When a certification exam is updated or retired, candidates face a narrow decision window: book the current version before it disappears or wait for the replacement. In 2026, two high-profile exams are in that zone. AWS is replacing the Machine Learning Engineer – Associate exam (MLA-C01) with MLA-C02, with the current English-language version available only through September 28, 2026. CompTIA’s Security+ SY0-701, launched in November 2023, follows a roughly three-year cycle that points to a 2026 retirement window. If you are mid-study for either exam, the deadline determines your study calendar — not the other way around.
What Exam Retirement Means
Exam retirement is not the same as losing your credential. A certification you already hold remains valid through its own renewal cycle — three years for CompTIA Security+ and three years for AWS associate-level certifications. Retirement only closes the registration window for a specific exam version. After the cut-off date, the testing provider no longer offers that version and replaces it with an updated objective set reflecting new services, tools, or threat models.
The practical consequence is that study materials, practice exams, and lab guides aligned to the retiring version lose their shelf life. A vendor typically publishes a new exam guide weeks or months before the transition, and the gap between the announcement and the final testing date is your planning runway. For a structured approach to choosing which certification to pursue in the first place, see our guide on picking the right certification for your job role.
Current Exam Version Deadlines
Here are the two most consequential transitions in 2026 for IT certification candidates. Both deadlines are set by the issuing vendor and can shift, so verify the exact date on the official certification page before booking.
| Exam | Current version | Replacement | Last day to test (current) | Key change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS ML Engineer – Associate | MLA-C01 | MLA-C02 (beta: ME1-C02) | September 28, 2026 (English) | Updated ML services and objectives |
| CompTIA Security+ | SY0-701 (V7) | New version (expected) | Estimated late 2026 (≈3 years from Nov 2023) | Exact dates not yet published |
The AWS deadline is the harder constraint. If you are preparing for the Machine Learning Engineer – Associate certification in English, the current MLA-C01 exam remains bookable through September 28, 2026, after which only MLA-C02 will be available. Registration for the updated beta opens September 1, 2026, giving candidates roughly a four-week overlap window to choose either version. For broader context on how certifications like these fit into a 2026 career trajectory, see essential IT certifications for career growth in 2026.
Take the Current or New Exam
The right choice depends on how close you are to exam-ready and how much the objective set changes. Use this decision framework:
- If you score consistently above passing on timed practice exams within four weeks of the retirement date, take the current version. Your study materials are already aligned, and waiting introduces uncertainty about new objectives.
- If you are early in your preparation — fewer than four weeks of structured study completed — wait for the updated version. You avoid the risk of studying objectives about to be removed, and the new exam guide will tell you exactly what changed.
- If the replacement is only in beta, weigh the trade-off: beta exams may be discounted and can include pretest questions that do not count toward your score, but they also mean a longer wait for results and thinner community study resources.
For the AWS Machine Learning Engineer exam specifically, the current MLA-C01 costs 150 USD, runs 130 minutes with 65 questions, and targets candidates with at least one year of hands-on experience using Amazon SageMaker and related ML engineering AWS services. If you meet that experience bar and have already built lab projects in SageMaker, the current version is within reach before the September deadline.
Build Your Exam Timeline
Treat the retirement date as an immovable milestone and work backward from it. Use this ordered procedure to lock in your schedule:
- Verify the official last-day-to-test date on the vendor’s certification page. Do not rely on third-party summaries, which may lag behind vendor updates or carry outdated figures.
- Subtract four weeks from that date. That buffer is your target booking date — the day you should already have a confirmed exam appointment.
- Subtract your total study duration from the booking date. For a 12-week study plan, count back 12 weeks from the booking target to find your start date.
- Build at least one hands-on lab per major exam domain. For AWS ML Engineer, that means data preparation, model training, deployment, and MLOps pipelines in SageMaker.
- Take a timed official practice exam two weeks before your test date. If your score is below the passing threshold, reschedule rather than risk a fail.
The passing threshold matters as much as the date. CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 requires a score of 750 on a scale of 100 to 900, with a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes. If you are within that exam’s retirement window, aim to clear 750 with a margin of at least 30 points in practice before committing to a date.
One additional consideration for existing credential holders: AWS now offers a path to extend a certification for an extra year by completing curated training and hands-on labs on AWS Skill Builder, rather than retaking the full exam. This does not affect new candidates, but it reduces renewal pressure for those who already hold an AWS certification and are deciding whether to chase a new exam or maintain an existing one.
Sources
- AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate — official exam page, AWS
- AWS Training and Certification Blog — Announcements
- CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) — official certification page, CompTIA