After recertifying my SA Pro in June 2025, I took a short break from certifications to enjoy a happy moment in my personal life. When I was ready to get back on track, I looked at the remaining AWS certifications I hadn’t earned. The Security Specialty exam immediately caught my attention — not only because of the importance of cloud security but also because I was yet to earn a specialty certification. The purple badge was noticeably missing from my profile!
This motivated me to take the exam, and I made it my goal for 2026. In this blog, I’ll share the resources I used and my journey to achieving the AWS Certified Security – Specialty certification.
AWS Certified Security Specialty
I began studying on and off for the Security Specialty certification in September 2025. At the time, my study pattern wasn’t well established. I spent some time finding the best course that would cover all the exam topics and ultimately chose Maarek’s course, as his courses have always helped me pass certifications. Later, I attempted the Tutorials Dojo practice tests and performed poorly, with a highest score of 75 out of four tests. The results were enough to crush my confidence, and then came the news in October that a new version of the Security Specialty exam would launch on December 2.
At that point, it felt like a race against time, and it seemed unlikely that I would be able to finish studying before December 2 to take the then-current version, SCS-C02. Since I knew I wasn’t going to take the exam before the deadline, I paused studying around November, as the material covering the new topics wasn’t yet available and it was the holiday season.
At the start of January, Maarek announced that the new material would be available later that month. That’s when I resumed studying with full focus and dedication. Due to work responsibilities and commitments at home, it wasn’t easy to study at a full stretch, but I tried to cover as much material as possible and retook the Dojo tests. This time, I scored above 80 on all of them, which gave me some confidence. Additionally, the feedback I received from some of my colleagues who had taken the test helped me decide to schedule it for February 9.
February 9 came, and I drove to the testing center only to find out that there was a Pearson issue and I couldn’t take the test at that location. I called Pearson to see if I could take the test at another center, as it was my day off and I wanted to get it done that day. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be — Pearson confirmed that all testing centers in my area had the same issue. They helped me reschedule the exam to February 12.
Between February 9 and 12, I revised my notes. On the morning of February 12, I headed to the testing center. Fortunately, there were no issues this time, and I was able to take the test. Throughout the exam, I felt that I was managing it well, having studied on and off for the past five months. Once the test was done, I went home and anxiously waited for the results.
Normally, I receive email notifications around 8:15 PM on the day of the test with my results, but that didn’t happen this time, which gave me a sinking feeling. I remained positive, and finally, the results arrived at 9:15 PM along with my Credly badge. I felt relieved, as the preparation had been going on and off for the past five months.
Resources used -
- Stephane Maarek’s AWS SCS C03 course on Udemy
- Tutorial Dojo practice tests
Here are a few things I learned after passing the AWS Security Specialty certification. These learnings are similar to what I took away from some of the other exams:
As mentioned in my previous blog, I firmly believe in overpreparing for an exam to get the desired result on exam day. However, the breadth of topics for this exam is so vast that overpreparing isn’t entirely feasible. I didn’t get time to read AWS documentation, FAQs, and whitepapers.
Pick one course and complete it thoroughly before attempting practice tests.
Practice exam questions or rewatch videos until you feel confident. Give yourself enough time to study for this exam, as cramming will not help.
Don’t worry about the difficulty level of an exam. I believe difficulty is subjective. Focus on your preparation with the right resources, and the difficulty level won’t matter on exam day.
This was my journey to achieving the AWS SCS-C03 certification. If you’re also preparing for a cloud certification, good luck and happy cloud computing!