Beta Exams

(80% + 25% Discount Voucher)

Every once in a while Microsoft creates a new exam either for a new certification or to update existing ones and they need to test them out before they release them into General Availability.

Because of this there are incentives for exam beta testers. The first and most important one is that Microsoft offers 80% off for first 300 people who order the exam. This discount is on first-come basis and the voucher code is shared publicly on the Microsoft Learn Blog.

There is also an option to be invited if you are part of the Subject Matter Expert database. The process is not simple but worth it if you want the closed-off beta vouchers. These are the same 80% off beta vouchers for 300 people, first-come basis but the benefit is that the code is not shared publicly. Based on your preferences you may be also served some other engagements but I haven’t experienced anything worthy of mentioning.

Keep in mind that you can generally only use this code to take the exam within 3-4 weeks from the beta launch.

After you take the exam you will also get 25% off voucher code for any exam. While this voucher can be combined with the ESI voucher, you are only allowed to use one voucher per exam order.

Recently there has also been a situation when the beta has been a complicated and took longer than usual. Because of this, early beta exam takers were given a 100% off exam voucher as a compensation. This isn’t something that will probably happen again but everything is possible.

While taking exams in beta can be great because of the incentives provided, it is also important to keep in mind that beta exams can take a long time to be scored. For the XX-102 exams it was over 4 months. During this time you don’t know your score, can’t schedule the exam again and there is no way to expedite this process. So if you need the certification quickly, this is not the right way. You should also avoid beta exams if you don’t have experience using the tools and products. Besides the study guide containing what the exam is about, there are usually next to zero materials to prepare for the exam so you will have to do the preparation all by yourself.