AWS MLA-C01 exam guide: format, domains, cost, and a free practice quiz covering data preparation, model development, deployment & orchestration, and ML monitoring, maintenance & security.
The AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate (MLA-C01) validates your ability to build, deploy, operate, and secure machine learning solutions on AWS. It is hands-on and MLOps-focused, centered heavily on Amazon SageMaker across the full ML lifecycle.
It's aimed at engineers who prepare data, train and tune models, automate ML pipelines, and monitor models in production — the modern ML engineering skill set.
▶ Start the free MLA-C01 practice quiz| Certification | AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate (MLA-C01) |
|---|---|
| Exam code | MLA-C01 |
| Level | Associate |
| Format | Multiple choice, multiple response, plus new formats (ordering, matching, case study) |
| Questions | 65 questions (50 scored) |
| Duration | 170 minutes |
| Passing score | 720 / 1000 (scaled) |
| Cost (USD) | $150 |
| Validity | 3 years |
| Prerequisites | None (1+ year in ML/AI on AWS recommended) |
Exam details change over time — always confirm the current specifics on the official exam page before you book.
The official exam is organized into these domains. Our practice bank mirrors them so you can drill each area:
| Domain | Exam weight | Practice questions |
|---|---|---|
| Data Preparation for Machine Learning | 28% | 16 |
| ML Model Development | 26% | 11 |
| Deployment and Orchestration of ML Workflows | 22% | 9 |
| ML Solution Monitoring, Maintenance, and Security | 24% | 12 |
Master data preparation: S3 data lakes, AWS Glue/DataBrew, Athena, feature engineering, SageMaker Data Wrangler and Feature Store, and handling imbalance/bias.
Know model development and tuning (Autopilot, JumpStart, automatic model tuning, metrics like F1/AUC) and deployment options (real-time, serverless, batch, multi-model).
Study orchestration (SageMaker Pipelines, Model Registry, Step Functions, CI/CD) and monitoring/security (Model Monitor, drift, IAM, KMS, VPC). The free quiz below covers all four domains.
Our free MLA-C01 practice quiz has 48 scenario-based questions covering every exam domain. Each question includes the correct answer, a plain-English explanation of why it is right (and why the alternatives are wrong), and a reference to the relevant topic — so you learn as you go, not just test yourself.
▶ Practice MLA-C01 now — 48 questions, freeAIF-C01 is a foundational, conceptual AI exam; MLA-C01 is a hands-on associate exam about engineering and operating ML solutions on AWS (mostly SageMaker).
A lot. Data Wrangler, Feature Store, training/tuning, endpoints, Pipelines, Model Registry, and Model Monitor are all central.
65 questions (50 scored) in 170 minutes, including newer question types, with roughly 720/1000 to pass. Verify current details officially.
No prerequisite, but the AI Practitioner is a helpful foundation before this hands-on exam.