If the Data+ study guide you found names DA0-001, it’s describing the version CompTIA has already moved off. The current exam is DA0-002, live since October 14, 2025, and CompTIA’s Data+ page now lists that code only.
There is no old blueprint to check against
CompTIA did publish a V1 versus V2 comparison, but it’s narrative: no domain mapping and no weighting table, and nothing at objective level. The V1 page no longer carries the DA0-001 domain names or percentages either.
So you can’t audit old material against the old blueprint. The only usable test is whether your guide covers what CompTIA says V2 added: cloud infrastructure, predictive analytics and automation, data quality troubleshooting, and evolving privacy and compliance rules.
Five domains, and where the weight sits
The DA0-002 weighting:
| Domain | Weight |
|---|---|
| Data Analysis | 24% |
| Data Acquisition and Preparation | 22% |
| Data Concepts and Environments | 20% |
| Visualization and Reporting | 20% |
| Data Governance | 14% |
Those five domains hold 18 objectives, unevenly. Data Analysis carries 24% across three of them, roughly 8% each. Data Concepts and Environments carries 20% across five, roughly 4% each. Per objective studied, Data Analysis pays exactly double.
Only one of its three objectives, 3.2, is about statistical method. The other two are choosing a communication approach for an audience, and troubleshooting analysis issues.
Objective 3.2 itself names prescriptive, descriptive, predictive and inferential methods, plus measures of central tendency and dispersion, and the function families around them. Pull the current objectives PDF from CompTIA before you decide how deep to go on statistics, because the web page lists domains only.
What a Data+ PBQ actually is
You get a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes, multiple-choice and performance-based, and you pass at 675 on a 100 to 900 scale. The estimated retirement is 2028.
Data+ is on CompTIA’s list of exams using simulation performance-based questions rather than virtual ones, so you won’t be dropped into a live Tableau or SQL Server instance. A simulation is an approximation of a tool: restricted functionality, multiple possible paths.
You can skip a simulation PBQ and come back to it. Your work saves as you move away, and there’s a reset button. That leaves about a minute a question at the cap, so decide your skip rule before exam day.
How many PBQs DA0-002 carries, and what they’re worth, is not published. The free V2 practice set is ten sample questions with an answer key.
What CompTIA says to point your study time at
CompTIA recommends 18 to 24 months in a data analyst or similar role, and points candidates at data analysis, visualization and data acquisition specifically.
If you’re short on hands-on time, the official hardware and software list names the tools: Anaconda, Jupyter Notebook, Azure Data Studio, Tableau or Power BI, Quarto, and cloud platforms including AWS and Snowflake. Read the acronym list too. It expects OLAP, OLTP, RDBMS and master data management, none of which appear in the domain bullets.
Our Data+ practice questions break your accuracy down by domain, so you can see whether it’s Data Analysis or Data Acquisition costing you.