Exam day: format, strategy and final review · AZ-900

You have covered every skill area. This lesson is about passing the exam itself.

The exam at a glance


Exam	AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Passing score	700 out of 1000 (a scaled score)
Questions	typically about 40 to 60 (Microsoft doesn't publish an exact number)
Time	about 45 minutes of answering time (plan for extra time for check-in and instructions)
Where	online with a proctor, or at a Pearson VUE test centre
Prerequisites	none
Expiry	fundamentals certifications do not expire

Check Microsoft's official exam page before you book. Details such as the number of questions and the skills outline are updated from time to time.

Multiple choice with one answer, or "choose two". Each correct pick of a "choose two" is usually worth a point of its own.
Yes / No statements: several statements about one scenario, each answered and scored separately.
Drag and drop: match services to descriptions, or put steps in order.
Fill in the blank / complete the sentence with a drop-down.

Find the keyword. "Private connection, not the internet" points to one service. "Prevent deletion" points to another. Most questions hinge on one phrase.
Eliminate. Remove the obviously wrong options first; it often leaves only one plausible answer.
Don't overthink. AZ-900 tests fundamentals. If an answer needs a complicated design to be right, it's probably not the intended one.
Answer everything. There is no penalty for guessing, and multi-part questions give a point for each part you get right.
Flag and return. Mark uncertain questions for review rather than spending minutes on one.

If the question says	Choose	Not
private connection, bypasses the internet	ExpressRoute	VPN Gateway
enforce rules, deny non-compliant resources	Azure Policy	resource locks
prevent accidental deletion	resource lock (Delete)	Azure Policy
estimate cost of a new Azure solution	pricing calculator	Cost Management
track actual spending, budgets, alerts	Cost Management	pricing calculator
enforce rules on resources	Azure Policy	Microsoft Purview
discover and classify data	Microsoft Purview	Azure Policy
recommendations: cost, security, reliability, performance, operations	Azure Advisor	Service Health
outages and maintenance affecting your regions	Service Health	Azure Advisor
survive a whole-region outage (storage)	GRS / GZRS	LRS / ZRS
survive a data centre (zone) outage in one region	ZRS	LRS
manage on-premises servers with Azure tools	Azure Arc	Azure Migrate
discover and assess servers for migration	Azure Migrate	Azure Arc
always the customer's responsibility	data, devices, accounts	physical security
CapEx	buying hardware up front	pay-as-you-go

The AZ-900 pathway lays this plan out step by step and ticks each step off as you go:

Days 1–3: cloud concepts, then its checkpoint quiz.
Days 4–7: Azure architecture and services, the biggest module. Take the checkpoint at the end.
Days 8–10: management and governance, then its checkpoint.
Day 11: Mock test 1, then read every explanation, especially for questions you guessed.
Day 12: a weak-spots quiz on everything you have missed so far, then Mock 2.
Day 13: Mocks 3 and 4.
Day 14: Mock 5, then the confused pairs above. Aim for 800+ on the mocks before you book.