is that a candidate should expect that
the A+ exam content has been selected
and prioritized based on how likely it
is the candidate will encounter related
technology in the working world.
A candidate should also expect that
the A+ exams are mapped to the tasks
and responsibilities most commonly
associated with the job roles relevant
to A+-certified workers. This is a large
body of information to gather and
analyze, but CompTIA is a leading
expert in exactly this type of research.
With this in mind, let’s take a look
at some of the evidence suggesting
that today’s version of the A+ certifi-
cation no longer requires two separate
exams.
When two become one
As noted above, there are two
primary factors which should shape
the content of an A+ exam. The con-
tent should focus on hardware and
software which has high adoption
rates in the industry, and it should
be prioritized based on the job tasks
A+-certified professionals will most
likely encounter in the workplace.
There is also a third factor, one
based on CompTIA’s recommend-
ed audience for the A+ certification.
According to CompTIA, candidates
should have “12 months of experience
as an IT support specialist” before
tackling either of the A+ exams. This
recommended level of experience
should be considered when deciding
which topics (and at what level of
proficiency) should be included in an
A+ exam.
For this discussion, we’re going
to focus on the A+ exams released
in January. The previous generation
of A+ exams (220-901 and 220-902)
were launched in December 2015 and,
while they are still available as of
this writing, both exams will soon be
retired.
Here are some basic facts about the
new A+ exams:
Exam 202-1001 is the current
version of the A+ “hardware exam.”
This exam consists of up to 90 mul-
tiple-choice and performance-based
questions. The time limit for the exam
is 90 minutes. The knowledge do-
mains (and the percentage of exam
content dedicated to each of them) are
as follows:- Mobile Devices (14 percent)
- Networking (20 percent)
- Hardware (27 percent)
- Virtualization and Cloud
Computing (12 percent) - Hardware and Network Trouble-
shooting (27 percent)
So far so good, at least on the sur-
face. When you begin to drill down
into these knowledge domains, how-
ever, there is a significant amount of
exam content which doesn’t jibe with
the established qualifications for what
an A+ exam should contain.The Hardware and Hardware and
Network Troubleshooting domains
are particularly troubling. To be blunt,
there are large chunks of content pres-
ent which should be removed in order
to shorten this exam.
Here is just one example. One of
the topics in the Hardware knowledge
domain asks candidates to “explain
the purpose and use of various
peripheral devices,” including these
items:Where is My New Single-Exam A+?
When CompTIA re-
freshes the A+ exams, it
decides what existing exam
content still belongs, what
content should be added, and
what content should be re-
moved. These decisions have
historically been made based
on a given technology’s level
of industry adoption.