Databricks offers 7 certifications in total: 5 Associate-level and 2 Professional-level. If this is your first Databricks exam, Data Engineer Associate is the recommended starting point. This article walks through every exam's scope, difficulty, fee, language availability, and the fastest path to passing, all aligned with the 2026 official exam guides.
Here is the full list of Databricks certifications. The passing score is 70% across the board, and every exam costs $200.
Based on official information as of March 2026
| 試験名 | レベル | 難易度 | 日本語 | 問題数 | 時間 | 費用 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Engineer Associate | Associate | ★★ | 対応 | 45問 | 90分 | $200 |
| Data Engineer Professional | Professional | ★★★★ | 対応 | 59問 | 120分 | $200 |
| Data Analyst Associate | Associate | ★★ | 対応 | 45問 | 90分 | $200 |
| Machine Learning Associate | Associate | ★★★ | 対応 | 48問 | 90分 | $200 |
| Machine Learning Professional | Professional | ★★★★★ | 対応 | 59問 | 120分 | $200 |
| Apache Spark Developer Associate | Associate | ★★★ | 英語 | 45問 | 90分 | $200 |
| Generative AI Engineer Associate | Associate | ★★★ | 英語 | 45問 | 90分 | $200 |
5 of the exams (DEA, DEP, DAA, MLA, MLP) are officially available in Japanese. Spark Developer and GenAI Engineer are currently English-only.
The most popular Databricks certification. The scope covers Spark SQL, PySpark, Delta Lake, and ETL pipelines. The 5 exam domains are Databricks Lakehouse Platform (10%), ELT with Spark SQL & Python (29%), Incremental Data Processing (18%), Production Pipelines (16%), and Data Governance (17%).
Targeted at senior data engineers. With 59 questions in 120 minutes, the exam tests practical architecture design and performance tuning. Advanced topics include APPLY CHANGES API, Liquid Clustering, System Tables, and Delta Sharing.
Focused on Databricks SQL and data visualization. The exam tests skills you actually use in analytics work: window functions, CTEs, Query Profile, Photon, and Result Cache. The most approachable certification if you already know SQL.
Scope covers MLflow, AutoML, Feature Engineering in Unity Catalog, and Spark ML Pipeline. Two domains — Databricks ML (38%) and Model Development (31%) — make up about 70% of the exam.
The hardest of all 7 exams. It demands production-grade knowledge: production ML pipeline design, Lakehouse Monitoring, distributed training (TorchDistributor, Ray), Optuna, and Blue-Green/Canary deployments.
Centered on Spark DataFrame API (30%), Architecture (20%), and Spark SQL (20%). The exam tests deep understanding of Spark internals, including Catalyst Optimizer, broadcast joins, repartition/coalesce, Spark Connect, and Pandas API on Spark.
The newest exam, launched in 2025. It tests practical LLM application development knowledge: RAG, Vector Search, Foundation Model APIs, LangChain, Agent Framework, evaluation, and guardrails.
Every Databricks exam uses the same question format:
The passing score is 70% for every exam. Associate exams are 45 questions in 90 minutes (about 2 minutes each), and Professional exams are 59-60 questions in 120 minutes (also about 2 minutes each). There are no drag-and-drop questions or hands-on lab components.
Here are all 7 exams ranked by difficulty:
ML Professional
Toughest exam; production ML pipeline design
Data Engineer Professional
Large-scale pipelines and advanced architecture
ML Associate
MLflow, AutoML, and Feature Store
Spark Developer
DataFrame API and Spark internals
GenAI Engineer
RAG and LLMs; a new exam with limited prep material
Data Engineer Associate
Great entry point with a relatively high pass rate
Data Analyst Associate
SQL-focused and the most approachable
Beginners should start with Data Engineer Associate or Data Analyst Associate — these are the natural entry points. ML Professional is the toughest of the seven and is very difficult to pass without hands-on experience.
Get a feel for the difficulty
Check your current level with real exam-style questions
Try free questions →Step 1: Read the official Exam Guide
1 day
First, lock in the exam scope and the weight of each domain. Download the PDF from the official site.
Step 2: Build a foundation with official documentation
1-2 weeks
Study the key topics in each domain via the official Databricks documentation.
Step 3: Try the official Practice Exam
1 day
Use the free official Practice Exam to get comfortable with the question format.
Step 4: Drill with a question bank
2-4 weeks
Work through a large question bank like NicheeLab. Surface your weak areas and focus your prep there.
Step 5: Finish with a mock exam
2-3 days
Take a full mock exam with the real question count and time limit. Scoring 70%+ puts you in pass territory.
Sample questions in the format you'll see on the actual exam:
Data Engineer Associate
問題 1
Which syntax correctly uses TIME TRAVEL on a Delta Lake table?
正解: B
Delta Lake's Time Travel feature lets you specify a version with the VERSION AS OF clause or a timestamp with the TIMESTAMP AS OF clause. Option A (TIMESTAMP AS OF) is also valid syntax, but this question asks specifically about version selection, so B is correct.
Machine Learning Associate
問題 2
Which is the correct way to register a model in the MLflow Model Registry?
正解: A
mlflow.register_model() is the standard way to register a model in the Model Registry, taking a model_uri and a model name. Option B (log_model with registered_model_name) also works, but A is the most direct approach.
Suggested exam order for each career path:
DEA (Associate) → DEP (Professional) → Spark Developer
MLA (Associate) → MLP (Professional) → GenAI Engineer
DAA (Associate) → DEA (Associate) → MLA (Associate)
How many Databricks certifications are there?
There are 7 Databricks certifications in total: 5 Associate-level exams (Data Engineer Associate, Data Analyst Associate, ML Associate, Spark Developer, GenAI Engineer) and 2 Professional-level exams (Data Engineer Professional, ML Professional).
Can Databricks exams be taken in Japanese?
5 of the 7 exams (Data Engineer Associate/Professional, Data Analyst Associate, ML Associate/Professional) are officially available in Japanese. Spark Developer and GenAI Engineer are currently English-only.
What is the passing score for Databricks exams?
The passing score is 70% across all exams. That works out to roughly 32 of 45-48 questions on Associate exams, and about 42 of 59 questions on Professional exams.
How much does a Databricks exam cost?
Every exam costs $200 per attempt. You can retake a failed exam, but the retake costs the same $200.
Which Databricks certification should I take first?
If you are a data engineer, start with Data Engineer Associate. If you are a data analyst, start with Data Analyst Associate (SQL-focused and the most approachable). Even with limited hands-on experience, 1-2 months of study is usually enough to pass.
Related Databricks Certification Articles
Databricks Exam Difficulty Ranking
All 7 exams compared head-to-head
How to Study for Databricks Certifications
Fastest path to passing and study-time estimates
Data Engineer Associate: Complete Guide
Exam scope and sample questions
Data Analyst Associate: Complete Guide
DAA — the easiest entry, SQL + dashboards
Generative AI Engineer Associate: Complete Guide
Newest cert covering RAG / LLM / Vector Search
Free Databricks Question Bank
Bilingual practice questions you can try for free
Practice with certification-focused question sets
Try free practice questionsNicheeLab Editorial Team
NicheeLab editorial team focused on data engineering and cloud certification learning. Content is structured around practical study needs and official exam domains.
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