Become an ML engineer on AWS with Stephane Maarek and Frank Kane: SageMaker end to end, MLOps, and everything on the Machine Learning Engineer blueprint.
Bestseller 4.6 · 61K+ students · 25 total hours · 367 lectures
The AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer Associate is the certification for putting ML into production on AWS. Co-taught by Stephane Maarek and Frank Kane, this 25-hour course covers SageMaker end to end, MLOps pipelines, deployment and orchestration, and the monitoring and security that production ML demands.
The course is kept up to date through the MLA-C02 transition, so you're covered whichever version of the exam you sit.
Co-taught with Frank Kane, founder of Sundog Education and former Amazon machine learning engineer.
| Exam code | MLA-C01 |
| Level | Associate |
| Price | $150 USD |
| Duration | 130 minutes |
| Questions | 65 (multiple choice and multiple response, plus interactive types like ordering and matching) |
| Passing score | 720 on a scaled score of 100 to 1,000 |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE, at a test center or online proctored |
| Languages | English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and more |
| Recommended experience | 1+ year working with SageMaker and AWS ML services recommended |
| Certification validity | 3 years |
| Exam update | The MLA-C02 refresh is in beta (registration opened September 1st, 2026); the last day to take MLA-C01 in English is September 28th, 2026, and the standard MLA-C02 arrives in early 2027 |
The exam has 4 domains:
Over 100 brand-new questions for the Machine Learning Engineer Associate exam, with detailed explanations for every option.
How much does the MLA-C01 exam cost?
$150 USD, taken at a Pearson VUE test center or online proctored.
How many questions does the exam have, and how long is it?
65 questions in 130 minutes. Unanswered questions are scored as incorrect, so never leave one blank: there is no penalty for guessing.
What score do I need to pass?
720 on a scaled score of 100 to 1,000. The scoring is compensatory: you only need to pass overall, not each domain.
Do I need experience before attempting the exam?
There are no prerequisites. Recommended background: 1+ year working with SageMaker and AWS ML services.
How long is the certification valid?
3 years. Recertify by passing the exam again or a higher-level AWS exam.
Should I take MLA-C01 now or wait for MLA-C02?
If you're ready, take MLA-C01 before September 28th, 2026 (last day in English): the credential stays valid for its full 3 years. Otherwise prepare for MLA-C02, which adds generative AI and agentic AI topics and arrives as a standard exam in early 2027. The course is kept up to date through the transition.
Looking for another certification? See all courses and practice exams.
AWS Certified Data Engineer Associate (DEA-C01)
AWS Certified AI Practitioner (AIF-C01)
AWS Certified Generative AI Developer Professional (AIP-C01)
