DEA-C01 · ● Active · Associate · Amazon Web Services
Exam code: DEA-C01 validates the ability to implement data pipelines, optimize cost and performance, and manage data ingestion, transformation, and orchestration on AWS. Launched March 2024 (GA) after beta phase; replaces the retired AWS Data Analytics Specialty (DAS-C01).
Exam facts
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Cost | USD $150 |
| Duration | 130 minutes |
| Questions | 65 (50 scored, 15 pilot/unscored) |
| Passing | 720/1000 (scaled score) |
| Format | Multiple choice + multiple response (MC/MR) |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE (remote or in-person) |
| Languages | English primary; Japanese support available |
| Valid | 3 years |
| Renewal | Pass higher-level AWS cert OR retake DEA-C01 |
| Prerequisites | 2–3 years data engineering experience (recommended); 1–2 years hands-on AWS |
| Released | Beta: Oct 31, 2023 – Jan 12, 2024; Standard: March 12, 2024; GA: April 9, 2024 |
| Retiring | N/A (not retiring through 2026) |
Vendor source — AWS Certification home ↗
Official exam guide — DEA-C01 Exam Guide PDF ↗
Exam objectives — AWS Certification Exam Guides ↗
About
The AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate (DEA-C01) validates your ability to design, build, and manage data pipelines that process large volumes of information on AWS. Launched in beta in late 2023 and released as general availability in April 2024, DEA-C01 serves as the entry-level data engineering credential on AWS and replaces the Data Analytics Specialty (DAS-C01), which retired April 9, 2024. The exam emphasizes hands-on experience with ETL/ELT processes, data warehousing, data lakes, and orchestration using core AWS services. Target audience: data engineers (junior to mid-level), analytics engineers transitioning to AWS, and cloud professionals building data platforms.
Domain context — Data / AI / ML
Data engineering sits at the center of modern analytics and AI/ML infrastructure—the discipline responsible for building and maintaining data pipelines, warehouses, and lakes that feed analytics teams and machine learning systems.
Read full deep dive — Data / AI / ML Domain →
Topics covered
The exam covers four content domains with the following weightings (from official exam blueprint):
- Domain 1: Data Ingestion and Transformation (34%) — ETL/ELT design, ingest from multiple sources (JDBC, API, S3, DMS), transform using AWS Glue, Glue DataBrew, Glue Studio, Lambda; apply programming concepts
- Domain 2: Data Store Management (26%) — Choose optimal storage (S3, DynamoDB, Redshift), design schemas, partitioning strategies, data lifecycle management, optimize for cost and query performance
- Domain 3: Data Operations and Support (22%) — Orchestrate and monitor pipelines (Step Functions, EventBridge), troubleshoot failures, ensure data quality, analyze data with Athena and Redshift, implement cost optimization
- Domain 4: Data Security and Governance (18%) — Apply IAM policies, encryption (KMS), data cataloging (Glue Data Catalog), implement compliance, use Lake Formation for fine-grained access control
Source: Official exam guide PDF ↗
Common skills at Data / AI · Associate level
Shared competencies validated at the Associate level in data engineering roles—not specific to DEA-C01 alone.
- ETL and ELT pipeline design and implementation
- Batch processing and real-time streaming architectures
- Data warehouse and data lake schema design
- Data quality frameworks and validation techniques
- SQL optimization and query planning
- Partitioning, indexing, and performance tuning strategies
- Data governance and metadata management
- Version control and CI/CD for data systems
Recommended courses at Data / AI · Associate level
| Provider | Title | Cost | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Udemy (Frank Kane + Stephane Maarek) | AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate 2026 – Hands On! | $12–15 (on sale) | ↗ |
| Udemy (Stephane Maarek) | AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 Training | $12–15 | ↗ |
| Udemy (Stephane Maarek + Abhishek Singh) | Practice Exams – AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate | $12–15 | ↗ |
| AWS Skill Builder (official) | AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate Practice Exam | Free–$39 | ↗ |
| Tutorials Dojo | AWS Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 Video Course | $30–50 | ↗ |
| A Cloud Guru | AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate | $29/mo | ↗ |
| Pluralsight | AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate (DEA-C01) | $29–299/mo | ↗ |
Course-selection rule: All courses listed above are specifically targeted at DEA-C01. The Frank Kane + Stephane Maarek Udemy course is the market leader (best-selling combined instructor team).
Practice exams
| Provider | Title | Cost | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutorials Dojo | AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 Practice Exam | $50–70 | ↗ |
| Tutorials Dojo | Free Sampler (practice exam) | Free | ↗ |
| Whizlabs | AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 | $50–70 | ↗ |
| Exam Topics | AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate DEA-C01 | Free (community Q&A) | ↗ |
| AWS Skill Builder | Official Practice Exam | Free–$39 | ↗ |
Recommendation: Tutorials Dojo (177 questions, 2 full tests) is the most comprehensive. Aim to score 85%+ before scheduling the actual exam.
Books
No DEA-C01-specific study guide book published as of May 2026. However, these references provide essential data engineering context:
| Title | Author | Publisher | Year | URL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designing Data-Intensive Applications | Martin Kleppmann | O'Reilly | 2017 | ↗ |
| Fundamentals of Data Engineering | Joe Reis & Matt Housley | O'Reilly | 2022 | ↗ |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide (for AWS architecture context) | Ben Piper & David Clinton | Sybex | 2023 | ↗ |
Book rule: The DEA-C01 exam is too new for a dedicated study guide book. The references above provide foundational data engineering concepts relevant to the exam domains.
Typical job titles at Data / AI · Associate level
Data Engineer · Junior Data Engineer · Cloud Data Engineer · Analytics Engineer · ETL Developer · Data Platform Engineer · Data Integration Engineer · Junior Analytics Engineer
(Titles drawn from job postings requiring or preferring AWS DEA-C01 or equivalent AWS data engineering certification.)
Salary
| Region | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| USD | $104,838 – $161,461 (mid-range: $129,453) | Glassdoor ↗ · Levels.fyi ↗ |
| ZAR | R465,440 – R622,072 (entry R305,446; senior R895,750) | PayScale ZA ↗ · Glassdoor ZA ↗ |
| GBP | £70,000 (junior £32,500; senior £74,250; London £80,000) | IT Jobs Watch ↗ |
Salary rule: Ranges reflect mid-level data engineer roles with AWS certification. FAANG companies and well-funded startups pay top-of-range or above. Remote-first positions typically follow geographic salary standards for the role location (e.g., US rates for US-based remote).
Skills validated
Concrete technologies and services tested on DEA-C01—what you must demonstrate hands-on experience with.
- AWS Glue (ETL job creation, Glue DataBrew, Glue Studio, Data Catalog)
- AWS Kinesis (Data Streams, Firehose, Analytics)
- AWS Lambda (data transformation, event-driven pipelines)
- Amazon S3 (object storage, data tiering, Intelligent-Tiering, S3 Select, performance)
- Amazon Redshift (warehouse architecture, Spectrum for S3 querying, Concurrency Scaling, RA3 clusters)
- Amazon DynamoDB (NoSQL design, streams, TTL)
- Amazon Athena (SQL queries on S3, partitioning, performance tuning)
- AWS EMR (Apache Spark, Hive, Hadoop clusters)
- AWS DMS (Database Migration Service for data ingestion from on-premises/RDS)
- AWS Step Functions (workflow orchestration, error handling)
- AWS Lake Formation (data lake setup, fine-grained access control)
- AWS Data Pipeline (legacy; deprecated; may appear in legacy questions)
- AWS IAM (data access policies, cross-account roles)
- AWS KMS (key management, encryption)
- AWS Glue Data Catalog (metadata, schema registry)
- AWS Macie (data discovery, PII detection)
- EventBridge (event-driven scheduling)
- CloudWatch (monitoring, logs, alarms)
Related certifications
- Stacks with: AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer – Associate (MLA-C01) ↗ · AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) ↗
- Prerequisite for: AWS Certified Data Analytics – Professional ↗ (not yet released; announced as coming 2026)
- Replaces: AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty (DAS-C01), retired April 9, 2024
- Equivalents at this level: Azure Certified: Data Engineer Associate (DP-700) ↗ · Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer ↗ · Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate ↗ · Snowflake SnowPro Core (COF-C03) ↗
- Vendor overview: AWS Certification Overview ↗
Sources
- AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate (DEA-C01) Official Page
- DEA-C01 Exam Guide PDF
- AWS Certification Exam Guides
- Tutorials Dojo – AWS Data Engineer Practice Exam
- Glassdoor – AWS Data Engineer Salary 2026
- IT Jobs Watch – UK Data Engineer Salary
- PayScale ZA – South Africa Data Engineer Salary
- AWS Certification Retirements and Launches Blog
- Udemy – AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate 2026 – Hands On! (Frank Kane + Stephane Maarek)
- Whizlabs – AWS Data Engineer Associate Certification
- Pluralsight – AWS Certified Data Engineer – Associate (DEA-C01)
Last verified: 2026-05-01
Parent ecosystem: AWS Ecosystem
Parent domain: Data / AI / ML Domain
Vendor overview: AWS Vendor Overview