Tips for Passing ACP-600 Certification the First Time!

[Tanwa Arewa]

The ACP-600 Certification is the easiest of the Atlassian Certifications and entry level.  You must know the difference between the role of a Project Administrator and a Jira Administrator to Pass. Expect a lot of scenario questions and similar answers. Take your time to go through the questions and answers.  Sometimes the final clue is in the scenario question or answers. Don’t waste too much time on a single question if confusing.  Select your best answer or answers, mark it (for review later) and come back to it at the end, if you have enough time to go through them again. Below are a few tips that help me pass my exam.

Project Administration in Jira Server (On Demand)
Go through the Atlassian ACP-600 Prep Course “Project Administration in Jira Server (On Demand)” at least 3 (three) times before sitting the Exam.  you get the “Project Administration in Jira Server (On Demand)" once you pay for the exam. Each time I went over the course I learnt and noted down new things I didn’t notice before.

ACP-600 Exam Topics Sheet
Go through the Atlassian ACP-600 Exam Topic sheet https://www.atlassian.com/university/certification/certifications/exam-acp-600. Answers each of the points listed in the exam topics guide and use them as your revision sheet.  I went through all the points of the exam topics copied them into a word document and answered them all one by one.  I then used this as my revision during study and before I took the exam.  It was very useful and key to answering the exam questions correctly for me.

Atlassian Documentation
Go through and use the Atlassian Documentation extensively for better understanding. https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/defining-a-project-938847066.html

Additional Courseware
Go through all the Additional Courseware provided with the “Project Administration in Jira Server (On Demand)” course.  They are short 5 – 15 minutes long videos, especially the “Reports, Dashboards, & JQL” ones 11 videos in total on Reports, Dashboards, & JQL.  They were very useful prerequisite knowledge information and key to passing the reporting and JQL exam questions.  You will learn elements of queries which Fields, Operators, Values and Keywords. In addition you will learn how to search with Dates, Text, Functions, Keywords, and Operators etc.     Also go through the JQL Cheat Sheet that is provided in the resources section. This was very useful to me in passing the exam and getting high marks in reporting and JQL.

Top Secrets to Success for Project Administration in Jira Server
Go through the “Top Secrets to Success for Project Administration in Jira Server” webinar very useful for understanding the role of Project Administrators. https://www.atlassian.com/webinars/software/the-top-secrets-to-success-for-project-administration-in-jira-server

Lab Workbook and Virtual Lab
Go through the lab workbook. Do the virtual lab exercises after you have covered the above points.  You only have 24 hours access to the virtual lab so make such you use your time wisely. It is best to go through the virtual lab on a day that you don’t have much doing.

Atlassian ACP-600 Sample Exam Questions
Go through the Atlassian sample exam questions provided with the “Project Administration in Jira Server (On Demand)” at least four or five days before your exam (don’t expect the same questions to come out in the exam) to see where you are at, if you scale them you are ready for the exam, if not spend some more time going through the Administration in Jira Server (On Demand)” course, focusing on your weak areas.  You have 72 hours to reschedule the exam without losing your money hence the reason why I mentioned above to do the sample question four or five days before to give you enough time to see where you are at.

IMPORTANT
Lastly, pray for a retentive memory (very important).  On the day of the exam, as I sat through the exam going through the questions I experienced confusing answers and my mind going blank, I selected my best answer and answers, marked them (in order to review later) and moved on to other questions and at the same time I prayed to God for a “Retentive Memory”.  I did not finish the whole exam before that “Retentive Memory” came back to me. I immediately went back to the marked questions, reviewed them and selected the correct answers. Good Luck in your exams and See You at the Top!

Worst Case Scenario
In the event you fail don't give up or leave it too long as the longer you leave it the more you have to study all over again.  Book your exam retake after 7 days period Atlassian advice and scale it this time around. Good Luck in your exams and See You at the Top!

[Kat Warner]

This is a great article. I passed first time but wish i followed your advice anyway as my pass was best described by a team mate as "efficient"
 i.e. I got the lowest possible passing score.

[Tanwa Arewa]

Thank You and Well done on passing the first time! Thought I needed to share this as I didn't pass the first time and I also came across a discussion where many failed a number of times before passing.  In some cases they gave up doing the certification totally, hope this article helps others.

[Kat Warner]

Congrats on passing.

One of my favourite souvenirs form Summit 2019 is this badge:

I'm not sure why it wants to display sidewards.

[Tanwa Arewa]

Lol! Nice One 

[Olivia Wu]

We are glad you like it Kat. Greetings from Blended Perspectives and thank you for sharing! :) 

[michael sam]

• Did not pass today reports gadgets and automation was my downfall but the other areas need improved as well I took the cloud project 620 I got a 47 I thought I was ready are there any study guides out there? 

[Anne Akinbiyi]

Congrats!

[Deleted user]

Great Write Up Thank You and Congratulations 

[Anne Akinbiyi]

Thank you for sharing. Great article.

[Cat Schwartz]

Thank you so much for this information! Can you please confirm if the entire test is multiple choice or not? 

[Kat Warner]

Yes it is - as are all of the Atlassian Certification exams. This means we get our results almost instantly.

[Tanwa Arewa]

In addition it's a lot of scenario questions and similar answers

[Cat Schwartz]

Thank you, Kat and Tanwa, for your prompt replies. Appreciate the info!

[Emma Hingston Browne]

Thanks for the tips.

Is the lab essential to complete to pass? I found that the structure of the elearning was confusing - I opened the lab at the "Try it" section of the first module -- obviously couldn't get back in after and it now says my score is 0%... 

[Tanwa Arewa]

The Lab is a Virtual Jira Server instance available for 24 hours only. Its for you to practice everything you have learnt on the course. I am not sure it scores you, unless it has changed since.

[Emma Hingston Browne]

Thanks. This morning it appears to say I've completed the course, so hopefully the lack of lab access doesn't prove a problem.

[Cat Schwartz]

Emma, Totally agree with you that the structure of the elearning course is confusing. But I would say the lab is pretty critical. I have a lot of experience in JIRA at a previous employer and studied my tail off and failed the test by 6 points.  So I would double check that you clicked on the Course Resources and "Start Lab" again. Or contact customer support, but you NEED your lab time!

[Tanwa Arewa]

Yes its a good idea to check

[Cat Schwartz]

@Tanwa Arewa  Any advice/ I'm soooooo gun shy to take it again.  Need to feel like I understand what I did wrong, and I still am not clear!

[Tanwa Arewa]

@Catherine Downing-Schwartz  First of all DON'T give up., you are almost there.  I didn't pass the first time even though; I was so sure going through the exam that I will pass, there was a big smile on my face while taking it and seeing the answers, it was a done deal for me.  After clicking “Submit” the big smile was quickly wiped off my face when I saw “FAIL”.  I asked myself how that was possible; I was lost in deep thoughts. 

Anyway, I decided to encourage myself and not to give up.   After 7 days I rebooked the Exam/Course again.   This time I took my time to go over it again from start to finish and re-enforced my knowledge with Atlassian Documentation I took up to 4 weeks.  I looked at my weak areas and went through it again and again particularly JQL queries and reporting, the additional basic courses provided by Atlassian with the course were very helpful.

The thing about the multiple choice answers is that they are very similar to each other, so it’s possible to choose the wrong answers if one does not take their time to understand the question and process the answers provided.  The key is to exercise patience when going over the answers. When you retake the exam you will get another mix of questions and answers.  Process and eliminate the answers before selecting.   Finally, if they are still confusing just ask God to help you select, it worked for me suddenly the correct answers were standing out.  Best of Luck!

[Renata Melvanora]

Thanks @Tanwa Arewa ! your sharing is really informative & helpful.. For the worst case scenario, the rebooked Exam costs another USD100?

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Thanks you, @Tanwa Arewa , for taking time to share your thoughts with us. Highly appreciated!

[Tanwa Arewa]

You are Welcome

[Emma Hingston Browne]

Hello! 

Reporting back to say I passed today after my second attempt and can confirm that the labs was essential, as it highlighted some of the very granular details that tend to come up in the exams. I also re-did the 30 sample questions over and over, reading all of the feedback until I truly understood. 

Was searching but didn't find an answer - when does the certification show up on your Atlassian profile as an award? 

[Kat Warner]

Certifications don't show up on our Atlassian community profiles (yet, right @Monique vdB ?)

[Monique vdB]

That's right @Kat Warner but I'm happy to say we're working on it! It's a complicated integration but fingers crossed we can figure it out soon.

[Chad Atkinson]

I'm unable to access the links.  I get 'Invalid Parameters Specified'.  Got any ideas?

[Fahad Siddiqui]

Links are not working can someone please assist, 

[Daniel Eads]

Hey @Fahad Siddiqui , looks like the links were mangled a bit by the Community platform. They've been fixed and work now!

[fadi_shahwan]

Thank you Tee. My exam will start after 30 minutes :)

i hope that i will succeed and share my exam experience with you.

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

You´ll do great! All the best.

[fadi_shahwan]

I passed my exam with 80% :D

It was not easy and very tricky and i suggest to prepare well for it.

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Awesome - congrats! 

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Awesome - congrats! 

[Fahad Siddiqui]

Congrats Dear, can you please share if you have any sample questions related to  same course as i am trying to appear for exams.

[Kat Warner]

There are sample questions here and in the more preparation course and exam code bundle.

[Fahad Siddiqui]

Thank you...

[Tanwa Arewa]

@fadi.shahwan Excellent, Congratulations that is flying colours for an Atlassian ACP Exam.

[Rani Habash]

Thanks @Tanwa Arewa 

Can you share to me the word document that you answered them of exam topic guide ?

 your sharing is really informative & helpful.

[Alejandro Cabrera]

I would suggest you write it yourself. Remember that the act of writing things down helps you memorize better. I did the same thing and took notes as I went through the virtual class. Good luck!

[Rani Habash]

ok thanks dude for your advice i will working on it .

[Tanwa Arewa]

@Alejandro Cabrera thank for your input this is very through. It's best to jot things down yourself and it helps a lot.

[Collette Okole]

This great, what a useful piece of information. Thank you for sharing this idea, it greatly helps me

[Tanwa Arewa]

You are Welcome. Best of Luck

[Randdy Feliz]

Congrats!!

[Kristján Geir Mathiesen]

Awesome - congrats!

[Randdy Feliz]

I just got certified in JIRA Server Administration on my first try, thanks for this article.

Certificacion APC-600 

[Tanwa Arewa]

Congratulations and thank you for the feedback.  Best of luck for the future 

[Alex Koxaras _Relational_]

Nice!

[Tanwa Arewa]

Thank You

[Sam Ayres]

This is excellent information overall, and I greatly appreciate that you reference prayer in this article. This was incredibly refreshing to read, and I will definitely be praying for a "retentive memory" when I take the ACP-620 in a couple of weeks. I appreciate the encouragement! God bless!

Sam