When you pass an AWS certification exam, sometimes it can extend the life of related lesser AWS certifications. But I could not find an illustration of exactly which ones, so here’s an up-to-date diagram:
Figure: Renewal relationships between AWS certifications.
Each arrow is a ‘renews’ relation – there’s no obligation to pass lesser exams before the harder ones, but you could also follow the arrows backwards if you want to learn easier material before sitting the more difficult exams.
I have made two important simplifications to the graph:
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The ‘Advanced Networking – Specialty’ certification is being retired soon, so I’ve omitted it entirely. The last date to take that exam is 25th August 2026. But Specialty certs don’t renew anything else anyway.
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I have left out transitive relationships in order to simplify the graph – so e.g. if you pass a ‘Solutions Architect – Professional’ exam, it also renews any Cloud Practitioner certificate you might hold, even if you do not currently hold the relevant Associate certificate.
You also have the option of sitting each exam again to renew of course, and there’s a new scheme to ‘maintain’ various certs via AWS Skill Builder which can extend them by one year rather than three.