AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate
AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate Associate
DEA-C01
A comprehensive resource guide for the AWS Data Engineer Associate exam.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| Exam Code | DEA-C01 |
| Duration | 130 minutes |
| Cost | $150 USD |
| Passing Score | 720 / 1000 |
| Questions | 65 (50 scored + 15 unscored) |
| Recommended Experience | 2–3 years data engineering, 1–2 years AWS |
| Official Page | AWS Data Engineer Associate |
Last Updated
This guide was last updated on 13 January 2026.
tl;dr
- Read the official exam guide to understand the domains
- Get one video course:
- Exam-focused: Stephane Maarek / Frank Kane on Udemy
- Free basics: AWS Skill Builder fundamentals courses
- Take the Skill Builder exam prep course
- Do one set of quality practice exams — TutorialsDojo or Stephane Maarek
- Review exam feedback from those who passed
- Take and pass the exam!
Exam Details
- Exam code: DEA-C01
- Official page: AWS Data Engineer Associate
- Exam guide: DEA-C01 Exam Guide
- Questions: 65 (50 scored + 15 unscored pilot)
- Duration: 130 minutes
- Passing score: 720 / 1000 (scaled score)
- Cost: $150 USD
- Validity: 3 years
Exam Domains
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Data Ingestion and Transformation | 34% |
| Data Store Management | 26% |
| Data Operations and Support | 22% |
| Data Security and Governance | 18% |
Scaled Score
The passing scaled score of 720 does not directly map to a percentage of correct answers. This applies to all associate-level exams (750 for Professional/Specialty).
Target Candidate
AWS recommends 2–3 years of experience in data engineering and at least 1–2 years of hands-on experience with AWS services. You should understand:
- Data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration
- Data store selection, data modeling, schema evolution, and lifecycle management
- Data pipeline operations, monitoring, and data quality
- Data security, encryption, privacy, and governance
No experience requirement
You do not strictly need 2–3 years of experience, but you do need to know all exam domains in detail. Hands-on practice with AWS free tier is highly recommended.
Video Courses
Free
AWS Skill Builder — Fundamentals of Data Analytics
| Part | Link |
|---|---|
| Part 1 | Skill Builder |
| Part 2 | Skill Builder |
Andrew Brown / FreeCodeCamp (YouTube)
A great free introduction to AWS. Watch his videos to build general AWS familiarity before diving into DEA-specific content.
Skill Builder alone is not enough
Using only the free Skill Builder courses will not be sufficient to pass. Supplement with a paid course and practice exams.
Paid
| Instructor | Description | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Stephane Maarek / Frank Kane | Frequently updated, exam-focused, recommended for most certification candidates. Best suited for preparing for the latest AWS certification exams. | courses.datacumulus.com — never pay more than $15 |
| QA Learn (Cloud Academy) | Enterprise training; good foundational material with labs. Free if you have enterprise access | QA Learn DEA course |
Which course to choose?
- Stephane Maarek / Frank Kane is the most popular and exam-focused option on Udemy
- QA Learn is excellent if you have free access — enterprise-grade content with regular updates and hands-on labs
- Adrian Cantrill has not confirmed if he will cover DEA
Additional Resources
AWS Skill Builder Microcredentials
Official AWS Skill Builder learning paths that include focused training, knowledge assessments, and digital badges. Useful for strengthening knowledge in specific AWS domains before or after certification preparation.
AWS Customer Learning Programs
Official AWS service-specific learning programs that award Credly digital badges. These programs help learners deepen knowledge of individual AWS services, products, and solution areas beyond the certification blueprint.
AWS SimuLearn Learning Plan Badges
Official AWS interactive learning plans that validate practical cloud skills using simulated hands-on scenarios. Recommended for learners who want hands-on validation alongside certification preparation.
AWS Builder Center Sandbox
Official free temporary AWS environment for hands-on learning and certification practice.
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/07/aws-builder-center-sandbox/
Exam Prep
AWS Skill Builder offers two exam prep courses that cover exam domains at a high level. Take these after completing a training course.
| Type | Link |
|---|---|
| Free (Standard) | Exam Prep Standard Course |
| Paid (Enhanced) | Exam Prep Enhanced Course |
Enhanced Course
The paid/enhanced version includes additional features and lab access. A 7-day free trial was previously available.
Practice Exams
Free
| Type | Link |
|---|---|
| AWS Official (20 questions) | Official Practice Question Set |
| TutorialsDojo Sampler (20 questions) | TutorialsDojo Sampler |
Paid
| Provider | Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| AWS Official Pretest | Official Pretest | |
| TutorialsDojo Full | TutorialsDojo DEA-C01 | |
| Neal Davis / Digital Cloud Training | 150 practice questions | Udemy |
| Stephane Maarek | 4 full practice exams (65 questions each) | courses.datacumulus.com — open in incognito for best price |
| Thomas Hass | Community contributed | Udemy |
| Paweł Krakowiak | Community contributed | Udemy |
How to score on practice exams
Aim for high 70s to 80s on practice exams before booking the real exam. Review every wrong answer thoroughly. There is no single "magic number" — focus on understanding why answers are correct.
Key Services to Know
Based on the exam guide and community feedback, focus on these services:
| Category | Services |
|---|---|
| Ingestion & Transformation | AWS Glue, Glue DataBrew, Glue Studio, Kinesis (Data Streams, Data Firehose, Data Analytics), Lambda, DMS, Step Functions |
| Storage & Data Stores | S3 (including storage classes, lifecycle policies), Redshift, DynamoDB, RDS, OpenSearch |
| Orchestration | Step Functions, EventBridge, MWAA (Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow) |
| Catalog & Governance | Lake Formation, Glue Data Catalog, IAM, KMS, CloudTrail, CloudWatch |
| Query & Analysis | Athena, Redshift Spectrum, QuickSight (basic understanding) |
| Data Quality | Deequ (via Glue), DataBrew, custom Lambda checks |
Glue is critical
AWS Glue and its ecosystem (crawlers, ETL jobs, DataBrew, Studio, Data Catalog, Lake Formation integration) are heavily tested. Make sure you understand Glue deeply.
Hands-on Practice
AWS Free Tier
The AWS Free Tier covers key DEA services: AWS Glue (1 million objects/month), S3 (5 GB), Lambda (1 million requests), and Redshift (750 hours). Build ETL pipelines, data lakes, and analytics dashboards. Set up billing alerts and monitor usage to avoid unexpected charges.
AWS Builder Center Sandbox (Official)
- Official free AWS sandbox environment
- No AWS account billing or credit card required
- Temporary AWS environment for learning and experimentation
- No risk of accidental AWS charges
- Ideal for certification practice, workshops, and learning new AWS services
- Sessions currently last up to 8 hours
- Availability depends on supported Builder Center workshops
Official announcement: https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/07/aws-builder-center-sandbox/
AWS Builder Center Sandbox — more details about the Builder Center Sandbox program.
AWS Skill Builder Labs
Skill Builder offers guided labs for data engineering services including Glue, Athena, EMR, Redshift, and Lake Formation. Labs provide temporary AWS accounts for safe experimentation.
AWS Builder Labs
Builder Labs include step-by-step environments covering Glue ETL jobs, Kinesis data streams, and Athena queries with temporary AWS accounts.
Data Engineering Services to Practice
- AWS Glue — Build crawlers, ETL jobs, Glue Studio visual pipelines, and DataBrew recipes.
- Amazon Athena — Query data lakes with standard SQL using S3 and Glue Data Catalog.
- Amazon EMR — Run Spark and Hadoop clusters for large-scale data processing.
- Amazon Redshift — Set up data warehouses, spectrum queries, and materialized views.
- Amazon Kinesis — Stream data with Data Streams, transform with Data Firehose, and analyze with Data Analytics.
- AWS Lake Formation — Set up data lakes with fine-grained access control.
Third-Party Platforms
- KodeKloud — Data engineering scenarios covering Glue and EMR lab exercises.
- Cloud Academy — Structured data engineering learning paths with hands-on labs.
- A Cloud Guru / Pluralsight — Includes data-focused AWS sandboxes. Best if you have free access through work.
Projects & Hands-on — more practice resources and comparison of platforms.
Community Advice
- Hands-on practice matters. Build data pipelines with real datasets.
- Don't memorize dumps.
- Practice exams identify weak areas; review every wrong answer.
- Read AWS documentation for unfamiliar services.
- AWS Glue and its ecosystem are heavily tested — prioritize them.
Exam Tips
- Sleep well before the exam.
- Read every question carefully.
- Eliminate wrong answers first.
- Flag difficult questions and come back to them.
FAQ
Is SAA a prerequisite for DEA? Not officially, but the Solutions Architect course material is very helpful for building foundational AWS knowledge. Some recommend going through SAA material (not necessarily taking the exam) before DEA.
Can I take DEA as my first AWS certification? This is a relatively new exam and beta testers found it quite hard. If you have zero AWS experience, consider starting with Cloud Practitioner or at least going through SAA course material first.
How long does it take to prepare? Most people report 3–4 weeks if they have some AWS/data background, or 3–4 months starting from scratch.
Is the old Data Analytics Specialty (DAS) course enough? The old DAS course was a specialty-level exam. DEA is associate-level and narrower in scope, with heavy emphasis on Glue. You should use DEA-specific material.
Can I use the 50% exam benefit voucher? Yes — if you pass any AWS exam, you can use the 50% off voucher toward DEA-C01.
Does DEA require coding? You should be comfortable with Python and SQL. Programming concepts are explicitly listed in Domain 1 (Task 1.4). Understanding pandas, PySpark, and basic scripting is helpful.
Exam Feedback
Community members who passed have shared their experiences:
- Passed DEA with 1 year of experience
- Passed DEA-C01 — no data engineering background
- Passed DEA Associate — today!
- Data Engineering certification checked and done
- Passed Data Engineer Associate
- Beta vs GA exam comparison
- Scored 930 in DEA — tier list and tips
Review exam feedback
Reading posts from those who passed is one of the best ways to gauge difficulty, identify important topics, and refine your study plan.
Summary
The recommended study plan:
- Read the official exam guide — understand all domains and task statements
- Take a video course — Stephane Maarek on Udemy or QA Learn
- Take the Skill Builder exam prep course (free version is sufficient)
- Do practice exams — TutorialsDojo + one additional set
- Review weak areas using AWS documentation
- Read exam feedback from others who passed
- Book and pass the exam
Skill Builder courses + one video course + one set of practice exams should be sufficient.