The short version
DVA-C03 is the new version of AWS’s Developer – Associate exam. It tests whether you can build, secure, deploy, and debug applications on AWS: Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, messaging, IAM, KMS, CI/CD, and observability. Delivery starts December 1, 2026. AWS’s sources differ on when registration opens: the DVA-C03 exam guide, which leads, says December 1, 2026, while an AWS blog from September 2026 said October 27, 2026. AWS published the exam guide on October 27, 2026, and this guide follows it, with the September 2026 announcement and the DVA-C02 exam guide for comparison.
What the exam is
The credential is called AWS Certified Developer – Associate. AWS aims it at people in IT or cloud developer roles who build and maintain applications on AWS. It is an associate-level exam, so it is a step up from the fundamentals tier. It is also a hands-on-flavored exam. Most questions describe a small application problem and ask which service, setting, API call, or code approach fixes it.
Think of the typical question as a short bug report. A function times out, a message is processed twice, a deployment needs to shift traffic slowly, or a secret ends up in a log. You pick the answer that solves that exact problem with the least extra work.
Who it is for
AWS recommends at least one year of hands-on experience developing applications with AWS services. It also assumes you can write code in at least one high-level language and understand the application lifecycle. If you have no IT background at all, AWS suggests starting with Cloud Practitioner. The prerequisites page has a self-check.
Format at a glance
| Item | What AWS says |
|---|---|
| Exam code | DVA-C03 (replaces DVA-C02) |
| Level | Associate |
| Time | 130 minutes |
| Questions | 65: 50 scored, 15 unscored |
| Question types | Multiple choice and multiple response |
| Passing score | 720 on a scale of 100 to 1,000 |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test center or online proctored |
| Languages | English, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Simplified Chinese, Spanish (Latin America) |
| Validity | 3 years |
The exam format page explains scoring, retakes, and exam-day rules.
Key dates
- Registration for DVA-C03 opens: December 1, 2026 according to the DVA-C03 exam guide, which leads. An AWS blog from September 2026 said October 27, 2026. As of October 27, 2026, AWS’s certification page still showed only DVA-C02.
- DVA-C03 delivery begins: December 1, 2026.
- Last day to take DVA-C02: November 30, 2026 (per the DVA-C03 exam guide).
If you already hold DVA-C02, AWS says your credential stays active through its original expiration date. If you are mid-preparation, read the study plan for how to choose between the two versions.
The four domains and their weightings
The DVA-C03 exam guide lists these domains and weightings.
| Domain | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Development with AWS Services | 30% |
| Security | 26% |
| Testing and Deployment | 22% |
| Troubleshooting and Optimization | 22% |
Development with AWS Services
Application code, Lambda, and data stores. Expect APIs and SDK calls, messaging and event-driven patterns, streaming data, DynamoDB, and caching.
Security
Authentication and authorization (Cognito, IAM roles), encryption with KMS, secrets handling, and a new task on securing AI services and agents.
Testing and Deployment
Packaging, infrastructure as code with AWS SAM and CloudFormation, test events, environments, and CI/CD with deployment strategies and rollbacks.
Troubleshooting and Optimization
Logs, metrics, traces, custom metrics, root cause analysis, and tuning for performance, concurrency, and cost.
What changed from DVA-C02
AWS names these changes:
- AI-assisted development now appears across all domains, for example code generation and review, test automation, and troubleshooting suggestions.
- A new security task covers AI security: access management for AI services, data privacy controls, content filtering and prompt-injection protection, AI agent interactions, and sensitive content in logs.
- Container topics were added: building images with Amazon ECR and deploying with Amazon ECS, Amazon EKS, and AWS Fargate.
- New in-scope services include Amazon Bedrock, Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, Amazon Quick, Kiro, Amazon Data Firehose, and AWS PrivateLink.
- Several skill areas were merged, including DynamoDB, encryption, testing, observability, and optimization.
- Prompt engineering, RAG design, AI model selection, Amazon SageMaker AI, and AI governance framework design are out of scope.
Official source
For the vendor’s own page, see the AWS Developer – Associate page. It is the final authority if anything here differs.
More guides for DVA-C03
- DVA-C03 Sample Questions With Answers
- Is the DVA-C03 Exam Hard?
- DVA-C03 Renewal and Retakes Explained
- Is DVA-C03 Worth It? An Honest Look
- DVA-C03 Cheat Sheet: Key Facts to Review
- DVA-C03 vs SAP-C03: Which AWS Exam First?
Next step
Read the domains explained page to see where your time should go. When you want to test yourself, our DVA-C03 practice tests offer five original practice sets built around these four domains.
Frequently asked questions
Is DVA-C03 the same as DVA-C02?
No. It keeps the same core developer skills but adds AI-assisted development, an AI security task, container topics, and new services. The weightings also differ from DVA-C02, which AWS’s current guide lists as 32, 26, 24, and 18 percent.
How long is the certification valid?
Three years. You can recertify by passing the latest version of the exam, or by earning AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional.
Can I take DVA-C03 today?
Delivery begins December 1, 2026. As of October 27, 2026, AWS’s sources differ on registration: the exam guide says registration opens December 1, 2026 and delivery begins December 1, 2026; a September 2026 AWS blog said registration would open October 27, 2026. Check the AWS page for the current date.