Claude certification, and who can actually sit one
Four credentials, $99 to $175, 120 minutes each, pass at 720 out of 1,000. The catch sits in the registration form rather than the exam: you need a partner email address on a recognised company domain, and a personal address will not work.
The four credentials
Three roles, four exams. Each links straight to its own registration page and its free prep track on Anthropic Partner Academy.
Claude Certified Associate: Foundations
$99 USD- Covers
- Guiding customers to the right Claude use cases, and setting engagements up to succeed.
- Built for
- Consultants, sellers, and delivery leads.
- Partner tier
- Does not count toward Claude Partner Network tier eligibility.
Claude Certified Developer: Foundations
$125 USD- Covers
- The Claude API, Claude Code, and Model Context Protocol, from first integration to production agents.
- Built for
- Engineers building with Claude.
- Partner tier
- Counts toward Claude Partner Network tier eligibility.
Claude Certified Architect: Foundations
$125 USD- Covers
- Designing Claude solutions end to end: deployment platforms, agentic architecture, evaluation, cost, and safety.
- Built for
- Solution architects.
- Partner tier
- Counts toward Claude Partner Network tier eligibility.
Claude Certified Architect: Professional
$175 USD- Covers
- Designing and governing Claude solutions at enterprise scale.
- Built for
- Architects working at large-enterprise scale.
- Partner tier
- Counts toward Claude Partner Network tier eligibility.
Both registration and prep links sit behind a partner sign-in. The official exam guide for each credential is a PDF linked from the certification catalogue; those file links change, so go through the catalogue rather than bookmarking one.
What the exam is like
| Format | Multiple choice and scenario-based multiple response |
|---|---|
| Time limit | 120 minutes, around 135 minutes of total seat time |
| Scoring | Scaled score from 100 to 1,000 |
| Passing score | 720, the same bar for all four exams |
| Delivery | Pearson, online proctored or at a test centre |
| Open book | No. Notes, documentation, translation tools and AI assistants are all barred |
| Minimum age | 18, verified against government-issued ID at check-in |
| Certification validity | 12 months from the date you earn it |
| Registration validity | 5 years, so you can register now and sit it later |
| Retake waits | 14 days after a first fail, 30 after a second, 90 after a third |
| Retake limit | 4 attempts per exam per rolling 12 months |
Scaled scoring exists so that two people sitting slightly different versions of the same exam face the same bar. A fail report breaks your result down by section, which is the part worth reading before you pay for a retake.
Anthropic’s framing is that certification represents validated capability rather than course attendance. That is the reason for the proctoring, and it is what separates these exams from the free course quizzes on Claude Academy.
The part that is hard to find out
Certification is open only to people at Claude Partner Network organisations. Registration checks your email domain against your firm’s partner record, and a personal address is rejected. If your company is a partner but your domain is not on the record yet, adding it takes 7 to 10 working days, so start that before you book a date.
Price follows the same record. Registered-tier partners pay list price. Select, Preferred and Global Premier partners get 50% off automatically, and Global Premier partners pay nothing on any exam until 31 December 2026. A discount that fails to show at checkout usually means the domain is not linked.
The demand is coming from firms rather than individuals. Accenture has committed to 50,000 certified professionals, PwC to 30,000, Capgemini, DXC and UST to 20,000 each, Deloitte and KPMG to 15,000 each. Ascendion plans to certify its entire 8,000-person engineering team before 2027.
So if you went looking for a sign-up button as an individual and could not find one, nothing is wrong with your search. There is no public self-enrolment route, and Anthropic has not said whether one is planned. Bulk voucher purchasing for partner teams is described as in progress with no date.
If you work at a partner firm, your enablement or practice lead owns the enrolment path. Ask them before you email support. If your firm is not a partner, applications are open.
Learning the material without the badge
The credential is gated. The material largely is not. Anthropic’s own free courses sit at Claude Academy , and cover AI fluency, the Claude API, and each product surface. For the areas the Developer and Architect tracks name, these pages go deeper:
- Which Claude surface for which job covers the ground the Associate credential calls guiding customers to the right use case.
- MCP servers and CLAUDE.md cover Model Context Protocol and agent context, both named under the Developer track.
- Skills and agent workflows cover agentic architecture, named under the Architect track.
Common questions
- Is there an official Claude certification?
- Yes. Anthropic runs the Claude Certification Program with four role-based credentials: Claude Certified Associate: Foundations, Claude Certified Developer: Foundations, Claude Certified Architect: Foundations, and Claude Certified Architect: Professional. The programme launched in March 2026 and expanded to four credentials on 23 July 2026.
- How much does the Claude certification exam cost?
- Claude Certified Associate: Foundations costs $99 USD. Developer: Foundations and Architect: Foundations cost $125 USD each. Architect: Professional costs $175 USD. Those are list prices before any partner-tier discount. Select, Preferred and Global Premier partners get 50% off automatically at checkout, and Global Premier partners pay nothing at all until 31 December 2026.
- How long is the Claude certification exam and what score do I need to pass?
- You get 120 minutes, and should plan for around 135 minutes of seat time including check-in and a post-exam survey. Results come back as a scaled score from 100 to 1,000. The minimum passing score is 720, and it is the same for all four certifications.
- Can anyone take the Claude Certified Architect exam?
- No. Certification is available only to people at Claude Partner Network organisations, and registration requires a partner email address on a recognised company domain. Personal email addresses will not work. If you do not work at a partner firm, the free courses at Claude Academy cover much of the same material without the credential.
- How are the Claude certification exams delivered?
- Through Pearson, either online proctored or at a Pearson test centre. Every exam is supervised, closed book, and identity-verified against government-issued ID before you start. People who pass receive a digital badge through Credly.
- Do I need the Foundations exam before the Professional one?
- No. Architect: Foundations and Architect: Professional are separate certifications with separate exams, and there is no formal prerequisite, so you can sit Professional without holding Foundations. Anthropic recommends starting at Foundations. Passing Foundations does not upgrade to Professional automatically.
- What happens if I fail a Claude certification exam?
- Your score report shows the overall scaled score, the pass or fail result, and the percentage you answered correctly in each section, so you can see what to review. You wait 14 days before a first retake, 30 days after a second fail, and 90 days after a third. You can attempt any one exam up to four times per rolling 12 months, and a retake costs the full fee.
- How long does a Claude certification last?
- Twelve months from the date you earn it. Renewing on time is free and involves a non-proctored assessment covering what has changed. If the certification lapses, you retake the full exam at full price.
- How many people hold a Claude certification?
- More than 36,000 consultants across more than 1,300 organisations had been certified as of 23 July 2026, counting from the programme launch in March 2026.
Every figure on this page comes from one of Anthropic’s own pages:
- The programme announcement of 23 July 2026, for the roles and the adoption numbers.
- The certification catalogue for prices and tier eligibility.
- The certification FAQ and policies for exam length, scoring, retakes, and eligibility.
- Pearson’s Anthropic page for scheduling, ID requirements, and system checks.
Checked 2 September 2026. Prices and rules have changed once already: Architect: Foundations went from $99 to $125 on 30 June 2026, the same day delivery moved to Pearson. Confirm against the catalogue before you pay.
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