The AZ-900 exam, start to finish: format, the 700 score, booking and retakes

When another page disagrees with this board, it is nearly always on one of three things: a longer time limit, a percentage pass mark, or an exact question count. Treat each like a distractor that borrows the right noun and attaches the wrong number.

Microsoft’s exam duration table gives Fundamentals exams 45 minutes of exam time and 65 minutes of seat time. The extra 20 minutes are not for questions: they cover the instructions, the candidate agreement and the comment screens around the exam. Five minutes of the 45 are set aside for breaks, and Microsoft removed questions to make room for them.

On the question count, Microsoft’s exact position is that most of its certification exams “typically contain between 40–60 questions; however, the number can vary.” It prints no figure for AZ-900 itself. A guide that states one number is quoting someone’s sitting, not a source, so prepare for the range.

Microsoft doesn’t list the item types of a given exam in advance. It says only that an exam may include interactive item types, and the mix can change. To see the interface before exam day, try the free exam sandbox linked from Microsoft’s exam experience page.

What stays constant at this level is the decision you are asked to make. Every objective in the outline starts with describe, define, compare or identify, so most items come down to one move: which service, tool or model fits the need in the stem. Two of the four options are usually near-twins, such as availability zone and region pair, Azure Policy and role-based access control, or hot and cool storage.

Three passes through the exam

Work the 45 minutes in three passes: what you know on sight, then every item where you can strike two options, then the rest, each one answered because a wrong pick costs no more than a blank. The practice test walks through each pass, and its timed run is where to rehearse them.

The run below holds three practice questions, one per skill area: a circle for cloud concepts, a square for architecture and services, a triangle for management and governance. Pick an option and it locks; the panel under the card gives the verdict, the explanation and a note under each option, struck ones too. These are original practice questions written to the July 2026 outline, not exam content.

For more, the sample questions page works through 24 with the reasoning written out, and the AZ-900 practice test runs 60 across all three skill areas with an optional 45-minute clock. Microsoft also offers a free practice assessment of its own, linked from the credential page; it is worth a run in the last week.

You pass AZ-900 with 700 or more on a scale of 1 to 1000. The score is scaled, and Microsoft’s scoring page says it may not equal 70% of the points. No Microsoft page converts 700 into a number of correct answers, so a “you need N right” figure has no source behind it.

Scaled score

Your result on the 1–1000 scale; 700 or more passes. It is not a percentage of questions.

No guessing penalty

A wrong answer scores the same as a blank, which is why the third pass always ends in a pick.

Unscored items

Some questions may not count toward the score, and nothing marks which ones. Treat every question as live.

Multi-part items

Where a question has several parts, each correct part earns its own point, so a half-right answer still counts.

AZ-900 is Microsoft’s beginner-level Azure exam, with no prerequisites, and Microsoft publishes no pass rate, so a quoted percentage has no Microsoft source. What makes it hard is vocabulary under a short clock: the exam names real services and asks you to tell apart the ones that sound alike. Four patterns account for most missed picks:

• Service-picking on the heaviest line. Architecture and services is 35–40% of the outline, and its options differ by scope: zone or region, locally or zone-redundant storage.
• Governance tools that sound alike. In management and governance (30–35%), Azure Policy decides what may exist, role-based access control decides who may act, and a resource lock stops deletion or change.
• Renamed products. The outline uses Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) and Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Notes under the old names cost you a rule-out.
• Material older than the outline. The TCO Calculator was retired in 2025 and left the outline in January 2026; Azure Blueprints isn’t in it. Questions built on either are practice for an exam that no longer exists.

Cloud concepts, the third line at 25–30%, is worked through in the cloud concepts sample questions. The AZ-900 study guide maps all three lines and their sub-objectives, and if you are still deciding whether to sit it at all, is AZ-900 worth it weighs that up.

You schedule AZ-900 from its Microsoft Learn credential page: sign in, confirm your profile, choose a delivery option and pay. Pearson VUE delivers the exam for most candidates; students and educators can book through Certiport instead.

1. 1

   Sign in on Microsoft Learn

   The certification profile holds your exam record and, after a pass, the credential itself. Use the Microsoft account you intend to keep.

2. 2

   Choose Pearson VUE or Certiport

   Pearson VUE if you are booking on your own; Certiport if you are a student or educator going through your school.

3. 3

   Pick a test center or online

   Microsoft exams can be taken at a Pearson VUE test center or online with a remote proctor. Confirm that AZ-900 shows the online option for your country when you book (online exams).

4. 4

   Pay and confirm

   US$99 in the US as of 13 Oct 2026, priced by the country where you test (Microsoft’s price); what AZ-900 costs lists other countries and the student route.

• At most two Microsoft exams can be scheduled with Pearson VUE at one time (source).
• You can book up to 90 days ahead.
• Reschedule or cancel at least 24 hours before your appointment, or the fee is forfeited (policy).

Most exam-day rules are about the clock, and two of them change how you work through the questions.

• Online: check in from 30 minutes before your appointment until 15 minutes after it; the check-in itself takes about 15 minutes (online exams).
• Have your identification ready. Pearson VUE checks it before the exam starts, and the accepted documents depend on where you test, so read the list on the booking pages before the day.
• No Microsoft Learn: some higher-level exams allow it, Fundamentals exams do not (source).
• Breaks are allowed, but the exam clock keeps running while you are away.
• After a break you cannot return to the questions you saw before it.

AZ-900 is offered in 13 languages: English, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Korean, Spanish, German, French, Indonesian, Arabic (Saudi Arabia), Chinese (Traditional), Italian, Portuguese (Brazil) and Russian, per the credential page on 13 Oct 2026. If the exam isn’t available in your preferred language, you can request 30 extra minutes.

Localized versions are updated about eight weeks after the English one, according to Microsoft’s study guide. If you test in another language soon after an outline change, read the study guide’s notes for that language before you book.

Accommodations are requested before you schedule, through Pearson VUE. Microsoft says the review can take up to 10 business days and the whole process up to 20 days before you can book (accommodations). Typical arrangements include extra time, assistive technology, a reader or scribe, and changes to the room setup. Start that request first: it is the longest wait in the process.

You see pass or fail within minutes of finishing. The score report shows your overall scaled score, the result and a bar chart for each skill area, with no numeric score per section (score reports). Within 24 hours your Microsoft Learn profile shows the credential, Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals.

The bar chart is the part to keep if you fail. Read it the way you read four options: the shortest bar names the line to work on first. The end-of-line summary in the practice test counts right answers per skill area the same way, without pretending to predict a scaled score.

The credential does not expire. Microsoft’s renewal FAQ says renewal does not apply to Fundamentals certifications; the yearly renewal you may have read about belongs to the associate and expert certifications.

Fail AZ-900 and you can sit it again after 24 hours. After a second fail, and each one after that, the wait is 14 days, with at most five attempts in the 12 months from your first. Each retake is paid, and an exam you passed can’t be retaken. That is Microsoft’s retake policy as of 13 Oct 2026.

Spend the wait on the line your bar chart flagged: the practice test filters by skill area and sub-objective until its near-twin pairs stop costing you picks. The fee for each attempt is on the cost page.

• Practice testFree AZ-900 practice test: 60 explained questions across all three skill areas
• Sample questionsAZ-900 sample questions, answered and explained
• Study guideAZ-900 study guide: every skill Microsoft measures, weighted, with a plan to cover it
• CostWhat AZ-900 costs: the exam fee, retakes, and how people cut the bill
• Worth it?Is AZ-900 worth it? An honest answer, and where it leads
• HomeAZ-900 (Microsoft Azure Fundamentals): the beginner Azure certification, explained before you book it