CCA-F vs CCAR-F: What the Claude Certification Exam Codes Mean

The four official Claude exam codes

Pearson lists four Claude exam codes: CCAO-F (Associate Foundations), CCAR-F (Architect Foundations), CCAR-P (Architect Professional), and CCDV-F (Developer Foundations). CCA-F is a common search alias for CCAR-F only — not a separate product. List fees: CCAR-F at $125; CCAR-P at $175; CCAO-F at $99; CCDV-F at $125.

Codes appear in Partner Academy checkout, Pearson scheduling, confirmation emails, and Credly badge metadata. Marketing titles are easier to read, but registration uses the alphanumeric code. Mixing them up means the wrong seat or the wrong blueprint.

This page maps each official code to fee, format, and audience using live certification metadata on this site (Partner Academy catalogue prices and exam guides, Version 1.0, Effective July 2026). The comparison table below stays in sync with that same source.

Is CCA-F the same as CCAR-F?

CCA-F, CCAF, and “cca f” almost always mean Architect Foundations. The official Pearson and Partner Academy code is CCAR-F. One credential, one fee, one domain blueprint — not two exams. Recruiters who write “CCA-F required” mean the same seat as CCAR-F on Pearson.

Live metadata for Claude Certified Architect – Foundations: official CCAR-F, colloquial CCA-F, $125, 60 items, 120 minutes, pass score 720/1000, 12-month validity, 5 domains.

Use CCA-F in search and study notes if you want. Use CCAR-F in registration, expense memos, and badge checks. CCAO-F (Associate) differs by one letter from CCA-F — slow down when copying into a form.

How to read the code pattern

Prefixes mark the role: CCAO = Associate, CCAR = Architect, CCDV = Developer. Suffixes mark the level: -F = Foundations, -P = Professional. Under that scheme, CCAR-P is Architect Professional — there is no official CCA-P, CCAO-P, or CCDV-P in the current lineup.

• CCAO-F — business and workflow users of Claude (lowest list fee).

• CCAR-F (CCA-F) — architects designing agentic apps, Claude Code workflows, tools, and MCP.

• CCDV-F — engineers shipping production Claude API apps, agents, and evals.

• CCAR-P — mid/senior architects covering design, integration, evaluation, and governance.

If a third-party page invents a fifth code, treat it as unofficial until Pearson or Partner Academy lists it. Internal LMS nicknames (for example “ARCH-F”) will not appear in Pearson scheduling — keep a mapping column to the official string.

Each code at a glance

Pick by role, not by which acronym you saw first on social media. Fees and item counts differ even when two exams share a price tier. Use the live table on this page for a quick scan; open each hub for full domain weights and spokes.

CCAO-F — Claude Certified Associate – Foundations: $99, 60 items, 120 min, 7 domains. Intended for professionals who use Claude as a productivity tool and build Claude Projects in day-to-day roles across operations, marketing, project management, education, and communications. Candidates generally have limited to moderate technical expertise, positioned between casual AI prompt users and technical AI practitioners — able to translate business objectives into effective AI interactions, select appropriate tools and features, create structured prompts, critically evaluate AI-generated content, adapt outputs for different audiences, and recognize when human expertise, validation, or escalation to a Claude Architect or Developer is required. Recommended: regular hands-on Claude experience in a professional setting; not intended for software developers who build against APIs or design agentic systems.

CCDV-F — Claude Certified Developer – Foundations: $125, 53 items, 120 min, 8 domains. Intended for technical professionals who build, integrate, and ship production-grade AI solutions using LLMs, particularly Claude — primarily AI/ML engineers, technical leads, and senior software engineers with one to five years of software engineering experience and at least six months hands-on with Claude or comparable LLM systems. Candidates build agents and workflows using the Claude Agent SDK, integrate Claude through the API and client SDKs, operate Claude Code for codebase modernization, write effective prompts and apply context engineering, design and run evals, and build custom tools and MCP servers. Proficient in Python and/or TypeScript, fluent with REST APIs and CLI tools. Not intended for non-technical or casual Claude users, or roles limited to prompt writing without broader application-development responsibility.

CCAR-F / CCA-F — Claude Certified Architect – Foundations: $125, 60 items, 120 min, 5 domains. The ideal candidate is a solution architect who designs and implements production applications with Claude, with hands-on experience building agentic applications using the Claude Agent SDK (multi-agent orchestration, subagent delegation, tool integration, lifecycle hooks), configuring Claude Code for team workflows (CLAUDE.md, Agent Skills, MCP server integrations, plan mode), designing MCP tool/resource interfaces, engineering prompts for reliable structured output, managing context windows across long documents and multi-agent handoffs, integrating Claude into CI/CD pipelines, and making sound escalation/reliability decisions. Typically 6+ months of practical experience building with Claude APIs, Agent SDK, Claude Code, and MCP.

CCAR-P — Claude Certified Architect – Professional: $175, 63 items, 120 min, 7 domains. Intended for mid- to senior-level technical professionals who design, build, and deliver production-grade AI solutions using large language models, particularly Claude — primarily solution architects, AI/ML engineers, technical leads, and senior software engineers who translate business problems into scalable AI-driven solutions, including model selection, prompt engineering, orchestration of tools and agents, context management, and system safety, compliance, and governance. Recommended experience: a foundation in software engineering best practices, 3+ years in systems architecture or platform engineering, 6+ months hands-on with Claude or comparable LLM systems in production, and experience delivering end-to-end systems from discovery through deployment. Not intended for entry-level developers, casual Claude users, or purely non-technical roles. No mandatory prerequisites.

Registration: Partner Network, Pearson, Credly

Proctored Claude exams are for people at organisations in the Claude Partner Network. You need a partner company-domain email — personal addresses will not work. Non-partners can take public Claude Academy courses and earn completion badges; those are not the Pearson / Credly certifications.

Shared path: review the exam on Anthropic Partner Academy → download the guide and policies → register and pay (checkout may show a partner-tier price) → create your Pearson account from the confirmation → schedule online proctoring or a test centre. Badges issue via Credly after you pass.

Anthropic describes delivery as Pearson Professional Assessments; portals and many FAQs still say Pearson VUE. Same channel, same four codes. If your lead said “CCA-F,” select CCAR-F before checkout.

Cancel/reschedule timing conflicts across official sources (Pearson FAQ and Partner policies: 48 hours; at least one exam guide: 24 hours). Read your confirmation email; do not trust a single blog number.

Fees, retakes, and renewal — the code stays the same

List fees are CCAO-F $99; CCDV-F and CCAR-F $125; CCAR-P $175 (USD, before any partner-tier amount at checkout). We do not publish a discount percentage — none was confirmed on the official pages verified for this site. Retakes and wrong-code purchases multiply that cash cost.

Failing does not change your code. Wait 14 days after the first failed attempt, 30 after the second, and 90 after the third; max four attempts per exam per rolling 12 months. Limits are per exam, so a fail on one code does not block another. The fee applies to each attempt.

Each credential is valid 12 months from award. On-time renewal is a free, non-proctored Partner Academy assessment. If it lapses, you retake the full exam at full fee under the same official code. No-shows forfeit the fee and require re-registration on that same code.

Academy badges versus proctored exam codes

Public Claude Academy completion badges and Partner Academy Skilljar certificates are learning credentials. They do not use CCAO-F, CCAR-F, CCAR-P, or CCDV-F as Pearson exam codes, and Academy FAQ language distinguishes them from Claude certification exams — finishing a course is not the same as holding a proctored Credly badge.

If a recruiter asks for a “Claude cert code,” they usually mean one of the four proctored codes — not an Academy completion id. Finish Academy courses for skills; register under the official code when you need the partner-gated Credly credential.

Where to go once you know your code

After you lock an official code, open its matching hub and keep that spelling everywhere you schedule or expense — calendar invites, purchase orders, and badge checks. Hubs on this site: Associate (CCAO-F), Architect Foundations (CCAR-F / CCA-F), Developer (CCDV-F), and Architect Professional (CCAR-P).

Still choosing? Use /claude-certifications/compare, /claude-certifications/cost, /claude-certifications/free, and /claude-certifications/worth-it. Keep CCA-F only as a search synonym for CCAR-F when finding study material.