What is the format of the ZDTA exam?
The Zscaler Digital Transformation Administrator (ZDTA) exam is a 90-minute, 60-question assessment at Professional Level - about 90 seconds per question. Zscaler's blueprint describes it as the step that earns the ZDTA certification: the final step in the Zscaler for Users - Administrator (EDU 200) learning path, validating that you can deploy and implement the Zscaler Zero Trust platform for users.
Zscaler does not publish a numeric passing score. The official FAQ states that it does not reveal specific cut scores or the exact number of correct items needed to pass, because content changes and exam maintenance can impact scoring - any third party quoting an exact ZDTA pass percentage is guessing.
Everything on this page comes from Zscaler's own exam page, blueprint, FAQ, and retake policy plus the Pearson VUE Zscaler pages, so you are reading the format the vendor actually publishes - not a forum's memory of it.
What topics does the ZDTA exam cover?
The exam measures the Zscaler platform the way a working administrator uses it. Zscaler's published certification outcomes cover deploying the Zero Trust Exchange Platform, securing user- and device-to-internet traffic, enabling the basic policies that protect user traffic, connecting users to internal private apps via Zscaler Client Connector, and monitoring user and app performance.
Zscaler recommends the exam for candidates with at least six months of hands-on Zscaler platform experience plus five years of work experience across IT networks and cybersecurity, and points candidates at the ZDTA Study Guide and the EDU 200 course and lab as preparation.
The published blueprint lands in six weighted domains. Policy & Security Configuration is the giant at 29% - nearly a third of your score lives in policy work. The table below reproduces the official weights exactly.
| # | Domain | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | User & Device Management | 18% |
| 2 | Platform Management | 18% |
| 3 | Policy & Security Configuration | 29% |
| 4 | Monitoring, Reporting & Analytics | 13% |
| 5 | Troubleshooting & Incident Response | 13% |
| 6 | Integration & Optimization | 9% |
Scroll horizontally to view all columns.
How much does the ZDTA exam cost?
$300 USD per attempt - listed as US$300 (1 credit) on Zscaler's exam page - and the registration fee is non-refundable and non-transferable. Before booking, you need a Zscaler Cyber Academy account and the Zscaler Client Candidate ID (ZCID) that links your Pearson web account to your certification record.
Budget for the retake policy, not just the first sitting. A failed attempt is another full $300 plus a mandatory 7-calendar-day wait before attempt two. The waits then escalate - 15 days, 30 days, then 60 and 60 days - and you get at most five retakes within twelve months of the first attempt. A seventh attempt only opens a full year after the first, and retakes beyond the sixth are case-by-case. Passed exams cannot be retaken except for an approved recertification.
Can you take the ZDTA exam at home?
Yes. Pearson VUE's Zscaler program page states that Zscaler offers two methods of exam delivery - in-person at Pearson Authorized Test Centers and online via the OnVUE platform - and both are scheduled through your Pearson web account. Two geographic limits from Zscaler's FAQ are worth knowing before you plan: OnVUE online-proctored exams are not offered in China, and exams are not offered in any format in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria, or Ukraine, nor in Quebec, Canada.
At home, OnVUE's published requirements apply: Windows 10 or macOS 14 or higher, a working webcam, microphone, and speaker with no headphones, one display only, at least 6 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up, and the ability to close every application except OnVUE. Virtual machines, phones, tablets, smart devices with recording or AI features, secondary displays, VPNs, and corporate networks are prohibited. Check-in opens 30 minutes before the appointment with technology checks, photo and ID capture, and a 360-degree room scan. Failing the requirements on exam day can mean immediate cancellation and forfeiture of the exam fee - run the system test on the exact device and network you will use.
Exam day itself is tightly scripted. Zscaler's FAQ asks you to log in 15 minutes before your scheduled time to complete check-in, and it is explicit that breaks are not permitted during the exam - 90 minutes straight through. Your workstation must be clean and clutter-free, you must be alone in a private home or office setting, and a valid government-issued photo ID that exactly matches the name on your booking is checked at the door, real or virtual.
How long does the ZDTA certification last?
Two years. Every Zscaler certification expires two years from the date it is earned, and recertification means passing the current version of the exam - Zscaler publishes no continuing-education shortcut. You become eligible to recertify 90 days before your expiration date, and the only fee is the same $300 exam registration.
Passing earns a Credly digital badge and a downloadable certificate; the badge expires when the certification does. Results themselves are immediate: you see an on-screen Pass/Fail the moment you finish, non-passers get a score breakdown by blueprint area, and passers simply see a Passing status - Zscaler provides no item-level results. Pearson adds that the final score posts to your Zscaler Cyber Academy account after a statistical analysis.
That two-year clock matters for planning. If your employer needs the credential for a contract or a role requirement, an expiring ZDTA means facing the current version of the exam again - on whatever blueprint is live then, not the one you originally passed.
If the Sitting Itself Is the Problem
Format research solves the knowing. It does not solve the doing when your calendar, your test anxiety, or a failed attempt already on the books is the real blocker.
That is the gap Exam Assist fills: your ZDTA sitting is handled end to end against the current 60-question, 90-minute format, and the service fee is due only after the agreed pass posts. If that is the outcome you actually need, the ZDTA service page has the details.
Either way, you now know the real shape of the exam: 60 questions, 90 minutes, $300, the six published domains, at home or at a center. The next move is yours - book the sitting yourself, or hand it to a team whose fee only exists if the pass posts.