AWS Certified Developer - Associate (DVA-C03) - What to know

Interested in taking the AWS Certified Developer - Associate and the associated exam (DVA-C03)? In this article, I'll cover frequently-asked questions about both, so you can decide whether or not it's a fit for you, and be prepared for what to expect.

What is the AWS Certified Developer - Associate?

The AWS Certified Developer - Associate is an intermediate-level certification that tests your knowledge around developing, testing, deploying, and debugging AWS cloud-based apps. As of 2026, this exam also tests you on how you'd do this using AI-assisted development tools. 

It's worth noting that the "Developer" naming of this exam can feel somewhat misleading for some, as it also tests you on topics that fall under DevOps, like CI/CD and observability.

Who is the AWS Certified Developer - Associate for?

Developers who want to learn the best way to build, deploy, and troubleshoot cloud-native apps using AWS, of course! This is also for organizations that want to make sure they have the required number of AWS-certified employees to maintain partnership status under the AWS Partner Network (APN).

Is getting the AWS Certified Developer - Associate worth it?

Depends on why you're doing it. Yes, if your employer is paying for it, or if you want to gain and test your knowledge on best practice around creating and running AWS-based cloud apps. No, if you're using it solely as a sign of competency to help you get a job.

Why? Most employers want to see evidence you've actually built or helped build an application, rather than proof you've passed a question-based assessment saying you can build one. That's why there are rather few developer certifications out there, compared to in other tech fields like cybersecurity and cloud engineering. In short, people don't trust developer certifications as a sign that you actually know how to build cloud-native apps.

That's not to say getting this certification is worthless as a developer, because it has value!

• Studying for this exam gives you knowledge, and passing the exam validates it. Specifically, on if you understand best practices around how to securely build AWS-based cloud apps - typically using AI tools - and then how to observe and deal with any issues that crop up.
• Having this certificate could be the difference between you and another candidate who has matching experience, particularly if an AI-powered ATS fixates on it. 
• It shows that you're invested in continuous learning and you're familiar with the AWS ecosystem.

All of the above is great! It's just not a substitute for having an item saying that you've worked on an AWS cloud-based app before on your resume. 

(Also, you could just be a study nerd like me, and like taking certs for fun. In which case, the exam prep and the thrill of validating your knowledge are the reward.)

How hard is the DVA-C03?

Easy to moderately difficult, depending on your prior exposure to AWS, application development, and DevOps principles. The exam assumes you're already a developer, but the DevOps-focused questions can throw some people off who expect all the topics to be on the development side. It helps if you've taken an AWS exam before so you're familiar with the question format.

What are the exam requirements for the DVA-C03?

There are no mandatory requirements for sitting the DVA-C03. AWS recommends the "target candidate should have one or more years of hands-on experience in developing and maintaining applications by using AWS services."

Personally, I disagree with AWS's experience recommendations when it comes to Foundational and Associate-level certifications. Why? Because studying and passing the exam shows you understand the latest best-practice techniques, and it's better to know those before you spend a year or more building things the wrong way for a company, especially with how cloud costs and technical debt can add up.

AWS recommends you have the following knowledge, which I do agree with. None of these take a year to pick up, and most of the hands-on portions can be gained through labs, cloud sandboxes, or making the most of AWS's Free Tier. 

General IT knowledge

• Know at least one high-level programming language (Looking at you, Python.)
• Understanding of application lifecycle management
• Basic understanding of cloud-focused application development
• Experience in using application development tools, including AI tools
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development workflows

Recommended AWS knowledge

• Develop and secure applications by using AWS service APIs, AWS CLI, and SDKs
• Use a CI/CD pipeline to deploy applications on AWS
• Use AI tools and services to support development, testing, and release of high-quality code
• Integrate managed AI services into applications

How long is the DVA-C03?

The exam takes 130 minutes. Of course, if you're a superstar and finish early, you can just mic drop and walk out before then.

What is the structure of the DVA-C03?

The exam is 130 minutes and is made up of 65 questions. Only 50 of these are scored while the remaining 15 are unscored. Those are just there so AWS can test these questions out for future exams, and you won’t know if an exam is scored or not in the exam.

There are two types of questions in the exam:

• Multiple choice: You’re asked to choose one correct response out of three incorrect responses (distractors). 

• Multiple response: You choose two or more correct responses out of five or more response options. 

The distractors are designed to seem correct to anyone who hasn’t studied up fully on AWS! In fact, even with foundational knowledge, some will seem quite plausible because two or more services you can pick from could be used to solve the problem you’re presented with. I cannot emphasize enough how much you need to read out the problem statement in detail.

The good news is that you don’t need to linger on a question, you can skip forward, go backwards, or flag questions to check later. In fact, a good exam trick is to give yourself a certain amount of time to answer any question, and if you can’t figure it out, move on and double back later.

Does the AWS DVA-C03 have labs or require me to build a cloud application?

No, nobody is going to sit you down and ask you to build a serverless Lambda application and peer review your code. It's just the multiple choice and multiple answer questions.

Do I need to sit the DVA-C03 exam remotely or in a facility?

You can do either! I sit mine remotely, because my office setup is fairly clean and distraction free, and I don’t mind if a stranger has strong opinions on how close my phone is. However, I’ve also sat exams in facilities, and it was nice not to worry about having to open task manager and shut down conflicting programs that were clashing with the exam software.

Here’s what I’d recommend:

• Sit your exam remotely if you’ve got a good home office setup where nobody is going to walk in or make lots of background noise, you’ve successfully tested the exam software, and you’re moderately confident your internet won’t cut out.

• Sit your exam in a facility if you’ve got a cluttered home setup, lots of people or kids wandering around, and the idea of random disasters like the internet cutting out makes you break out in a cold sweat.

And hey, even if the worst happens, you’ll get a good story out of it.

How much does the AWS DVA-C03 cost to take? 

The AWS DVA-C03 certification exam is currently $130 USD and the price is subject to change and local currency conversion. Check the latest pricing for your area here.

It is worth noting that passing any AWS Certification exam automatically gives you a 50% discount benefit that can be used towards your next exam. That means it can be beneficial to plan out your certification journey in advance from a cost point of view, starting with the cheaper AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner at $100 USD and moving your way towards having a discount for the Professional and Speciality exams at $300 USD (assuming that's your final goal.)

What's the pass score for the AWS DVA-C03?

To pass the exam, you need to achieve a score of at least 720 out of a possible 1000 points. It’s important to know that 720/1000 isn’t technically 72%. The passing score is calculated based on your ability to answer the questions and the difficulty of the questions. 

It’s also important to point out that points are never deducted. You should answer every question, even if you need to guess.

How soon will I get the results for taking the DVA-C03?

Unlike the AWS Cloud Practitioner, you don’t get the results for the AWS Certified Developer - Associate right after the exam (I know, this sucks! There's nothing worse than waiting around for exam results.) Instead, you’ve got to wait for AWS to send you an email to find out if you’ve passed or failed. Officially, this takes about five business days from completing the exam, but many people get it a lot sooner. 

Can I take the AWS DVA-C03 multiple times?

If you fail any AWS exam—not just the AWS DVA-C03—you’ve got to wait 14 calendar days before you can take it again. There’s no limit on exam attempts, except for your wallet, which will start to sting a lot if you retry too many times! That’s because you’ve got to pay the full registration fee for each exam attempt.

What does the DVA-C03 cover?

The DVA-C03 is broken up into four domains, which break down into development with AWS services, security, testing and deployment, and troubleshooting and optimization. That’s also the order of how much of your mark it’s worth from highest to lowest, so you’re going to want to give more study time to the former rather than the latter. Here are the official weightings:

Domain	% of exam
Domain 1: Development with AWS Services	30%
Domain 2: Security	26%
Domain 3: Testing and Deployment	22%
Domain 4: Troubleshooting and Optimization	22%

You can check out the full list of in-scope AWS services and features in AWS’s exam guide. What the guide won’t tell you, though, is where to spend your time. For example, you might see a lot of questions about AWS Lambda and Amazon Kiro, but next-to-nothing on AWS Elastic Beanstalk, which is also on the list. 

How should I study for the DVA-C03?

For this exam, I recommend a mix of watching expert-authored videos and hands-on learning. Start by carefully reading the exam guide to determine your strengths and weaknesses, and create a study plan focused on addressing your weakest areas. 

Currently, there's not a lot of DVA-C03 learning materials out there, as this version of the exam is extremely new. As of the time of writing, Pluralsight is currently working on a successor exam prep path for release in late 2026. In the meantime, you can study using Faye Ellis's excellent DVA-C02 learning path which covers many of the same things, supplemented by courses on the services in the AWS DVA-C03 exam guide like Amazon Kiro and Amazon Bedrock which are new to the exam. 

Conclusion

I hope this article was helpful to you, and I wish you the best with taking the AWS Certified Developer - Associate exam! Until next time.