What is the SnowPro Advanced Data Engineer exam?
The SnowPro Advanced: Data Engineer exam is Snowflake's role-based advanced certification for data engineers - a 65-question, 115-minute proctored sitting, exam version DEA-C02, in English, built from Multiple Select, Multiple Choice, and Interactive items. It validates the builder skill set: data movement, transformation, performance optimization, storage and protection, and governance on the Snowflake AI Data Cloud.
It carries the Advanced-series economics - 375 USD per attempt, 300 USD for exams delivered in India - and one formal gate the Core exam does not have: the published prerequisite is SnowPro Core Certified. Scoring follows the program-wide 0-to-1000 scale with 750 to pass, and delivery runs online with OnVUE proctoring from home or at a Pearson VUE test center, per the vendor's own exam-details tab.
What is the format of the DEA-C02 exam?
The vendor's exam-details tab publishes the format exactly: 65 questions in 115 minutes - about 106 seconds per question on paper, but the item mix changes the real pace. Alongside Multiple Select and Multiple Choice, DEA-C02 fields Interactive items: matching, ordering, and hotspot questions that ask you to reconstruct a procedure rather than recognize a definition. Those items eat the slack the raw arithmetic suggests.
As on every SnowPro exam, the form may include unidentified unscored items used for statistical purposes, with additional time factored in. The language list is narrower than the Core exam's: English only. The vendor recommends its Snowflake Data Engineer Training instructor-led course, and an official SnowPro Practice Exam: Data Engineer exists for candidates who want the item mix before exam day.
Which domains does the Data Engineer exam weight most?
The blueprint is five domains, and the weights point at the builder workflow. Data Movement leads at 28 percent - pipelines, stages, file formats, and the loading and unloading mechanics. Data Transformation follows at 25 percent - the ELT logic and SQL transformation layer. Performance Optimization carries 19 percent, and Storage and Data Protection and Data Governance close the form at 14 percent each.
Combined, Data Movement and Data Transformation account for 53 percent of the form - that is the sitting's center of gravity. But the two 14-percent domains are where underprepared candidates leak points: Time Travel, Fail-safe, cloning, masking, and access control are exactly the topics a pipeline specialist can go months without touching.
| Domain | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1.0 Data Movement | 28% |
| 2.0 Performance Optimization | 19% |
| 3.0 Storage and Data Protection | 14% |
| 4.0 Data Governance | 14% |
| 5.0 Data Transformation | 25% |
Scroll horizontally to view all columns.
Do you need SnowPro Core before the Data Engineer exam?
Yes - formally. The vendor's DEA-C02 exam-details tab lists the prerequisite as SnowPro Core Certified, so the Advanced sitting is bookable only against an active Core credential. The Core exam itself has no prerequisites, which makes the path strictly ordered: Core first, Advanced second.
The detail that bites is the validity clock. All Snowflake certifications expire two years after they are awarded, and an expired certification means starting over at Core or a Specialty. A candidate whose Core lapsed last month does not walk into DEA-C02 - the credential has to be live when you book. The same policies page that sets the clock also offers the renewal levers: an equivalent or higher level certification, one instructor-led course, or a full-exam retake from six months before expiry.
How is DEA-C02 scored, and what is the passing score?
DEA-C02 uses the program-wide scaled model: scores report on a 0-to-1000 scale with a passing scaled score of 750. Scaled scoring exists to balance difficulty across forms and item mixes, so the vendor publishes no raw number of correct answers to chase - the 750 bar is the only honest target.
Results arrive at the completion of the exam: a pass records on your transcript and the Accredible digital-badge email follows within five business days, while a fail returns objective-level feedback against the domains. Retakes follow the program rules - a seven-day wait after every failed attempt, no more than four attempts at the same exam in a 12-month period, and the full 375 USD fee for every attempt, with no free retakes or discounts.
Where can you sit the Data Engineer exam - center or home?
Both routes are official, verified on 2026-10-21. The vendor's DEA-C02 exam-details tab lists Online Proctoring and Onsite Testing Centers as the exam's delivery options. Pearson's Snowflake program page offers the same choice for Snowflake certification exams, the dedicated Snowflake OnVUE page publishes the at-home rulebook, and Snowflake appears on Pearson's official OnVUE view-all catalog.
The at-home minimums from the dedicated page: Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher, one display only, webcam with microphone and speaker and no headphones, at least 6 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up, every other application closed, no VPNs or corporate networks, and the digital whiteboard only. Check-in starts 30 minutes early with technology checks, ID photos, and a 360-degree room scan, and a failed requirement cancels the sitting with the fee forfeited.
One booking detail: Pearson's live SNOWFLAKE flow lists DEA-C02 openly among the eighteen certification codes, but the flow runs on the older tree interface - the delivery-model choice happens inside the signed-in Pearson account. The vendor's FAQ frames the trade-off plainly: online proctoring means a locked-down browser, webcam monitoring, and no bathroom breaks; a testing center provides the computer and staff assistance, with breaks allowed while the clock keeps running.
The short version
DEA-C02 is a 65-question, 115-minute advanced sitting in English - Multiple Select, Multiple Choice, and Interactive items across five builder domains - gated on an active SnowPro Core credential, scored on the 0-to-1000 scale with 750 to pass, at 375 USD per attempt, delivered online with OnVUE or at a Pearson VUE test center per the vendor's own exam-details tab, verified 2026-10-21.
If the sitting is the part you want off your plate, Exam Assist handles the SnowPro Advanced: Data Engineer exam end to end - the Core-status check, the booking, the system checks, and the proctored sitting - and the service fee is due only after the agreed result posts. Start at the booking page or read the delivery map for the full Snowflake exam inventory.