CKA — Kubernetes Administrator
This Is What the CKA Exam Looks Like
Summary
The CKA is a hands-on exam, and you must score 66% or more within 120 minutes to pass.
Why read this first
The most common failure in certification study is not from not knowing the content but from going in without knowing the shape of the exam. If you do not know what the passing score is, how tight the time is, or which domains have the most questions, you cannot set your preparation priorities.
Official specifications
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Format | Hands-on |
| Time limit | 120 minutes |
| Passing score | 66% |
| Volume | 15–20 tasks |
| Exam fee | $445 (includes one retake) |
| Validity | 2 years |
These values come from the candidate documents at docs.linuxfoundation.org. The certification's introduction page does not list the passing score or the number of questions, so if you prepare from that page alone, you will walk into the exam room without knowing the passing score.
Domain weights
| Domain | Weight | | |---|---:|| | Cluster Architecture, Installation and Configuration | 25% | | | Workloads and Scheduling | 15% | | | Services and Networking | 20% | | | Storage | 10% | | | Troubleshooting | 30% | |
More questions come from the domains with larger weights. Use these proportions as your basis when you allocate study time. This practice exam also distributes its questions in the same proportions.
This is where answers get decided
When you grade a practice exam, the questions you miss cluster in one pattern. You miss them not from not knowing the content but from missing which of two similar concepts the question is asking about. When one of the pairs below comes to mind as you read a question, sort it first by the criterion in the third column.
| This | That | What separates them |
|---|---|---|
| kubectl drain | cordon | If it evicts Pods that are already there, it is drain |
| etcd snapshot save | restore | After a restore, you must swap in the data directory |
| static pod | DaemonSet | If the kubelet reads it from the manifest directory, it is a static pod |
| taint | affinity | If the node pushes away, it is a taint; if the Pod is drawn, it is affinity |
| PV reclaimPolicy Delete | Retain | If it remains even after you delete the PVC, it is Retain |
This does not mean you should memorize the table. If you mark which pair each wrong question fell on, the place to restudy becomes much narrower than a domain name.
What you can consult while solving
During the exam you can open the documents below. You view them in Firefox inside the remote desktop.
kubernetes.io/docskubernetes.io/bloghelm.sh/docsgateway-api.sigs.k8s.io (CKA 전용)(CKA only)
There are three rules. Searching inside the documentation sites is allowed, but you must not click external search results. You can also view the Korean translations, but the English version is the most up to date, so it is recommended. And a Quick Reference link is given separately for each question, and that link is added to the allowed list.
Being able to view something is different from being able to find it. Rather than memorizing content, it saves time to get to know the structure of the documentation.
What you actually experience at the exam site
Many people know all the content and still lose time by panicking over the procedure.
The exam is taken with online proctoring on PSI's Bridge platform. The proctor's video verification procedure takes up to 30 minutes, during which the questions do not open and the time limit does not start. Even so, you should keep your schedule clear for the 30-minute check-in plus the exam time.
There are four things checked at check-in. Agreeing to the non-disclosure agreement, a government-issued ID that exactly matches your registered name, showing the room with your webcam, and closing unapproved software. Because of the last item, closing background programs such as Slack or cloud sync ahead of time saves you time.
There are a few conditions that are easy to get caught on when taking the exam in Korea. Your ID must be signed, so a passport is the safest. You can use only one monitor, and dual monitors are not supported. There must be nothing both on top of and under the desk, taking notes on paper is prohibited, and reading the questions aloud is not allowed either. On a company network or VPN, AWS S3 access may be blocked and you can get caught in the pre-check.
You can change your reservation only up to 24 hours before the start. And if you book and do not show up, you not only lose the exam fee but also lose your retake eligibility. Results arrive by email within 24 hours after the exam ends.
The exam fee includes one retake, and you must complete both the exam and the retake within 12 months of the original purchase date. There is no official waiting period, so you can retake right after you receive your result. Rather than postponing because you are not perfectly prepared, it is often better to take it once and see which domain is weak.
The certification is valid for 2 years. On top of that is the CARE program introduced in 2026. If you pass the CKA or CKAD, the KCNA is renewed automatically, and if you pass the CKS, the KCSA and the CKA are renewed automatically. However, you must earn the lower-level certifications first for this chain to work. If you earn the CKA first and the KCNA later, that CKA will not renew the KCNA. If you are aiming for the Golden Kubestronaut, this order decides your renewal burden for the next several years.
How to use this practice exam
The time limit is set the same as the real exam. The remaining time is shown at the top of the screen, it is submitted automatically when time runs out, and tasks you did not solve are treated as wrong. That is because the real exam also grades only what you had solved at that point.
It is important to sit and work through it in one go. If you look things up as you go, your score goes up, but that score does not predict the real exam. What you want to check is not whether you know it but whether you clear the passing score within the time limit.
After reading the explanations for the questions you missed, restudy the domain those questions belong to.