CompTIA A+ Practice Exam: Full-Length Papers for Both Cores
A+ is the only CompTIA certification that needs two exams, and most practice material treats that as an afterthought. These are two separate full-length papers - 90 questions each, matching the real 90-minute format - written against the current 220-1201 and 220-1202 (V15) objectives, with an explanation and an Exam Tip on every item. Your first paper on each core is free.
Core 1 practice exam
220-1201 · 90 questions- Mobile Devices, Networking, Hardware, Virtualization and Cloud, Troubleshooting
- Explanation + Exam Tip on every item
- Breakdown of where marks were lost
Code APLUS1-EXAM-FULL applies itself
Core 2 practice exam
220-1202 · 90 questions- Operating Systems, Security, Software Troubleshooting, Operational Procedures
- Explanation + Exam Tip on every item
- Breakdown of where marks were lost
Code APLUS2-EXAM-FULL applies itself
On this page
What the real A+ asks of you
Two exams, taken in either order, both required. Each is a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes, mixing multiple choice with drag-and-drop and performance-based questions. The detail almost every study plan misses: the pass marks differ. Core 1 passes at 675 on a 100 to 900 scale; Core 2 passes at 700.
The content split is close to total. Core 1 is hardware, networking, mobile devices, virtualization and troubleshooting. Core 2 is operating systems, security, software troubleshooting and operational procedures. Being ready for one tells you very little about the other, which is why a single "A+ practice test" that mixes both is a poor instrument - you cannot tell which exam you are ready for.
The other thing worth knowing before you plan: both papers are heavily scenario-based. 48% of Core 1's sub-objectives and 64% of Core 2's begin with "Given a scenario", and on Core 1 every single objective in the largest domain carries that phrasing. Reading is not preparation for most of this exam. The Core 1 objectives, weighted · The Core 2 objectives, weighted.
What you get back when you finish
- A score against the real pass mark, with the correct threshold for that core rather than a generic 70%.
- A breakdown of where the marks went, by topic area, so a 62% becomes a list of places rather than a single number.
- An explanation on every question - including the ones you got right, because guessing correctly and knowing are different states and only one of them survives to exam day. Explanations work through why the other options fail, which is where the actual learning is.
- An Exam Tip on every item, the thing to remember rather than the reasoning you have just read.
- An Exam Coach that reads the whole attempt and names what to revisit first.
How to read your score
CompTIA reports A+ on a scaled 100 to 900 range, not a percentage, and does not publish the conversion. So a practice percentage cannot be converted into a scaled score, and any provider claiming to predict your 675 or 700 is guessing. What a practice percentage genuinely tells you is the proportion of this paper's questions you could answer, and where the gaps sit.
Read it in three bands:
- Below 60%. The gaps are structural rather than local. Work through the objectives domain by domain rather than drilling questions - more questions at this stage mostly generates discouragement.
- 60% to 75%. The useful band, and where most candidates sit after a first full read of the material. The breakdown is worth more than the total here: you almost certainly have one or two topic areas dragging everything else down, and fixing those is a matter of days rather than weeks.
- Above 80% on distinct papers you have not seen. Genuinely encouraging. Note "distinct" and "not seen" - a high score on a paper you have sat before is largely a memory test. Why a rising score usually is not progress.
For the readiness thresholds and the other signals worth checking before booking, that is a separate question with its own page: Am I ready for the CompTIA A+?
Find out which core you are actually ready for
Two separate exams need two separate readings. Sit the full Core 1 paper free, then the Core 2 paper free, and you will know which one to book and which one needs another fortnight. Create an account on the next screen and the code applies itself.
APLUS1-EXAM-FULL
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Where this sits against the other options
An honest map of what A+ candidates actually use, and what each is good for:
| Option | Cost | Good for | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professor Messer | Free videos | Learning the material the first time. Genuinely excellent, and the standard recommendation for a reason. | Teaching, not testing. You still need a full-length paper to find out what did not stick. Pairing Messer with a practice exam. |
| CompTIA CertMaster | $300+ | Official alignment and a structured path through the objectives. | Cost, on a certification that already needs two vouchers. The CertMaster comparison in full. |
| Exam dumps | Free or cheap | Nothing worth having. | Stale, wrong, and a CompTIA policy violation that can void a certification. Why dumps fail on A+ specifically. |
| FigigExams | Free first paper per core | Full-length testing against V15, explanations on every item, topic-level breakdown of where marks went. | A smaller bank than the $300 products. The free paper is a complete diagnosis; volume is what the paid pack adds. |
The pairing most A+ candidates end up with is Messer for learning plus a full-length paper for testing, and that combination is genuinely hard to improve on at any price. Where people go wrong is doing only the first half - watching everything, feeling prepared, and discovering on exam day that recognition and recall are different things.
If you want just five questions with no account to see the style first, the per-core pages do that: free Core 1 questions and free Core 2 questions.
A realistic order to study in
- Pick a core and finish it. Splitting attention across both at once is the most common A+ mistake. The content barely overlaps, so there is no efficiency to be had from studying them together - only divided attention and two half-preparations.
- Read the objectives for that core first. Twenty minutes, and it tells you where the marks are before you spend eighty hours distributing them wrongly. Core 1 · Core 2.
- Learn the recall content early - ports and cabling on Core 1, operational procedures and the security definitions on Core 2. It is the cheapest content on both exams and it needs time to consolidate.
- Sit a full paper before you feel ready. This is the step people postpone and it is the one that saves the most time, because it converts a vague sense of unpreparedness into a list of three topics.
- Practise the scenario objectives as scenarios. Most of both papers is application. How A+ PBQs are marked and how to attack them.
- Book the exam, then start the other core. A booked date is the only reliable deadline, and A+ candidates who finish one core before starting the next finish both far more often.
If you have a fixed date already, there is a week-by-week version of this: the 30-day A+ plan.
Frequently asked questions
How long is a CompTIA A+ practice exam?
The real exams are a maximum of 90 questions in 90 minutes each, and both practice papers here match that. Core 1 passes at 675 on a 100 to 900 scale and Core 2 at 700 - a difference candidates routinely miss, and it means Core 2 asks for a higher standard.
Do I need to practise both cores?
Yes. A+ is CompTIA's only two-exam certification and both are required. The content barely overlaps, so practising one tells you almost nothing about your readiness for the other. Treat them as two separate certifications that happen to share a name.
Are these written for 220-1201 and 220-1202 or the older exams?
The current 220-1201 and 220-1202 generation, marketed as A+ V15, which launched 25 March 2025. The 220-1101 and 220-1102 exams are the previous generation. Check the exam code on any A+ material you buy - a great deal of what is still sold was written for 1101 and 1102 and is now wrong in places that matter.
What do I get back after finishing?
A score against the correct pass mark for that core, a breakdown of where marks were lost by topic area, an explanation and an Exam Tip on every question including those you answered correctly, and an Exam Coach that reads the attempt and names what to revisit first. The explanations work through why each wrong option is wrong.
How many practice exams should I take?
Enough distinct papers that each topic area has a reasonable sample behind it. Repeating one paper mostly measures how well you remember that paper - the score rises whether or not you learned anything, which makes the rise uninformative. More on when an improvement is real.
Is the free paper enough on its own?
It is enough to tell you honestly where you stand and what to study next, which is the job most candidates need doing. What it will not do is give you the volume of distinct questions that repeated practice needs - that is what the paid pack adds, and we would rather say so than pretend the free paper is everything.
Which core should I take first?
Either; CompTIA imposes no order. Core 1's networking content makes part of Core 2's Windows networking objective easier, which is a mild argument for Core 1 first. The stronger point is that Core 2 has the higher pass mark and more scenario content, so taking it second means preparing for the harder exam while your first pass is still fresh.