AZ-305 Exam Guide: Pass Azure Solutions Architect 2026

The AZ-305 is the single exam (alongside the AZ-104 prerequisite) required to earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert credential. It tests your ability to design Azure infrastructure solutions across identity, governance, data storage, business continuity, and compute/networking. The exam was updated April 17, 2026, features 40–60 scenario-based questions over 120 minutes, costs $165 USD, and requires a passing score of 700 out of 1000. This guide covers the updated domains, study resources, and a proven 8-week plan.

What Is the AZ-305 Exam?

The AZ-305, officially titled Designing Microsoft Azure Infrastructure Solutions, is the single exam required (alongside a valid AZ-104 credential) to earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification. It tests your ability to design cloud and hybrid solutions across compute, networking, storage, monitoring, and security on the Azure platform. Unlike the administrator-level AZ-104, which focuses on hands-on implementation and day-to-day operations, AZ-305 is a design and architecture exam. You are not configuring a VM or running a CLI command. You are deciding which services to use, why, and how they fit together into a cohesive solution that meets business requirements.

The English-language version of this exam was most recently updated on April 17, 2026, according to the official Microsoft Learn exam page. Microsoft publishes a detailed skills outline that defines exactly what is measured. The exam has no scheduled retirement date, meaning it remains the active path to the expert-level architect credential for the foreseeable future.

April 2026 Exam Update Details

Microsoft periodically revises its certification exams to keep pace with new services, changing technology landscapes, and evolving industry expectations. The April 2026 update to AZ-305 brought several notable shifts in domain weighting and topic emphasis. The most significant change is that infrastructure design now carries the heaviest weight at 30–35%, up from previous iterations. This reflects Microsoft’s push toward well-architected, cost-optimized solutions that span compute, networking, and application architectures rather than individual resource configuration.

According to the official exam skills outline, the four measured domains and their current weightings are:

Design identity, governance, and monitoring solutions: 25–30%
Design data storage solutions: 20–25%
Design business continuity solutions: 15–20%
Design infrastructure solutions: 30–35%

The updated exam places heavier emphasis on Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) conditional access, Privileged Identity Management (PIM), Azure Policy initiatives, and the Well-Architected Framework pillars: cost optimization, operational excellence, performance efficiency, reliability, and security. You should review the official study guide before sitting the exam, as Microsoft warns that localized translations may lag by approximately eight weeks behind the English version.

Prerequisites and Certification Path

To earn the Azure Solutions Architect Expert certification, you must complete two steps. First, you need to hold the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate credential by passing the AZ-104 exam. Second, you must pass the AZ-305 exam. Microsoft confirms this prerequisite structure on the certification page, which states: “To become a Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert, you must earn the Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate certification.”

You can technically register for and take the AZ-305 exam before holding AZ-104, but you will not receive the Solutions Architect Expert badge until both requirements are met. If you are still working on the prerequisite, the AZ-104 exam guide covers what changed and how to prepare. Practically speaking, most successful candidates complete AZ-104 first because the knowledge builds naturally. The administrator exam gives you the hands-on familiarity with Azure services — VMs, virtual networking, storage accounts, role-based access control — that the architect exam assumes you already possess.

A common career path looks like this:

AZ-900 (Fundamentals): Optional but useful for beginners — covers cloud concepts and Azure basics.
AZ-104 (Administrator Associate): Hands-on management of Azure resources. This is the mandatory prerequisite.
AZ-305 (Solutions Architect Expert): Architecture and design decisions. The capstone of the Azure infrastructure track.

If you already hold a cloud certification from another vendor — for example, AWS Certified Solutions Architect — the AZ-305 is still required. There is no cross-vendor exemption. Plan for at least 100 study hours if you are coming directly from AZ-104, as certification guide resources recommend.

Exam Format and Structure

The AZ-305 is a 120-minute proctored exam administered through Pearson VUE. You can take it online or at a testing center. The exam contains approximately 40–60 questions, including scenario-based case studies, multiple-choice items, drag-and-drop sequencing, and build-list activities. The passing score is 700 out of 1000, and the exam fee is $165 USD in the United States, though pricing varies by country and region. These details are confirmed on Microsoft’s official exam page.

Case studies are the defining feature of this exam. You will be presented with a multi-paragraph business scenario containing technical requirements, constraints, and existing infrastructure details. You then answer a block of related questions tied to that scenario. Once you leave a case study section, you cannot return to it. This makes time management critical. A practical approach:

Budget 20–25 minutes per case study block.
Skim the scenario first, then read each question and refer back for specifics.
Flag questions you are unsure about — but note that you cannot revisit a completed case study.
Answer every question. There is no penalty for guessing on this exam.

Microsoft offers a free practice assessment through the Learn platform. Take it early in your preparation to identify weak areas, then retake it in the final week to measure improvement.

Domain Deep Dive: What to Study

Each domain maps to specific Azure services and design concepts. Here is a breakdown of what you need to master in each area:

Identity, Governance, and Monitoring (25–30%)

This domain covers Microsoft Entra ID design: tenant configuration, hybrid identity with Entra Connect, conditional access policies, role-based access control (RBAC) scope hierarchy (management group, subscription, resource group, resource), and Privileged Identity Management. For governance, study Azure Policy definitions versus initiatives, enforcement modes, compliance scanning, and Azure Blueprints. On the monitoring side, understand Azure Monitor, Log Analytics workspace design, Application Insights, diagnostic settings, and alert rule architecture. Microsoft’s exam page confirms these topics are actively assessed.

Data Storage Solutions (20–25%)

You need to know when to use each Storage Account tier (Hot, Cool, Archive), redundancy options (LRS, ZRS, GRS, RA-GRS, GZRS), and lifecycle management policies. For databases, understand Azure SQL Database versus SQL Managed Instance, DTU versus vCore purchasing models, elastic pools, geo-replication, and failover groups. Azure Cosmos DB is heavily tested: consistency levels from strong through eventual, partition key design, multi-region write configurations, and request unit (RU) capacity planning. Certification prep resources consistently flag Cosmos DB partitioning as a high-yield study area.

Business Continuity (15–20%)

This domain tests your ability to design resilient solutions. Study Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for VM replication across regions, backup strategies using Azure Backup and Recovery Services vaults, and high-availability patterns: availability sets, availability zones, and region pairs. Understand Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and how they drive technology choices. Know when to use geo-redundant storage versus zone-redundant storage versus Azure Site Recovery for a given workload.

Infrastructure Solutions (30–35%)

The heaviest-weighted domain. This covers compute design (VMs, scale sets, App Service, Azure Container Apps, Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure Functions), networking design (VNets, peering, ExpressRoute, Load Balancer versus Application Gateway versus Front Door), and migration strategies (Azure Migrate, data transfer options like Data Box and Storage Explorer). Expect scenario questions that present multiple valid options and ask you to choose the best fit for stated requirements. Review the Azure Well-Architected Framework thoroughly, as design questions frequently reference its five pillars.

Study Resources Worth Your Time

Not all study materials are created equal. Based on feedback from certified professionals and Reddit exam reports, here are the resources that consistently deliver results:

Resource	Type	Cost	Best For
Microsoft Learn AZ-305 Path	Self-paced modules	Free	Foundational knowledge, official coverage
John Savill AZ-305 Study Cram	YouTube video	Free	Condensed review before exam day
Microsoft Learn Practice Assessment	Mock exam	Free	Early-stage gap analysis
MeasureUp AZ-305 Practice Test	Official practice test	Paid (~$99)	Closest to real exam difficulty
Tutorials Dojo AZ-305	Practice questions	Paid (~$50)	Detailed answer explanations

Start with Microsoft Learn for the knowledge foundation, reinforce with John Savill’s YouTube cram video, then spend the majority of your final weeks drilling practice tests. The combination of MeasureUp (official, closest to real exam format) and Tutorials Dojo (deep explanations) is a widely endorsed pairing. For a broader comparison of practice test providers, see our ranked list of the best IT certification practice tests for 2026. Avoid exam dumps — they are unreliable, often outdated after the April 2026 update, and violate Microsoft’s exam policies.

A Proven 8-Week Study Plan

If you already hold the AZ-104 certification, an 8-week study schedule is realistic for most working professionals. Here is a structured plan based on the exam domain weightings:

Weeks 1–2: Identity, Governance, and Monitoring — Complete the Microsoft Learn modules for Entra ID, conditional access, RBAC, Azure Policy, and Azure Monitor. Build a lab environment: create a tenant, configure conditional access policies, implement a custom Azure Policy, and set up diagnostic settings on a VM.

Weeks 3–4: Data Storage Solutions — Study Storage Accounts, Azure SQL, and Cosmos DB. Spend significant lab time on Cosmos DB partitioning strategies. Create a Cosmos DB account, experiment with different consistency levels, and measure RU consumption under different partition key designs.

Week 5: Business Continuity — Implement Azure Site Recovery for a test VM. Configure backup with Recovery Services vault. Set up a SQL Database failover group across two regions. Document the RTO and RPO for each configuration.

Weeks 6–7: Infrastructure Solutions — The highest-weighted domain. Design a multi-tier application architecture: App Service for front end, Azure SQL for data, Application Gateway for traffic distribution, and Azure Front Door for global routing. Review the Well-Architected Framework and apply each pillar to your design.

Week 8: Practice Tests and Review — Take the MeasureUp practice test in full exam conditions (120 minutes, no breaks). Score it, identify weak areas, and revisit those Microsoft Learn modules. Watch John Savill’s AZ-305 cram video as a final review. Retake the free Microsoft practice assessment to confirm readiness.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Several patterns consistently trip up AZ-305 candidates:

Memorizing service features without understanding trade-offs. Knowing that Azure Front Door exists is not enough. You need to understand when Front Door is the right choice versus Application Gateway versus Traffic Manager versus a standard Load Balancer. The exam tests decision-making, not recall.

Skipping the AZ-104 foundation. If you lack hands-on Azure administration experience, the architect exam will feel like a wall. The prerequisite exists for a reason. Candidates who skip straight to AZ-305 without real Azure experience consistently report lower pass rates.

Neglecting case study practice. The case study format is unique and demands a specific reading strategy. Practice extracting requirements quickly from dense scenario text. Look for keywords: “minimize cost,” “high availability,” “least administrative effort” — these phrases signal the correct design direction.

Ignoring the Well-Architected Framework. Microsoft has aligned the AZ-305 exam with the Well-Architected Framework’s five pillars. Questions frequently frame requirements in these terms. Familiarize yourself with the framework’s assessment tool and decision trees on Microsoft Learn.

Career ROI and Salary Outlook

The AZ-305 is positioned at the expert tier, which means it carries more weight with hiring managers than associate-level credentials. According to Glassdoor (2026), the average total compensation for an Azure Architect in the United States is approximately $230,510 per year, including base salary, bonuses, and additional compensation. Base salaries typically start around $140,000 and extend well past $200,000 for senior roles in major metropolitan markets.

The credential also is valuable for those pursuing Azure security specializations alongside the architect path. If you are exploring security certifications in the Azure ecosystem, check our analysis of AZ-500 retirement and alternative security credentials. The certification also opens doors to consulting and contract work. Azure Solutions Architects are in demand across enterprises migrating workloads to Azure, managing hybrid cloud environments, and designing greenfield cloud-native solutions. The credential is particularly valuable in organizations pursuing Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework, which formalizes the governance and landing zone methodologies tested on the exam.

One consideration: Microsoft role-based and specialty certifications require annual renewal. You must pass a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn each year to maintain your expert status. This ensures your knowledge stays current but requires ongoing engagement with the platform. Plan for 4–8 hours of renewal study per year.