CCAO-F · blueprint
Claude Certified Associate — Foundations publishes 21 objectives across 7 domains. This is all of them, with the weight each carries and roughly how many of the 60 questions that weight buys.
The weights are the exam's own, not ours. They matter because study time spent proportionally to interest rather than to weight is the most common way a well-prepared candidate still fails: a full mark on the lightest objective here is worth less than a single question in the heaviest.
The question counts are the weight applied to a 60-item sitting. Treat them as the shape of the exam rather than a guarantee: a given sitting varies, and an objective worth 2.4 questions will sometimes ask two and sometimes three.
14.0% of the exam · about 8 of 60 questions · 3 objectives
| Objective | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Supplying context and examples | 5.0% | 3.0 |
| Structuring a clear task prompt | 5.0% | 3.0 |
| Iterating when the output misses | 4.0% | 2.4 |
21.0% of the exam · about 13 of 60 questions · 4 objectives
| Objective | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Checking factual accuracy and grounding | 6.0% | 3.6 |
| Recognising fabrication and unsupported claims | 6.0% | 3.6 |
| Judging completeness against the ask | 5.0% | 3.0 |
| Assessing tone and audience fit | 4.0% | 2.4 |
12.0% of the exam · about 7 of 60 questions · 3 objectives
| Objective | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Selecting a model for the task | 4.0% | 2.4 |
| Knowing capability and context limits | 4.0% | 2.4 |
| Choosing the right Claude surface | 4.0% | 2.4 |
16.0% of the exam · about 10 of 60 questions · 3 objectives
| Objective | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Placing human review in the loop | 5.5% | 3.3 |
| Building reusable prompts and templates | 5.5% | 3.3 |
| Breaking work into steps Claude can do | 5.0% | 3.0 |
12.0% of the exam · about 7 of 60 questions · 3 objectives
| Objective | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Supplying files and reference material | 4.0% | 2.4 |
| Custom instructions and house style | 4.0% | 2.4 |
| Organising Projects and shared knowledge | 4.0% | 2.4 |
15.0% of the exam · about 9 of 60 questions · 3 objectives
| Objective | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Handling sensitive and personal data | 5.5% | 3.3 |
| Acceptable use and disclosure | 5.0% | 3.0 |
| Fairness, harm and representational risk | 4.5% | 2.7 |
10.0% of the exam · about 6 of 60 questions · 2 objectives
| Objective | Weight | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnosing a poor result | 5.0% | 3.0 |
| Reducing effort and rework | 5.0% | 3.0 |
Checking factual accuracy and grounding is the single heaviest objective at 6.0% — about 3.6 questions. Being weak there costs more than being weak anywhere else on this page, and it is worth knowing before you plan a revision week.
Knowing the weights is not the same as knowing where you stand against them. Our CCAO-F bank draws items in these proportions and re-estimates each objective after every sitting, so a scaled estimate accounts for what the exam actually asks rather than for what you happened to practise.