2026 IT Certification Changes & Retirement Dates

Last updated 2026-09-29 — the article text's own revision date; dated evidence on this page carries its own check date. See the Citation Ledger at the foot for this page's sources.

If you are studying for an exam that is about to retire, the date matters more than another generic ranking. AWS lists August 25, 2026 as the last test date for Advanced Networking - Specialty, Microsoft lists August 31 for AZ-500 and PL-200, and Cisco's refreshed CCNA goes live February 3, 2027. The call: keep your current study plan only when you can test before the vendor's last date; otherwise check the issuer's current options or refreshed blueprint instead of buying stale material. The calendar below uses vendor-published dates, then the fee snapshot records current codes and prices. It is a dated tracker, not a live feed, so open the linked official source again before paying or booking.

Next decision

Check the next retirement date before you schedule or start studying See the current, cited cert facts.

Key takeaways

• Use the retirement date as a go/no-go boundary: finish the current exam only when your preparation and appointment fit before the vendor's last date.
• Every fee and exam code on this page was read from the official vendor page and is cited with the date it was current; nothing here is estimated or remembered.
• This is a dated snapshot, not a guaranteed live feed; vendors can change a fee or retire an exam code at any time, so re-check the primary source before you register.
• Fees are the vendor's US list price for a single first attempt and exclude training, retakes, taxes, and renewal; CompTIA A+ requires two exams, each voucher listed separately.
• CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) and CySA+ (CS0-004) both list at $439; A+ is now the 220-1201 and 220-1202 core pair; these are the current codes a stale model would likely miss.
• None of these numbers is a prediction of your exam result or earnings; they are published cost and code as of the cited date, and that is all they claim to be.

2026 IT certification retirement and exam-change calendar

Use the date as a decision boundary, not as trivia. If your exam appointment and realistic preparation window fit before the last test date, finishing the current version can still make sense. If they do not, check the issuer's current options rather than paying for material with an expiring blueprint.

Checked August 24, 2026. Vendor schedules can change. The official links in the source ledger are the final authority.

• Compare current certification versions

Why fees and exam codes are the facts to double-check

Exam identity and fees can change while an older explanation still sounds current. Use each row as a dated observation: match the credential, exam code, region, attempt count, and vendor source, then reopen the transaction page before buying. A checked date exposes staleness; it does not eliminate it.

• Why AI gets fast-moving cert facts wrong

Dated exam-fee and version observations

The table below records the exam code and U.S. list-fee observation Learnerside saw, with the date we last read it from the vendor's official page. Fees are for a single first attempt and exclude training, retakes, taxes, and renewal; CompTIA A+ requires passing both core exams, and each voucher is listed at the price shown per exam. Full source links, one per vendor page, are in the citations at the end.

Each row traces to a vendor source below. A dated observation is not a current checkout guarantee.

• See every certification with dated fees

What a stale AI answer gets wrong here

An older answer can name a retired exam code or a superseded price with full confidence. The CCNA row shows why a dated price needs a source and a regional checkout check. Do not resolve a changed value by guessing. Check the vendor source, preserve the observed date, and verify the exact transaction before paying.

• The 30-second check on any cert fact

How we make staleness and conflicts visible

Learnerside records the vendor source, observed exam code or fee, and checked date. The date makes staleness auditable; it does not keep a value current forever. When official pages disagree, record the conflict; when they agree later, date that new observation.

Frequently asked questions

Which IT certifications retire next in 2026?

As checked August 24, AWS Advanced Networking - Specialty has a last test date of August 25; Microsoft Azure Security Engineer Associate and Power Platform Functional Consultant Associate retire August 31; Microsoft 365 Administrator Expert retires November 30; and the English CompTIA CySA+ CS0-003 exam retires December 22. Verify every date on the linked vendor page before booking.

Should I take an exam that is about to retire?

Only when you are already prepared and can test before the vendor's deadline. If you are starting from scratch or your schedule is uncertain, check the issuer's current options or refreshed blueprint so your study material does not expire before your exam date.

Are these certification fees guaranteed to be current?

No. This is a dated snapshot, not a live feed. Each fee and exam code was read from the official vendor page on the date shown in the table and in the citations, and a vendor can change a price or retire a code at any time. Re-check the primary source, linked below, before you register.

What do these exam fees include?

They are the vendor's US list price for a single first attempt, and they exclude training, retakes, taxes, and renewal. CompTIA A+ is a two-exam certification, so its $274 voucher price is per exam and you need to pass both to earn the credential.

What is the current CompTIA Security+ exam code and fee?

CompTIA Security+ is SY0-701, listed at $439 as of 2026-06-13 on CompTIA's official page. An answer that names the retired SY0-601 is out of date. Confirm the live code and price on CompTIA's page before registering.

Does the newest checked date make every row current?

No. Each row must be rechecked independently. The 2026-09-29 CCNA price check did not refresh other vendors' older observations, and regional checkout and tax still need verification.

Why does an AI give me an old exam code or price?

Because it was trained on data collected up to a cutoff date. When a certifying body raises a fee or retires an exam and ships a successor, a model trained before that change still remembers the old figure and states it confidently, and it usually cannot tell you when its information was last current.

How do I verify one of these numbers myself?

Open the vendor page linked in the citation for that certification and match the exam code and fee against what you see. If the vendor lists a different code or price, the vendor's live page wins and this snapshot is out of date for that row.

Do these prices reflect what I'll actually pay?

They reflect the vendor's published US list price for the exam registration only. Your total can differ with local taxes, currency, training or bundle purchases, retakes, and renewal. Regional pricing also varies, and some vendors display price by proctoring country.

Related, with the cited detail

• Why AI gets fast-moving cert facts wrong
• See every certification with dated fees