You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
COMPTIACompTIA A+ Core 2
The CompTIA A+ Core 2 certification validates essential skills in operating systems, security, software troubleshooting, and operational procedures. It is ideal for IT support specialists and help desk technicians, providing a foundation for advanced certifications like Network+ and Security+.
Exam formatMultiple-choice, drag-and-drop, and performance-based questions
Duration90 minutes
DeliveryPearson VUE
Passing score700 out of 900
Free questions343
Content last reviewed 1 October 2023 · Up to date
The certification
What 220-1202 proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
4domains
11objectives
104concepts
US $274exam fee
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The CompTIA A+ Core 2 certification is a trusted credential for starting your tech career. It emphasizes essential skills in operating systems, security, software troubleshooting, and operational procedures. Successfully passing Core 2 and Core 1 equips you for roles like IT support specialist and help desk technician.
This certification lays the foundation for advanced certifications like Network+ and Security+. It ensures you can install, configure, and manage operating systems, apply security measures, troubleshoot software issues, and follow operational procedures for safety and documentation.
Who it’s for
This certification is for individuals aiming to start a career in IT support. It is suitable for those seeking roles such as IT support specialist and help desk technician. The certification provides foundational knowledge necessary for advanced IT certifications.
Recommended experience
12 months of hands-on experience in an IT support specialist job role. Experience with operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux; Applying security measures to protect systems; Troubleshooting software and operating system issues; Following operational procedures for safety and documentation
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective CompTIA measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official CompTIA exam outline · checked 1 October 2023 · See the source
Operating systems
- OS installation
- Windows tools
- File systems
Security
- Security measures
- Malware prevention
Software troubleshooting
- OS issues
- Mobile troubleshooting
- Security concerns
Operational procedures
- Documentation
- Safety and communication
- Backup and recovery
On the day
The exam itself
Everything CompTIA publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
Exam code220-1202
CertificationCompTIA A+ Core 2
Exam formatMultiple-choice, drag-and-drop, and performance-based questions
Duration90 minutes
Passing score700 out of 900
DeliveryPearson VUE
LanguagesEnglish, German, Japanese
PricingUS $274
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path CompTIA lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to CompTIA A+ Core 2
Credential earnedCompTIA A+ Core 2 Certification Renewal and maintenance
Certifications must be renewed every three years through CEUs or retaking exams. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. CompTIA maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by CompTIA
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, CompTIA’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official CompTIA certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
Is any part of the 220-1202 exam hands-on or lab-based?
Yes. In addition to multiple-choice items, 220-1202 includes performance-based questions.
If I fail 220-1202, when can I retake it?
You must wait 24 hours after a first failed attempt, and 14 days before each subsequent attempt. There is no annual cap on attempts.
What job roles does the CompTIA A+ Core 2 credential map to?
It aligns with IT support specialist and help desk technician roles.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2023-10-01 Up to date
Practice free questions 343 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept CompTIA measures — each one written out.
4domains
11objectives
104concepts
73free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official CompTIA exam outline · checked 1 October 2023 · See the source
1Operating systems83 questions
2Security66 questions
3Software troubleshooting92 questions
4Operational procedures102 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
OS installation6 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
27 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
343 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
343questions
73pages
11objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Operating systems83 questions
2Security66 questions
3Software troubleshooting92 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
104concepts
343free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from CompTIA
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
1official link
104concepts mapped
The source
CompTIA’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official CompTIA outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 11 objectives, 104 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When CompTIA changes the outline, this page changes with it.
11objectives on the outline→104concepts written→343free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.