Quick answer: AWS is updating the Certified Developer – Associate exam to DVA-C03. The updated exam keeps the same four high-level domains but adds modern developer expectations, including AI-assisted development, managed AI-service integration and securing AI-agent interactions.
Amazon · Coursera ·
Professional Certificate
This is the second major AWS exam transition we are tracking. If your work is closer to machine learning engineering, compare our AWS Machine Learning Engineer Associate MLA-C02 guide.
Affiliate disclosure: Course Centrals may earn a commission if you enroll through our links, at no additional cost to you.
This is the second major AWS exam transition we are tracking. If your work is closer to machine learning engineering,
compare our AWS Machine Learning Engineer Associate MLA-C02 guide.
DVA-C03 exam at a glance
| Certification | AWS Certified Developer – Associate |
| Updated exam code | DVA-C03 |
| Registration opens | October 27, 2026 |
| General availability | December 1, 2026 |
| Exam duration | 130 minutes |
| Questions | 65, including 50 scored and 15 unscored according to AWS’s September update |
| Price | US$150 |
| Passing score | 720 out of 1,000 |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test center or online proctoring |
What is changing in DVA-C03?
AWS says the developer role now includes AI-assisted development as a core competency. The updated exam is intended to validate developers who use AI-assisted tools to generate, review and optimize code, integrate managed AI services into applications and secure interactions involving AI agents.
Importantly, AWS is not turning Developer Associate into a generative-AI specialist exam. Its September certification update explicitly lists areas such as prompt engineering, RAG design, AI model selection, Amazon SageMaker AI and AI-governance framework design as out of scope.
DVA-C03 exam domains
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Development with AWS Services | 30% |
| Security | 26% |
| Testing and Deployment | 22% |
| Troubleshooting and Optimization | 22% |
The four domain weights remain unchanged. AWS says individual task statements and skills have been modernized, including consolidation in DynamoDB, security, testing, observability and optimization.
DVA-C02 vs DVA-C03: should you take the current exam or wait?
If you are already well prepared for DVA-C02, AWS recommends considering the current version before its retirement. If you want your preparation to cover newer AI-assisted development workflows and updated security practices, DVA-C03 is the more current blueprint.
There is a small date inconsistency across AWS pages at the time of writing: the September AWS Training and Certification announcement says November 30, 2026 is the last DVA-C02 testing day, while the current certification landing page displays December 1, 2026. Because retirement cutoffs matter, candidates should verify the live AWS certification page and Pearson VUE availability before booking. We will update this guide when AWS publishes the full DVA-C03 exam guide on October 27.
Who is DVA-C03 for?
AWS positions Developer Associate for developers who build, test, deploy and debug applications using AWS services. It is most relevant to cloud developers and software engineers who need to demonstrate application-development skills on AWS rather than architecture-only knowledge.
What should you study now?
1. Development with AWS services
Build comfort with developing cloud applications using AWS services, APIs, SDKs and managed services. Focus on understanding how application components work together, not just memorizing service names.
2. Security
Review authentication, authorization, encryption, secrets and secure application design. AWS says security-related skills have been consolidated and updated for the new blueprint.
3. Testing and deployment
Understand application testing, deployment patterns and CI/CD workflows. The certification continues to test whether developers can move applications reliably through development and production environments.
4. Troubleshooting and optimization
Prepare to interpret application behavior, observability signals and performance issues and to choose appropriate AWS approaches to resolve them.
5. AI-assisted development
For DVA-C03, add practical familiarity with using AI-assisted development tools responsibly and integrating managed AI capabilities into applications. Keep the focus on developer workflows because AWS explicitly excludes deeper areas such as RAG architecture and model selection.
A practical DVA-C03 preparation plan
- Use DVA-C02 fundamentals now. The four top-level domains remain the same, so core AWS developer knowledge still transfers.
- Read the DVA-C03 guide on October 27. AWS says the detailed exam guide will become available when registration opens.
- Map the changed task statements. Compare the new guide against your existing strengths.
- Practice with AWS services. Hands-on application development is more valuable than memorizing isolated facts.
- Add AI-assisted development workflows. Focus on the areas AWS says are in scope, not broad generative-AI theory.
- Use official AWS exam-prep resources. AWS Skill Builder and official practice materials should remain the source of truth for final preparation.
If you are building a broader learning plan, our job-ready Google courses and professional certificates guide offers a different route for skill building outside AWS certification exams.
Frequently asked questions
When does DVA-C03 registration open?
AWS says registration opens October 27, 2026.
When can I take DVA-C03?
General exam delivery is scheduled to begin December 1, 2026.
How much does DVA-C03 cost?
AWS lists the general-availability exam price at US$150.
Does DVA-C03 include generative AI?
It includes AI-assisted development workflows and managed AI-service integration, but AWS explicitly says topics such as prompt engineering, RAG design, model selection and SageMaker AI are out of scope.
Should I wait for DVA-C03?
If you are already prepared for DVA-C02, taking the current exam before retirement can be reasonable. If you want the updated developer blueprint and AI-assisted development coverage, waiting for DVA-C03 may make more sense.