for when the next will be available for you to sit. And although some people say you need to be registered as a Microsoft Certified Trainer or on a referral program to be alerted on a Beta exam, that is simply not true.
There is only 1 place you need to keep an eye on to be made aware of upcoming beta exams and that is the Microsoft Learn Blog. If you subscribe to the blog you will be alerted of any upcoming beta exams, before the codes are released. The post will tell you the day the beta will be released and if a discount will be available. Then all you need to do is be available on the release day of the beta and use the code that is provided in the latest blog post.
To purchase the exam you simply find the exam on the Microsoft Exams Page and click Schedule Exam. When you get to the check out stage you can enter the promo code and redeem the discount.
Preparing for the exam without pre-defined training material
It is important to know that there will be no pre-define training material at the time of taking the Microsoft Beta Exam. This is because the exams generally stay ahead of their associated learning technologies. When new features are released the new exam material is often release along-side it, so there is usually no associated training material available at the release of the beta exam.
The exam is designed for established industry professionals to aid with the exam development process. Exam takers will still receive a full certification if they pass, but naturally, the exam may be harder and self-study will be ever more important.
Nevertheless, there is a lot of overlap with each of the Azure exams. So if you have not already seen our Azure Training guide, please check out our article: Complete Azure Training and Online Learning Guide.
To break your training evaluation down you should be doing the following:
- Review the exam skills outline to ensure you understand the technologies defined in the exam
- Can you setup and configure these technologies without following a guide?
- If you can’t, follow Microsoft learn training modules or Microsoft documentation
- If there are none available, find relevant case studies or blog articles
- Continue to practice until you are confident
FAQ
When do I get the beta results?
The beta results are released 2 weeks after the full exam is live. This can be up to 16 weeks after you take the beta exam.
What is the latest date I can schedule the beta exam?
If you get hold of a beta code, the exam has to be scheduled within a 4-week window of the codes being released.
Can anyone take a beta exam?
You cannot participate in a beta exam if you are located in the following countries; China, India, Pakistan or Turkey. This is for security reasons defined by Microsoft.
Summary
We hope you found our post on Microsoft Beta Exams useful! Hopefully, by now you should know all you need to, to make the decision on whether you should take a new Microsoft exam while it is in beta.
