Correction: Renewing AWS Certifications: What Changes Between Exam Versions
Corrected by Melik Can Sariyer · Software Engineer and Linux OS Developer
Melik Can Sariyer found something wrong, outdated, or unsupported on this page and proposed a fix. The publisher accepted the correction.
- Role
- Correction
- Publisher
- Pass4Sure
- Topic
- Aws Certifications
- Status
- Accepted
- Date
- 11 July 2026
The exact change
"The exam knows if you've been using AWS or not. I've reviewed resumes where someone certified at SAA-C02 in 2020, didn't use AWS for two years, and passed SAA-C03 renewal on their first attempt after four weeks of study. I've also reviewed candidates who did the same thing and needed three attempts..." -- Stephane Maarek, AWS instructor and author of multiple top-rated AWS certification courses on Udemy / Community posts on r/AWSCertifications from late 2021 through 2022 consistently reported... / Thread titles from November-December 2021 included "SOA-C02 lab section is no joke," "Failed SOA-C02 -- the labs destroyed me," and "Everything you need to know about the SOA-C02 exam labs."
The exam knows if you've been using AWS or not. Candidates who certified, went two years without hands-on AWS work, and then renewed have reported passing on the first attempt after a few weeks of study, while others in the same situation needed multiple attempts... / Community posts on r/AWSCertifications consistently reported... / The community response: r/AWSCertifications tracked this change in real time, with threads cataloguing specific lab tasks and preparation strategies as candidates encountered the new format.
Suggested change
De-attributed the role-mismatched quote to plain prose and softened the fabricated-specificity Reddit citation.
Why this is better
Applied the previously-described fix to the live article: de-attributed a quote falsely attributed to Stephane Maarek (real AWS instructor, but the 'reviewed resumes' hiring-manager framing was inconsistent with his actual profession as a course author) to plain prose, and softened fabricated-specificity Reddit thread titles and dates to a general community-sentiment statement.
How this record is verified
- The contribution is tied to a real, identified contributor, not an anonymous byline.
- It counts only because the publisher, Pass4Sure, accepted it. Self-claimed work earns nothing.
- It is recorded against a specific page and cannot be bought or edited after the fact.