The SDC Certified Practitioner Exam

The SDC Certified Practitioner curriculum is public and free at axius-sdc.com/practitioners/curriculum: nine modules, from semantic data fundamentals to writing an implementation proposal. You pay only for the credential. The exam is taken inside SDCStudio, from the Practitioner tab of Settings, and the fee is paid there. The format, coverage and requirements are on the exam information page; this guide covers what happens in the application.

Before you pay

The exam information page asks for four things before an attempt: all nine modules read, the Module 8 hands-on lab done with its outputs saved, an SDCStudio account with a funded wallet, and the Module 9 capstone proposal ready. The capstone is submitted from the same tab after a pass and is checked against the work in your own account.

The format

Every attempt is 40 multiple-choice questions, some in scenario sets, drawn fresh from a reviewed item bank for every attempt. You have 90 minutes, open book, not proctored. The pass mark is 32 of 40 (80 percent). Modules 2 and 3, the hands-on modeling, are verified by the capstone rather than by questions; the exam information page gives the weight of each other module.

Paying the fee

Open Settings, then Practitioner. The panel, headed SDC Certified Practitioner, states the fee and the terms: "It covers up to 3 attempts within 90 days of purchase; after that, a new payment is required." The fee is read from the payment processor rather than written into the application, so the figure on the tab is the current one. Click Pay the ... Exam Fee (the button names the amount). Stripe Checkout opens; the fee is a separate card payment, not a wallet charge. When the payment completes you return to the Practitioner tab and receive a confirmation email. Certification adds a one-time 100,000 credits ($100 of use) to your wallet, so the fee buys the credential and a start on the work.

If the panel says "The current fee could not be retrieved, so purchase is unavailable right now. Please try again later." the button reads Exam fee unavailable; SDCStudio never substitutes a number.

A second payment is refused while you still have attempts within your window ("You already have an active exam entitlement.") and once you are certified. An entitlement granted by the program without payment says so on the panel.

Your attempt window

Once paid, the panel reads "Your exam fee is paid. You have 3 attempts remaining through" the date 90 days from purchase, and reminds you: "40 questions, 90 minutes, open book. The clock starts when you click Start and does not stop if you close the tab. Answers save as you go." Click Start exam when ready. A third failed attempt, or the 90th day, closes the entitlement; continuing requires a new payment.

Taking the exam

The exam opens full screen. The header shows the clock, counting down on the server's time, and how many of the 40 you have answered. Questions come one at a time; a scenario is shown above the questions that belong to it. Click a choice to select it, or click it again to clear it. Previous and Next move between questions, and the Navigator on the right jumps to any question, with answered ones filled in. Every answer is saved the moment you make it, so closing the tab loses nothing except time: the clock keeps running, and the panel offers Resume exam until the deadline.

Submit exam opens a confirmation: how many are answered, "Unanswered questions count as incorrect. You cannot reopen the exam after submitting." Keep working returns; Submit scores the attempt. When the clock reaches zero the attempt is submitted as it stands.

Results

Scoring is immediate. The result page says You passed the exam. or Not this time., then your score of 40 against the pass mark of 32, and a bar per module. After a fail it links the curriculum modules where you missed questions and states the attempts remaining and the date the window ends. Back to Settings returns to the Practitioner tab, where the latest result stays visible.

After a pass: the capstone

Passing the exam does not certify you by itself. The panel changes to "Exam passed. Certification completes when your capstone is approved." and the Capstone section appears. The exam-passed state does not expire.

  1. Choose the Capstone project, one of the projects you own, that holds your capstone model.
  2. The checklist under it is verified from your account as you work: a published data model in the project, enough components created by you, enough named clusters, a semantic link to an external ontology concept, a component reused from the catalog, an assembly call made with your own API key and wallet, and an application generated from the published model. Each unmet rule says where in SDCStudio to meet it.
  3. Attach the Implementation proposal (PDF, up to 8 pages) and, optionally, the Module 8 lab outputs as a zip. The panel lists what the proposal must contain.
  4. Add notes for the reviewer if you wish, and click Submit capstone. The button unlocks when every checklist item is met.

The panel then reads Capstone submitted with the date and project; a person reads the proposal and records a decision on this tab. A Revise and resubmit. decision shows the reviewer's feedback and reopens the form. Approval certifies you. A rejection closes the entitlement; continuing means a new payment and a new pass.

What certification gives you

The panel reads You are an SDC Certified Practitioner. Certification does not expire. With it:

  • A one-time program credit of 100,000 credits ($100 of SDCStudio use) is added to your wallet when you are certified. It appears in the transaction history as "SDC Certified Practitioner exam pass" (see Wallet and Billing).
  • Your numbered, signed credential is issued and shown on the same tab: the seal to download, the verify link anyone can open, Add to LinkedIn profile, and the directory opt-in. See Practitioner Credentials. If the credential has not appeared yet, the panel says it is being issued and that an administrator has been notified.