Claude Academy is Anthropic's free course site at academy.claude.com. As of 7 November 2026 it lists 29 courses, and 25 of them award a free completion badge you can add to LinkedIn. You need only a free Claude account. A badge is not a Claude certification, but the right courses are a solid base for one.
I went through every course page in the official catalogue on 7 November 2026. The lists, lesson counts, lengths and badge status below come straight from those pages and the Claude Academy FAQ. Where I add my own view, such as which course helps with which exam, I say so.
What is Claude Academy?
Claude Academy is Anthropic's home for learning: structured courses and tutorials on AI and Claude, free to anyone.
It went live on 20 August 2026 at academy.claude.com and replaces the old Anthropic Academy on Skilljar (anthropic.skilljar.com). The Academy FAQ says the Skilljar site closes in early December 2026. If you earned certificates there, sign in to Claude Academy with a Claude account that uses the same email and import your history. Your old certificates come across as completion badges with their original dates.
The separate partner training site, anthropic-partners.skilljar.com, is not affected. That is where Claude Partner Network companies find certification prep.
See the study system in action
How StudyTech AI works
Watch how your answers become a focused daily plan, targeted practice and flashcards. See how StudyTech AI tracks your progress before you decide when to book.
Ready to explore? Visit StudyTech AI to see supported certifications and choose your next step.
Explore StudyTech AIIs Claude Academy free, and do you need an account?
Yes, it is free, and you need only a free Claude account to earn badges.
From the official FAQ:
- You can browse the whole catalogue without signing in.
- Signing in with a free Claude account saves your progress and lets you earn badges.
- You do not need a paid plan or a work account. A personal Claude account works.
One catch: some features covered in a course need a paid Claude plan to try hands-on. Claude 101, for example, notes that Cowork and Research need Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise, and Enterprise Search needs Team or Enterprise. You can still finish the course and earn the badge.
The full list of Claude Academy courses
As of 7 November 2026 the catalogue lists 29 courses in four tracks. Lengths are Anthropic's estimates from each course page.
Start your journey (5 courses)
| Course | Who it is for | What it covers | Badge | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude 101 | Anyone starting with Claude at work | First conversation, prompting, projects, artifacts, skills, Connectors, Research | Yes | 13 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hr |
| Claude Code 101 | Developers new to Claude Code | What Claude Code is, how it works, core workflows | Yes | 12 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hr |
| Introduction to Claude Cowork | Knowledge workers | Handing multi-step work to Claude in Cowork, workspaces, plugins | Yes | 14 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hr |
| Introduction to Claude Tag | Teams using Claude in Slack | Tagging Claude in channels, handing it work, correcting it | Yes | 11 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hr |
| Claude Platform 101 | Developers new to the Claude API | Building on the Claude Platform from the ground up | Yes | 13 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hr |
Learn the products (7 courses)
| Course | Who it is for | What it covers | Badge | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Code in action | Developers already using Claude Code | Long, hands-off sessions: steer, configure, automate, verify | Yes | 9 lessons, 1 quiz, 1 hr |
| Introduction to Model Context Protocol | Developers | Building MCP servers and clients in Python: tools, resources, prompts | Yes | 10 lessons, 1 quiz, 1 hr |
| Model Context Protocol: Advanced topics | Developers who know MCP basics | Sampling, notifications and roots | Yes | 11 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hr |
| Introduction to subagents | Claude Code users | Splitting work across subagents and designing them well | No | 4 lessons, 45 min |
| Introduction to agent skills | Claude Code users | Building, configuring and sharing skills | No | 6 lessons, 1 hr |
| The AI-native SDLC playbook | Engineering, platform and security leads | Twelve plays for using Claude across the software lifecycle | No | 14 lessons, 1 hr |
| Deploying Claude Enterprise with confidence | Admins planning a rollout | Five rollout decisions: structure and identity, access, governance, spend, visibility | Yes | 14 lessons, 1 quiz, 2.5 hr |
Become AI fluent (12 courses)
| Course | Who it is for | What it covers | Badge | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI Fluency: Framework and foundations | Anyone | The 4D framework: Delegation, Description, Discernment, Diligence | Yes | 14 lessons, 1 quiz, 4 hr |
| AI capabilities and limitations | Anyone | What language models can and cannot do | Yes | 13 lessons, 1 quiz, 3.5 hr |
| Building effective human-agent teams (beta) | Team leads | Moving from single-player to multiplayer AI | Yes | 5 lessons, 1 quiz, 45 min |
| AI Fluency for builders | People who ship products | AI fluency from problem to shipped solution | Yes | 9 lessons, 1 quiz, 3 hr |
| AI Fluency for creative work | Creative professionals | Deliberate AI use in creative practice | Yes | 8 lessons, 1 quiz, 5 hr |
| AI Fluency for educators | Faculty and instructional designers | The 4D framework in course design and teaching | Yes | 4 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hr |
| AI Fluency for pK–12 educators | School teachers (with Teach For America) | Practical AI fluency for pK–12 | Yes | 10 lessons, 1 quiz, 3 hr |
| AI Fluency for pK-12 Train the Trainer | pK–12 staff who train colleagues | A ready-to-run workshop kit | No | 4 lessons, 45 min |
| Teaching AI Fluency (listed as "For facilitators") | Faculty teaching AI fluency | Teaching and assessing the 4D competencies | Yes | 7 lessons, 1 quiz, 4.5 hr |
| AI Fluency for nonprofits | Nonprofit staff | Research, writing, data and adoption for nonprofits | Yes | 9 lessons, 1 quiz, 4 hr |
| AI Fluency for small businesses | Small business owners and staff | Everyday business tasks with the 4D framework | Yes | 8 lessons, 1 quiz, 3.5 hr |
| AI Fluency for students | Students | Learning, career planning and responsible AI use | Yes | 5 lessons, 1 quiz, 3 hr |
Build with the API (5 courses)
| Course | Who it is for | What it covers | Badge | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building with the Claude API | Developers | Prompting, tool use, RAG, agents, MCP, production patterns | Yes | 67 lessons, 8 quizzes, 9 hr |
| Tool use with the Messages API | Developers whose tool use already works | Making tool use reliable, faster and cheaper; Anthropic's built-in tools | Yes | 9 lessons, 1 quiz, 1.5 hr |
| Introduction to evals | Developers with a working prompt | Building a small eval to pick a model and fix prompts | Yes | 4 lessons, 1 quiz, 1 hr |
| Claude with Amazon Bedrock | Developers on AWS | The Claude API, tool use, RAG and agents through Bedrock | Yes | 65 lessons, 8 quizzes, 8 hr |
| Claude on Google Cloud | Developers on Google Cloud | Claude through Google Cloud: setup, tool use, RAG, agents | Yes | 66 lessons, 9 quizzes, 8.5 hr |
The "who it is for" column is my plain-English reading of each course page. Claude Academy does not label courses beginner or advanced. Introduction to evals and Tool use with the Messages API both suggest taking Claude Platform 101 first if you are new to the API.
How do Claude Academy completion badges work?
You earn a badge by passing every quiz in the course, not by finishing the lessons.
The official FAQ sets out the rules:
- How you earn it: pass every lesson quiz, plus the final assessment where there is one. The badge is issued as soon as you pass the last one.
- Retakes: unlimited, with no lockout. You only retake the quiz you missed.
- Expiry: badges do not expire. They record the course as it was when you took it.
- Sharing: open the badge on Your learning and choose Add to LinkedIn or Download PDF. Each badge also has a public verification link anyone can check.
- Name: the badge uses your Claude account name, and you can edit it without breaking the verification link.
Four courses have no badge: Introduction to subagents, Introduction to agent skills, The AI-native SDLC playbook and AI Fluency for pK-12 Train the Trainer. They are still worth taking. You just have nothing to post afterwards.
Is a Claude Academy badge the same as a Claude certification?
No. A completion badge shows you finished a free course. A Claude certification means you passed a proctored exam.
Anthropic's FAQ is direct about this. The certification exams are a separate paid programme: Pearson VUE delivers the exams and Credly issues the credential. They are open only to companies in the Claude Partner Network, and you book with a company email on a recognised partner domain.
| Claude Academy badge | Claude certification | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $99 to $175 per attempt, before partner discounts |
| Who can get it | Anyone with a free Claude account | Claude Partner Network employees |
| How you earn it | Pass the course quizzes, unlimited retakes | Pass a proctored Pearson VUE exam |
| Issued by | Claude Academy | Credly |
| Expiry | Never | 12 months |
There are four certifications: Associate – Foundations, Developer – Foundations, Architect – Foundations and Architect – Professional. For the full picture, read every Claude certification explained. If you do not have a partner email, read can you get a Claude certification without a company email?
Which Claude Academy courses help with each Claude exam?
The courses teach the topics. The exams test them against weighted domains, so pick courses that match your exam's biggest domains.
This mapping is my analysis, not Anthropic's. I have matched course content to the domain weights in each official exam guide.
| Exam | Most useful Claude Academy courses | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Certified Associate – Foundations | Claude 101, AI Fluency: Framework and foundations, AI capabilities and limitations, Introduction to Claude Cowork | Output evaluation is the biggest domain at 21%. AI Fluency and capabilities and limitations teach you to check Claude's work and know where it fails. |
| Claude Certified Developer – Foundations | Claude Platform 101, Building with the Claude API, Tool use with the Messages API, Introduction to Model Context Protocol, Introduction to evals | Applications and Integration is 33.1% of the exam. The API courses cover it most directly; MCP covers the Tools and MCPs domain. |
| Claude Certified Architect – Foundations | Claude Code in action, Introduction to subagents, Introduction to agent skills, Model Context Protocol: Advanced topics, Building with the Claude API | Agentic architecture (27%), Claude Code configuration (20%) and tool design and MCP (18%) are the big domains. |
| Claude Certified Architect – Professional | Deploying Claude Enterprise with confidence, The AI-native SDLC playbook, Introduction to evals, Claude with Amazon Bedrock or Claude on Google Cloud | Integration (19%), solution design (17%), evaluation (16%) and governance (14%) reward enterprise rollout and production knowledge. |
No course covers an exam end to end. The exams also test judgement in scenarios, which a course quiz does not. For each exam's domains in detail, see the Claude Certified Developer exam guide, and for a full study plan, how to prepare for a Claude certification exam.
Which Claude Academy course should you take first?
Start with Claude 101 if you use Claude at work, or Claude Platform 101 if you build with the API.
- Non-technical, using Claude daily: Claude 101, then AI Fluency: Framework and foundations.
- Developer: Claude Platform 101, then Building with the Claude API, then Tool use with the Messages API.
- Already using Claude Code: Claude Code in action, then Introduction to subagents and Introduction to agent skills.
- On AWS: Claude with Amazon Bedrock covers the same ground as Building with the Claude API, through Bedrock.
- Rolling Claude out across a company: Deploying Claude Enterprise with confidence.
- Teacher or student: the AI Fluency course for your audience.
Preparing for a Claude exam with StudyTech AI
Claude Academy teaches you the material. StudyTech AI tests you against the exam domains and tells you when you are ready to book.
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.
StudyTech AI has prep paths for all four Claude exams:
- A free assessment that scores you by exam domain
- Your weakest domain first, so study time goes where it matters
- Wrong answers become flashcards automatically
- A readiness score by domain
- Personalised mock exams aimed at your gaps
Pricing: $29 a month or $297 a year.
StudyTech AI does not register anyone for an exam. You still need a Claude Partner Network company email to book.
Start a free Claude assessment on StudyTech AI
Verified 7 November 2026 against the official Claude Academy course catalogue, every individual course page and the Claude Academy FAQ. Anthropic adds and updates courses, so check academy.claude.com/courses for the current list.