Exam Day Checklist

All four exams are 120 minutes, scaled 100–1000, pass 720, multiple-choice and multiple-response, delivered via Pearson VUE OnVUE or a test centre, no guessing penalty. This page is the operational runbook for the day.

The evening before

• OnVUE system test passed on the same machine and network you will use.
• Government photo ID ready; name matches Pearson VUE registration exactly.
• Quiet, private room booked; desk cleared of notes, phones, extra monitors.
• Webcam, mic, stable internet, power adapter confirmed.
• VPN / extensions that could block the proctor disabled.
• Start time and time zone double-checked.
• Current Exam Guide re-downloaded; weights unchanged.
• Sleep — no new studying.

Thirty minutes before

1. Close all applications except the OnVUE browser.
2. Launch check-in early; complete the room scan and ID capture calmly.
3. Have water in a clear container if permitted; use the restroom first.
4. Do a 60-second breathing reset — nerves cost more points than any single fact.
5. Recall your first-move heuristics (below) so they are loaded before question 1.

Time budget (120 minutes)

Exam	Items	~ Seconds/item	Reserve for review
CCAO-F	60	~110	~10 min
CCDV-F	53	~125	~10 min
CCAR-F	60	~110	~10 min
CCAR-P	63	~105	~8 min

Rule of thumb: at the halfway clock mark you should be near the halfway item. If you are behind, speed up on recall items and flag the analysis-heavy ones for the reserve.

In-exam strategy

1. Read the qualifier first — BEST, FIRST, MOST cost-effective, NOT, TWO. It changes the answer. Circle it mentally.
2. Find the binding constraint — cost, latency, compliance, reliability, irreversibility. The constraint usually decides among plausible options.
3. Eliminate distractor patterns — cross out constraint-blind, over-engineered, prompt-as-enforcement, self-report, silent-failure, recall-only, aggregate-metric, sentiment-as-complexity options.
4. For “Select TWO” — each choice must be independently correct; beware one-right-plus-one-tempting. You need both.
5. Flag and move — never burn 4 minutes on one item; flag it, answer your best guess, return in the reserve.
6. Answer everything — no blank items (no guessing penalty).
7. Trust the principle over the wording — a familiar-sounding phrase is often a distractor; match the underlying decision rule.

First-move heuristics (load these before you start)

Stem cue	First move
“How does the loop know it’s done?”	stop_reason: end_turn
“Must never / under no circumstances”	Deterministic hook / permission
“When should it escalate?”	Explicit request or beyond-capability; not sentiment/self-report
“Overall accuracy is X%”	Demand per-segment
“Confident but wrong after a doc update”	Suspect retrieval/indexing first
“Forced tool call” + Fable 5.1	400 — use auto/strict/structured output
“MOST cost-effective, latency doesn’t matter”	Batch + caching + smallest sufficient model
“Reused across apps/agents”	MCP server
“Irreversible / regulated / external”	Human-in-the-loop gate
“Are you sure?” same chat	Fresh session / different model
“Too many tools”	4–8; tool search + defer_loading
“Multi-file / architectural change” (Claude Code)	Plan mode

Distractor triage table

Pattern	Tell-tale wording	Why it’s wrong
Constraint-blind	Ignores a stated cost/latency/compliance limit	Fails the actual requirement
Over-engineered	Multi-agent where a chain suffices	Complexity without benefit
Prompt-as-enforcement	“Add a rule to the system prompt” for a hard rule	Prompts guide, not enforce
Self-report reliance	Routes on “the model’s confidence”	Unreliable signal
Silent failure	Empty result / treats truncation as done	Hides errors
Recall-only	Restates a fact without applying it	Not the decision asked for
Aggregate metric	“Overall accuracy is fine”	Masks per-segment failure
Sentiment-as-complexity	Escalate because the user is angry	Tone ≠ difficulty

If something goes wrong

• Proctor disconnect / tech issue — stay calm; the platform usually resumes and preserves your progress. Follow the proctor’s chat instructions; contact Pearson VUE support if it does not recover.
• Blanking on a topic — flag, guess, move on; do not let one item cost you five.
• Running out of time — in the last two minutes, answer every remaining item (no blanks).

After the exam

1. Note your provisional result and, if provided, the per-domain breakdown.
2. If passed — claim the Credly badge; set a renewal reminder at month 10; the credential is valid 12 months with free on-time renewal.
3. If not — read the per-domain scores; use the retake strategy (target the weakest domain, respect the 14-day minimum, verify with a timed practice exam before rebooking). Max 4 attempts per rolling year.
4. Log what surprised you while it is fresh — it sharpens your notes for a retake or the next certification in the track.

Key takeaways

• 120 min, pass 720/1000, no guessing penalty — answer every item.
• Read the qualifier (BEST/FIRST/MOST/NOT/TWO) and find the binding constraint before choosing.
• Eliminate by distractor pattern; match the underlying decision rule, not familiar wording.
• Flag-and-move; keep a review reserve; never blank an item.
• Sort logistics (OnVUE, ID, environment) the night before so exam day is calm.