AWS is updating the Solutions Architect Professional exam. SAP-C03 opens for registration on October 27, 2026, and SAP-C02 stays available until mid November 2026. If you are preparing right now, you have one real decision to make: finish on SAP-C02, or start again against a blueprint that has not been published yet.
Short answer: if you are already studying and can sit the exam with room for a retake, take SAP-C02. If you are starting from zero today, the calendar probably makes the choice for you. Here is the reasoning, using only what AWS has actually published.
What AWS Has Confirmed
| Fact | What the official pages say |
|---|---|
| SAP-C03 registration | Opens October 27, 2026 |
| Last chance to sit SAP-C02 | Mid November 2026 |
| SAP-C03 format | 75 questions, 180 minutes, 300 USD |
| SAP-C03 delivery | Pearson VUE test center or online proctored |
| SAP-C03 languages | All currently supported languages at launch |
| SAP-C03 exam guide | Published when registration opens |
Those facts come from the SAP-C02 certification page on aws.amazon.com and the AWS Training and Certification blog announcement from September 2026.
One detail deserves care. The certification page and the announcement give final SAP-C02 dates one day apart. That is why this post says mid November rather than a specific day. If you are aiming for the very end of the window, check the certification page on the day you book, and do not plan around the last possible slot anyway, for reasons covered below.
What Is Not Published Yet
As of today there is no SAP-C03 exam guide. That means no task statements, no domain names, no domain weights, and no in-scope service list. The page that will hold the new guide does not exist yet.
Treat any article that lists SAP-C03 domains and percentages with suspicion until October 27. The four domains most people quote are SAP-C02 facts:
- Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity, 26 percent
- Design for New Solutions, 29 percent
- Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions, 25 percent
- Accelerate Workload Migration and Modernization, 20 percent
They describe the exam you can sit today. Nobody outside AWS knows yet whether SAP-C03 keeps that structure.
What the Announcement Says Is New
The announcement names headline areas rather than task statements. Read them as a direction of travel, not a syllabus:
- Generative and agentic AI, with integrations built on Amazon Bedrock and AI agent architectures
- Resilience engineering, naming AWS Fault Injection Service, AWS Resilience Hub, and AWS Application Recovery Controller
- Cloud native patterns, including serverless data pipelines and durable workflows with AWS Step Functions
- DevSecOps and observability, including pipeline vulnerability scanning and multi-account deployment pipelines
- Data and analytics, including data lakehouse architectures with AWS Lake Formation and Apache Iceberg
- Post-quantum cryptography in AWS KMS
Two observations from a trainer’s chair. First, most of this list extends skills SAP-C02 already tests. Multi-account governance, disaster recovery, hybrid networking, and migration are not going away because AI arrived. Second, the new material leans toward services that postdate the SAP-C02 guide, which is exactly why a candidate already deep into SAP-C02 preparation should not throw that work away.
The current SAP-C02 exam guide does include an Emerging Topics section on generative AI security controls. AWS states those items may appear as unscored pretest questions and do not affect your score. They are not something you need to study for a SAP-C02 pass.
The Case for Taking SAP-C02 Now
The blueprint is fixed. The SAP-C02 exam guide is published, its twenty task statements have not moved, and every study resource you have been using targets it. You know exactly what you are preparing for.
Your preparation is already sunk. If you have put in several weeks on Organizations, Transit Gateway, Direct Connect, disaster recovery strategies, and migration tooling, that knowledge maps onto SAP-C02 today. It will largely map onto SAP-C03 too, but you would be studying the new material on top of it.
The credential is the same. Both versions lead to AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional, and the certification is valid for three years from the day you pass. Nobody reading your resume in 2027 will ask which exam code you sat.
The Case for Waiting
You are starting from scratch. The official target candidate has two or more years of experience designing and implementing solutions on AWS. Even with that experience, most people need more than a few weeks to prepare for a professional exam. From the end of September, the SAP-C02 window is roughly seven weeks.
Your day job is already the new syllabus. If you spend your week designing Bedrock integrations and resilience testing, SAP-C03 may reward what you already do.
You want to study once. Waiting for the October 27 guide lets you prepare against the final blueprint from day one rather than switching halfway.
The Retake Math Most People Miss
If you fail, AWS makes you wait 14 calendar days before you can sit again. There is no limit on attempts, but the clock does not bend for an exam retirement.
Work backwards from mid November. A fail inside the final 14 days of the SAP-C02 window leaves no SAP-C02 retake at all. Your second attempt would be SAP-C03, against a guide you did not study. So if you choose SAP-C02, book your first attempt early enough that a retake still fits inside the window. Each appointment can also be rescheduled only twice, so settle the date early rather than sliding it.
A Simple Decision Rule
| Where you are today | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Several weeks into SAP-C02 study, practice scores approaching the pass line | Book SAP-C02 now, early enough to leave a retake window |
| Experienced architect, not started, can study full time | SAP-C02 is possible only if your first attempt lands at least two weeks before mid November, so a retake still fits |
| Less than two years of AWS design work, not started | Wait for the SAP-C03 guide on October 27 |
| Unsure | Take a timed sample under exam conditions tonight and let the score decide |
If You Pass SAP-C02 and Want SAP-C03 Later
Normally AWS will not let you retake an exam for two years after you pass it. The AWS Certification FAQ makes an exception for updated exams: when an exam has a new exam guide and exam series code, you are eligible to take the new version. You will also need to recertify every three years, so a SAP-C02 pass today puts your renewal well after SAP-C03 has settled in. Our SAP-C02 renewal guide covers the options.
What This Means for How You Practice
If you are going for SAP-C02, practice against SAP-C02. Every question in the Sailor.sh SAP-C02 mock exam bundle is written against the SAP-C02 exam guide (Version 1.2), and a content refresh for SAP-C03 is planned once AWS publishes the new guide. Where AWS has renamed a service since the SAP-C02 guide was written, the question keeps the name the exam prints and the explanation tells you the current documentation name, so nothing on exam day looks unfamiliar.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does SAP-C03 registration open?
October 27, 2026, according to both the SAP-C02 certification page and the AWS announcement. The SAP-C03 exam guide is due the same day.
When is the last day to take SAP-C02?
Mid November 2026. The certification page and the announcement differ by one day, so confirm the date on aws.amazon.com before you book.
Is SAP-C03 longer or more expensive?
No. AWS states SAP-C03 keeps 75 questions, 180 minutes, and a 300 USD fee, delivered through Pearson VUE at a test center or online.
Will my SAP-C02 certification still count after SAP-C03 launches?
AWS certifications are valid for three years from the date you pass. Nothing in the announcement suggests SAP-C02 holders lose their credential when the new exam launches.
Are the SAP-C03 domains the same as SAP-C02?
Unknown until the guide is published on October 27. Do not rely on any SAP-C03 domain list you see before then.
Next Steps
Find out where you stand before you pick a version. The free 20-question SAP-C02 practice test is written at full exam depth, carries a complete explanation on every item, and needs no signup. If you decide to sit SAP-C02, the SAP-C02 mock exam bundle gives you 8 timed 180-minute mock exams of 75 questions each plus that free sample, 620 unique questions in total, every exam scored on the same 100 to 1,000 scale against the 750 bar.
For the difficulty picture, read SAP-C02 exam difficulty and pass rate, and if you need a calendar, the 12-week SAP-C02 study plan can be compressed for the time you have left.