Prepare for Data+ DA0-002 by reviewing the full analytics workflow: understanding data, acquiring and preparing it, analyzing it, communicating results, and maintaining governance. Use the objectives to find gaps. This guide includes a topic map, original counting and statistics examples, and a study checklist.
Which Data+ version should you study?
CompTIA Data+ is an early-career data analytics certification. The current version is V2, examined through code DA0-002, which launched on October 14, 2025.
The current scope covers acquiring and preparing data, basic statistical analysis, reporting and visualization, and data quality and governance. Match your course or book to DA0-002, and compare older material with the current tasks.
This guide uses CompTIA's certification page and its DA0-002 objectives document 2.0. The linked copy of that CompTIA-authored document is hosted by a training provider; use the issuer's certification page to locate current objectives.
Sources: Data+ Certification | CompTIA — Official certification page, exam details and skills sections; CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 Exam Objectives, Version 2.0 — Training-provider hosted copy of the CompTIA-authored objectives PDF, About the Exam through objective 5.4
What to expect on the exam
You face a maximum of 90 multiple-choice and performance-based questions in 90 minutes, and you need 675 on a 100–900 scale to pass. The exam is offered in English and Japanese.
The maximum of 90 is a ceiling, not a guaranteed count, and the scaled score cannot be converted into a fixed number of questions you may miss. Treat both figures as reported by CompTIA and plan time accordingly.
CompTIA recommends 18–24 months in a data analyst or similar role, including exposure to databases, analytical tools, statistics, and visualization. This describes recommended preparation, not a requirement to hold another certification or prove that experience at entry.
CompTIA estimates retirement around 2028. That is an estimated exam cycle, not a confirmed last testing date. Check the certification page before scheduling.
Sources: Data+ Certification | CompTIA — Official certification page, exam details and skills sections
What to study in each domain
Use all five domains as your coverage map, combining their weights with your own knowledge gaps.
The weights describe domain emphasis, not guaranteed question counts or a required study-time split. The detailed objectives include tasks and examples, and their lists are not exhaustive.
The activities below are suggested ways to practice. Use the relevant technical documentation when checking functions or tool behavior.
| Domain | Weight | Topics and suggested practice |
|---|---|---|
| Data Concepts and Environments | 20% | Databases, structures, types, formats, sources, storage, analysis tools, and AI concepts. Describe a small dataset and the meaning of each field. |
| Data Acquisition and Preparation | 22% | Queries, joins, filters, aggregation, integration, exploration, and cleansing. Compare row counts before and after a defined transformation. |
| Data Analysis | 24% | Statistical methods, communication, and analysis problems. Calculate a measure and explain what question it answers. |
| Visualization and Reporting | 20% | Charts, maps, tables, design, report delivery, and validation. Write the intended question and check whether a proposed report answers it. |
| Data Governance | 14% | Documentation, lineage, compliance, privacy, protection, and quality assurance. State the data-quality requirement before deciding whether a field violates it. |
Practice: what do the mean and median tell you?
Calculate the requested measure and explain its meaning before deciding whether it answers the reader's question.
Measures of central tendency and dispersion appear in the objectives. The following original arithmetic example uses a complete dataset and two specific questions; it does not establish that one statistic is always preferable.
Practice exercise
Five recorded task durations are 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, and 9.0 seconds. What is their arithmetic mean, defined here as the sum divided by five? What is their median, the middle value after sorting? Does either result mean that every task took that long?
Show answer
The mean is 2.88 seconds. The median is 1.4 seconds. Neither says that every task took that long.
The sum is 14.4 seconds, so the mean is 14.4 ÷ 5 = 2.88. The values are already sorted; the third value, 1.4, is the median. They summarize different aspects of these observations. The complete data also show variation, including the 9.0-second duration, which a single center value does not describe.
Practice: count rows, populated values, and unique values
For the T-SQL COUNT function, COUNT(*) counts rows, COUNT(Category) counts non-NULL Category values, and COUNT(DISTINCT Category) counts unique non-NULL values.
The behavior here comes from Microsoft's T-SQL reference. Data+ is vendor-neutral; this is one documented implementation used to illustrate aggregation and missing values, not a claim that the exam requires SQL Server.
The fictional table below contains all five rows under consideration, one per open ticket. NULL represents a missing database value, not the literal text "NULL". There are no joins or filters in the queries. The snippets assume that this table has already been created and populated.
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM support_tickets;
SELECT COUNT(Category) FROM support_tickets;
SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT Category) FROM support_tickets;Practice exercise
Using only the five-row support_tickets table shown above, calculate each of the three displayed queries. Which expression answers "How many open tickets are in this table?" Which answers "How many tickets have a category recorded?"
Show answer
COUNT(*) = 5; COUNT(Category) = 3; COUNT(DISTINCT Category) = 2. Use COUNT(*) for all tickets and COUNT(Category) for tickets with a category recorded.
All five rows count toward COUNT(*). The two Billing entries and one Technical entry give three non-NULL values. There are two distinct non-NULL categories: Billing and Technical. Each result is correct for its stated question. A count alone does not prove which query produced it; here the expressions and full dataset are supplied.
| TicketId | Category |
|---|---|
| 1 | Billing |
| 2 | Billing |
| 3 | NULL |
| 4 | Technical |
| 5 | NULL |
Sources: COUNT (Transact-SQL) - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn — Remarks section on COUNT(*) and GROUP BY; CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 Exam Objectives, Version 2.0 — Training-provider hosted copy of the CompTIA-authored objectives PDF, About the Exam through objective 5.4
How to make a data-quality scenario useful
State the rule a dataset must satisfy before deciding which values need correction.
The objectives include missing values, duplicates, outliers, profiling, and quality assurance. As a study activity, take a small fictional dataset and write down which fields must be present, what makes a record unique, and which values are allowed.
Then identify possible violations and the information needed to resolve them. Two rows with the same name do not, by themselves, establish that they represent the same entity. Similarly, whether a blank field is a defect depends on the field's stated requirement.
Record the proposed transformation and how you would validate its result. This exercises the governance and preparation topics without assuming that deletion, imputation, or a refresh change is always the right fix.
How performance-based questions work
Data+ uses simulation performance-based questions (PBQs): approximations of a tool or environment where you complete a realistic task rather than pick from a list.
CompTIA lists Data+ among certifications using simulation PBQs. They may restrict tool functionality. You can skip a simulation and return later, with work saved between questions; reset clears that question only.
Multiple valid solution paths may be recognized and partial credit may be available. CompTIA does not publish a fixed PBQ count or points formula for individual questions.
Try the official sample PBQs to learn the interface. They illustrate the format and are not actual exam questions. Use other practice to review the analytical reasoning behind the tasks.
Sources: Performance-Based Questions Overview | CompTIA IT Certifications — Simulation PBQ behavior and certification list; Performance-Based Questions FAQs | CompTIA Blog — PBQ navigation, reset, and partial-credit FAQs
Your preparation checklist
Review the full objectives and practice explaining what each analytical result means.
- Check that your material covers DA0-002 and map any older lessons to the current objectives.
- Identify tasks you can explain, tasks you have practiced, and gaps needing further work.
- Calculate the mean, median, and SQL counts above before reading the answers.
- For a query or report, state the dataset, filters, measure, and intended question.
- Define quality requirements before proposing data changes.
- Try official sample PBQs and timed practice; review the topics behind incorrect answers.
Sources: Data+ Certification | CompTIA — Official certification page, exam details and skills sections; COUNT (Transact-SQL) - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn — Remarks section on COUNT(*) and GROUP BY; Performance-Based Questions Overview | CompTIA IT Certifications — Simulation PBQ behavior and certification list; CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 Exam Objectives, Version 2.0 — Training-provider hosted copy of the CompTIA-authored objectives PDF, About the Exam through objective 5.4
Booking and retakes
After a first failure there is no required wait before a second attempt. Before a third or later attempt, wait at least 14 calendar days after the most recent attempt.
Each attempt normally requires payment. The standard policy does not promise free retests; any retake-assurance bundle has its own terms. After earning a certification, retaking the same exam code requires prior CompTIA consent.
Check current prices, voucher terms, and appointment instructions with CompTIA before booking.
Sources: CompTIA Certification Retake Policy | CompTIA IT Certifications — Retake waiting periods and per-attempt pricing; Data+ Certification | CompTIA — Official certification page, exam details and skills sections
Sources
Facts checked September 14, 2026 against official CompTIA pages and the DA0-002 objectives document:
- Data+ Certification | CompTIA
- COUNT (Transact-SQL) - SQL Server | Microsoft Learn
- Performance-Based Questions Overview | CompTIA IT Certifications
- Performance-Based Questions FAQs | CompTIA Blog
- CompTIA Certification Retake Policy | CompTIA IT Certifications
- CompTIA Data+ DA0-002 Exam Objectives, Version 2.0