SC-500 exam format: questions, score and cost
Here is what Microsoft publishes about the SC-500 format, and the two details that change how you should prepare.
| Exam title | Implementing End-to-End Security Controls for Cloud and AI Workloads |
| Certification | Microsoft Certified: Cloud and AI Security Engineer Associate |
| Level | Intermediate (associate) |
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Passing score | 700 on a scale of 1–1000 |
| Number of questions | Not published by Microsoft |
| Languages | English only |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE, proctored |
| Price | Set per country or region; shown at booking |
| Renewal | Annually, free, on Microsoft Learn |
English only
Worth stating plainly, because it is a change. The retired AZ-500 was offered in ten languages; SC-500 is currently English only. If English is not your first language you can request an additional 30 minutes, which Microsoft offers precisely because a localised version is unavailable. Request it before booking, not on the day.
No practice assessment yet
Microsoft states the practice assessment “is not currently available” and that these usually appear “within 8 weeks of the exam being out of beta and generally available”. Combined with the retirement of AZ-500’s material, that leaves a thin preparation landscape: much of what you will find online was written for the old exam and does not cover the AI domain at all.
Prepare from the skills outline itself. It is long, and it is the most reliable document available.
The weighting is unusually flat
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Manage identity, access, and governance | 20–25% |
| Secure storage, databases, and networking | 25–30% |
| Secure compute | 20–25% |
| Manage and monitor security posture | 20–25% |
Most Microsoft exams have a dominant domain you can prioritise. SC-500 does not. Every domain is worth roughly a quarter, so a single weak area costs you about a quarter of the paper, and no amount of strength elsewhere fully compensates.
The practical consequence: plan for coverage, not depth. Finishing all four domains adequately beats mastering two.
Question types
Single and multiple choice, drag-and-drop ordering, dropdown completions, yes/no statement series, and case studies with several questions sharing one scenario. Microsoft notes the exam “may have interactive components”.
For yes/no series you generally cannot go back once answered, so read the shared scenario twice.
The passing score is scaled
700 of 1000 is not 70% correct. Scores are scaled and questions weighted differently. Target consistent 80%+ on realistic practice material rather than calculating a margin.
Preview features
Most questions cover generally available features, with commonly used preview features possible. That caveat carries weight here because the AI security surface — Entra Agent ID, Defender for AI Services, Purview DSPM for AI, AI Gateway — is new and moving.
If you fail
Retake after 24 hours; later attempts have longer waits. The score report breaks down by the four domains, which on a flat-weighted exam tells you exactly where the gap is.
Renewal
Associate level, so it expires after a year and renews through a free unproctored assessment on Microsoft Learn. Note that AZ-500’s renewal assessments were retired along with the certification on August 31, 2026 — if you held it, renewal is no longer the path forward.
Booking
Book through the Microsoft certification page, which hands you to Pearson VUE. Register with a personal Microsoft account: Microsoft warns that records tied to a work or school account are lost, and unrecoverable, if you leave that organisation.