Introduction

• Among the Claude certifications, I passed the highest-tier Professional CCAR-P with 837 points
.
• For my preparation, after passing CCDV-F, I
completed two passes through Minoron's question bank
• . Important notice
:

Starting Monday, December 7, 2026, the exam content for CCAO-F, CCDV-F, and CCAR-P will be revised

(according to the Pearson VUE notice).

This is a follow-up to the previous 【Pass Experience Report】 Claude Certified Developer–Foundations.

Exam overviewExam code(Claude Certified Architect – Professional)Number of questions

Item	Content
	CCAR-P
	Positioning
	63 questions
Question format	Multiple choice (single answer) + multiple response (multiple selection) / scenario-based
Exam time	120 minutes(approximately 1.9 minutes per question)
Passing score	720 / 1000 (Scaled score—officially published value)
Exam fee	$175 USD (Partner discount not applied)
Exam delivery	Pearson VUE (test center / online proctor)
Language	English and Japanese ※ I took the exam in Japanese.
Validity period	12 months
Eligibility requirements	Employees of Claude Partner Network member organizations (company email domain required)

※ This article is based on information from the official Exam Guide **v1.0 (July 2026)**.

Study methods and study time

The basic format was the same as the previous exam (CCDV-F), andI prepared using the practice question set published by Minorun. After passing CCDV-F, I completed two passes over this question set.

• First pass: I solved all the questions and measured my correct-answer rate (I was scoring around 80% on the first pass).
• Second pass: I reviewed only the questions I had answered incorrectly.
• Since I had been scoring 80% on the first pass, I think I was probably already within the passing range at that point.

Impressions of the exam and difficulty level

• I didn't have much time to spare. Although some people had said that “you can finish in about an hour,” I used every last minute.
• The biggest reason time slipped away was reading the questions. From the somewhat unnatural, roundabout question wording, I extracted “what the issue was / what needed to be solved / what was being asked,” and then chose the “more optimal solution” from the options offering similar approaches—doing this carefully one question at a time made the time disappear before I knew it.
• There were quite a few terms unique to AI/Claude that I ordinarily didn't know. What really helped here was my experience taking CCDV-F, and I genuinely felt, “I'm glad I took CCDV-F first”.
• As for the difficulty, it is harder than CCDV-F, but easier than vendor certifications such as AWS—at least, that is how it feels. There is not the barrier or pressure that the name “Professional” might suggest.

How was the Japanese-language exam?

• I took the exam in Japanese. I could understand the meaning, but some questions were phrased somewhat stiffly or unnaturally, so there were times when I had to work carefully to figure out “what was being asked” (as mentioned above, this was one reason the exam took so long).
• That said, it was not at an unreadable level; if you read calmly, you can handle it. Taking the exam in Japanese itself was no problem.

For those taking the exam in the future (summary)

• ✅ Timing is the most important factor: The exam questions will be revised on Monday, December 7, 2026.
• ✅ You need both judgment and terminology knowledge: The focus is on architecture selection and explanation under constraints, but terms specific to AI and Claude are also tested to some extent. It is reassuring to build a foundation through exams such as CCDV-F before taking it (this helped me).
• ✅ A test center is recommended: At home with an online proctor, you cannot leave your seat until the exam ends, but at a test center, you can raise your hand and go to the restroom. At this time of year, the dry air and heating can easily make it difficult to concentrate, so I will leave that to the test center. Lol

If you use Claude in your actual work, I think it isa certification that is more approachable than its top-tier title suggests. Now, before the revision, is the ideal time to aim for it.

References

• Minorun, “Aim for the Claude Grand Slam! I took all four exams, so I will explain how to pass them” https://qiita.com/minorun365/items/59783841e48f5467594f
  
• Previous article: [Success Story] Claude Certified Developer – Foundations (CCDV-F) https://qiita.com/takeshi_Qiita/items/f8298084825898921cb4