Below are 15 original AWS Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) practice questions, mapped to the official exam domains. Every question has the answer, why it is right, and why each other option is wrong. Answer each one before you read the explanation, and write down the domain of every question you miss. On SAA-C03, your misses usually cluster, and that cluster is your study plan.
How these questions map to the exam
The questions follow the official SAA-C03 domain weights, so the heavier domains get more questions.
| Domain | Official weight | Questions here |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Design Secure Architectures | 30% | 5 (Q1–Q5) |
| 2. Design Resilient Architectures | 26% | 4 (Q6–Q9) |
| 3. Design High-Performing Architectures | 24% | 3 (Q10–Q12) |
| 4. Design Cost-Optimized Architectures | 20% | 3 (Q13–Q15) |
The real exam has 65 questions in 130 minutes: 50 scored and 15 unscored. Questions are multiple choice or multiple response. Most are scenarios where more than one option would work, and you pick the one that best meets the stated constraint. For more on each domain, see the SAA-C03 domain breakdown.
The questions
Question 1 · Design Secure Architectures
Amazon EC2 instances in a private subnet need to read and write objects in an Amazon S3 bucket in the same Region. The traffic must not travel over the public internet, and the company wants to avoid per-GB data processing charges. What should a solutions architect do?
Answer: C
A gateway VPC endpoint for S3 routes traffic to S3 over the AWS network through a route table entry. Gateway endpoints for S3 have no additional charge.
- A is wrong because a NAT gateway sends traffic towards the public internet and charges per GB processed.
- B is wrong because it exposes the instances and sends traffic over the internet, breaking both requirements.
- D is wrong because VPC peering connects two VPCs; you cannot peer with S3.
How did you do?
Fifteen questions are a sample, not a readiness verdict. The real exam has 50 scored questions across four domains, needs a scaled 720 to pass, and one question here moves your score by almost 7%. Use these bands as a first signal only.
| Correct | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| 13–15 | A strong start. Confirm it with full-length practice exams before you book. |
| 10–12 | Close, with gaps. Your misses probably cluster in one or two domains. |
| 7–9 | You know the services but not yet the trade-offs. Study your weakest domain first. |
| 0–6 | Build up core services and architecture patterns, then come back and retest. |
Look at the domains you wrote down. Your weakest domain is where your next study hour should go. Readiness means steady results in every domain across many questions, not one good run of 15. For how to read practice scores, see SAA-C03 practice exams and readiness scores and Am I ready for SAA-C03?.
How StudyTech AI gets you exam-ready
StudyTech AI is a personalised AWS and AI certification prep platform. It finds your knowledge gaps, builds your practice around your skills and gaps, turns your mistakes into flashcards, scores your readiness for every exam domain, and tells you when you are ready to take your exam.
- Take a free diagnostic. It maps your strengths and weaknesses across all four SAA-C03 domains.
- Study your weakest domain first. Each focused lesson ends with a quiz straight away, so you practise what you just learned.
- Wrong answers become flashcards. You review your own mistakes, not a generic deck.
- Track your progress in real time. Your dashboard shows each domain, and mock exams are personalised to your weak areas.
- Book when your readiness score says so. You see when you are ready, rather than guessing.
There is also a community inside StudyTech AI where learners help each other with questions and study plans. Plans are $29 a month or $297 a year.
Take the free SAA-C03 practice exam or start a free assessment on StudyTech AI. More on the exam: the Solutions Architect Associate certification page. The video below covers how to prepare.
Practising for a different AWS exam? See free practice questions for 10 AWS certifications.
Verified 7 November 2026 against the official AWS exam guide.