What is the format of the ZDTE exam?
The Zscaler Digital Transformation Engineer (ZDTE) exam is a 90-minute, 60-question assessment at Professional Level - about 90 seconds per question. Zscaler's blueprint calls it an online proctored exam and describes it as the final step to earn the ZDTE certification, the engineer credential that closes out the Zscaler for Users - Engineer (EDU 202) learning path.
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 ZDTE 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 ZDTE exam cover?
The exam measures advanced Zscaler configuration the way a working engineer does it. Zscaler's published outcomes cover integrating advanced identity services, configuring advanced connectivity options for sending traffic to the Zero Trust Exchange, deploying Zscaler Private Service Edge, configuring DNS security, firewall, private app segmentation, browser isolation, AppProtection, deception, and DLP, and exploring advanced digital experience monitoring.
There are no formal prerequisites, but Zscaler strongly recommends the Zscaler for Users - Engineer (EDU 202) course and lab and recommends the exam for candidates with a minimum of one year of Zscaler platform experience, including hands-on ZIA, ZPA, and ZDX.
The published blueprint lands in six weighted domains. The objectives inside them are scenario-shaped: choosing between GRE, IPSec, PAC, and Zscaler Client Connector forwarding for a given user group, designing PAC deployment strategies, sizing App Connectors from a bandwidth chart, building application segments and consolidating them into segment groups, writing ZPA access policies with posture checks, and wiring Nanolog Streaming Service feeds into a SIEM. The table below reproduces the official weights exactly.
| # | Domain | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Architecture and Design | 22% |
| 2 | Implementation and Deployment | 22% |
| 3 | Operations and Monitoring | 16% |
| 4 | Troubleshooting and Support | 15% |
| 5 | Security and Compliance | 14% |
| 6 | Automation and Optimization | 11% |
Scroll horizontally to view all columns.
How much does the ZDTE 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 ZDTE exam at home?
Yes. The ZDTE blueprint itself calls it an online proctored exam, and 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 - both 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.
How long does the ZDTE 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 role requires the credential for a zero-trust project, an expiring ZDTE 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 deployment calendar, your test anxiety, or a failed attempt already on the books is the real blocker.
That is the gap Exam Assist fills: your ZDTE 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 ZDTE 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.