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AWS Exam Version Changes

Every AWS certification version change we track — when registration opens, the last day to sit the outgoing exam, and when the new one goes live.

Happening now

Registration is open, the outgoing exam is in its final weeks, or the new exam has not reached general availability yet.

MLA-C01 to MLA-C02

AWS opened beta registration for MLA-C02, which widens the exam beyond classic ML engineering into generative AI: foundation models, agentic workflows and Amazon Bedrock now sit alongside SageMaker. The beta runs 170 minutes over 85 questions at $75 USD, English only. MLA-C01 is available in English until September 28, 2026, and in Korean, Japanese and Simplified Chinese until MLA-C02 general availability. AWS's announcement gives January 14, 2027 for MLA-C02 general availability; the AWS exam page now lists that date as TBD.

Registration opens
September 1, 2026
Last day for MLA-C01 (English)
September 28, 2026
MLA-C02 goes live (per AWS announcement)
January 14, 2027

MLA-C01 in Korean, Japanese and Simplified Chinese: still bookable until MLA-C02 is generally available.

MLA-C01 practice testMLA-C01 certification guideAWS source →

SAP-C02 to SAP-C03

SAP-C03 restructures all five domains and leads with cloud-native architecture design. It adds more than eleven new skills spanning generative and agentic AI design, resilience engineering, DevSecOps and post-quantum cryptography. Registration opens October 27, 2026, SAP-C02 is available until November 16, 2026, and SAP-C03 goes live the next day at $300 USD across all languages.

Registration opens
October 27, 2026
Last day for SAP-C02
November 16, 2026
SAP-C03 goes live
November 17, 2026
SAP-C02 practice testSAP-C02 certification guideAWS source →

DVA-C02 to DVA-C03

DVA-C03 introduces AI security as a new task area and threads AI-assisted development through every domain, while adding container management and Amazon Bedrock. Roughly forty existing skills are consolidated for clarity. AWS's announcement said registration opens October 27, 2026; DVA-C02 is available until November 30, 2026, and DVA-C03 is available from December 1, 2026 at $150 USD with 65 questions in 130 minutes.

Registration opens (per AWS announcement)
October 27, 2026
Last day for DVA-C02
November 30, 2026
DVA-C03 goes live
December 1, 2026
DVA-C02 practice testDVA-C02 certification guideAWS source →

Coming up

Announced by AWS, not yet in effect.

ANS-C01retiring, no replacement announced

AWS is retiring the Advanced Networking – Specialty exam (ANS-C01), and its certification page lists December 31, 2026 as the last day to sit it. No replacement exam has been announced. Certifications earned before the retirement stay active for the usual three years, but AWS will not issue new ones afterwards.

Last day for ANS-C01
December 31, 2026
ANS-C01 practice testANS-C01 certification guideAWS source →

Past launches and retirements

Every AWS certification launch, version change and retirement since 2025, newest first. Each links to the AWS page it comes from.

  1. AIB-C01 new exam, beta opens

    AWS introduced AWS Certified AI Business Strategist, a new proctored certification aimed at non-technical professionals such as line-of-business leaders, sales, consultants and program managers who evaluate and scale AI initiatives rather than build them. The scenario-based exam covers AI literacy, business-case and ROI evaluation, governance and risk, and organizational AI transformation, and requires no coding or AWS implementation background. Beta registration opened 1 September 2026 with delivery starting 29 September, in English and Japanese; candidates who pass by 15 February 2027 earn an early-adopter badge.

    AIB-C01 practice testAIB-C01 certification guideAWS source →

  2. MLS-C01retired, no replacement

    AWS retired the Machine Learning – Specialty certification (MLS-C01); the last day to sit it was March 31, 2026. Holders stay certified for three years from when they passed. AWS pointed candidates to AI Practitioner, Machine Learning Engineer – Associate, Data Engineer – Associate and the new Generative AI Developer – Professional instead.

    Last day for MLS-C01
    March 31, 2026
    AWS source →

  3. AIP-C01 leaves beta, standard exam

    AWS opened registration for the standard version of AWS Certified Generative AI Developer – Professional (AIP-C01), moving the exam out of its beta period. The refreshed exam guide adds coverage of Amazon Bedrock AgentCore alongside the existing foundation-model, RAG-architecture and responsible-AI-deployment content. The beta exam remained bookable only through 31 March 2026, after which candidates sit the standard version.

    AIP-C01 practice testAIP-C01 certification guideAWS source →

  4. SCS-C02 to SCS-C03

    AWS updated the Security – Specialty exam to SCS-C03, restructuring its domains with separate detection and incident response sections and adding coverage of generative AI and machine learning security. AWS opened registration for SCS-C03 with the announcement, and SCS-C02 was available until December 1, 2025.

    Last day for SCS-C02
    December 1, 2025
    SCS-C03 practice testSCS-C03 certification guideAWS source →

  5. AIP-C01 new exam, beta opens

    AWS announced a new professional-level certification, AWS Certified Generative AI Developer – Professional (AIP-C01), and opened registration for its beta exam. It checks that a developer can build production-ready applications on foundation models, including RAG architectures and vector databases. The beta was later replaced by the standard exam, and the last day to sit the beta was March 31, 2026.

    AIP-C01 practice testAIP-C01 certification guideAWS source →

  6. SOA-C02 to SOA-C03

    AWS renamed the SysOps Administrator – Associate certification to CloudOps Engineer – Associate and moved the exam from SOA-C02 to SOA-C03, adding containers and more multi-account, multi-Region and automation content. Registration for SOA-C03 opened September 9, 2025, the last day for SOA-C02 was September 29, 2025, and SOA-C03 was available from September 30, 2025.

    Registration opens
    September 9, 2025
    Last day for SOA-C02
    September 29, 2025
    SOA-C03 goes live
    September 30, 2025
    SOA-C03 practice testSOA-C03 certification guideAWS source →

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