Practice tests

One way of preparing for certification exams is to use a practice test of some sort. In my exam book for PL-200 I included two sets of questions and answers. You can find several self-tests on the internet but only the ones from MeasureUp and Microsoft are permitted as they do not breach exam security. I want to explain the difference between these two options.

MeasureUp practice tests

MeasureUp have been provided practice tests for Microsoft and other exam vendors for many years. In fact, Microsoft used to link to them from the exam pages and you can still purchase a bundle of exam and MeasureUp self-test from Pearson Vue and Mindhub.

MeasureUp attempt to create their test following the same process as Microsoft creates exam items. They start from the exam’s objective domain which is also known as the study guide e.g., Study Guide for Exam DP-700: Implementing Data Engineering Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn. An item writer such as myself, will identify a task, or set of tasks, in the objective domain and write a question on it. The item writer needs to make sure that the difficulty level is similar to that of the exam.

MeasureUp also attempt to match question types that have been used in the exam including case studies. Exams do tend to have different ratios of question types e.g., items with drag and drop, drop-downs, or the items containing of source code; MeasureUp tries to make sure the experience of the test mimics that of the exam.

A MeasureUp test will have around 120 items (usually 2 to 2.5x the items in the exam) using the same percentage split specified in the study guide.

Writing a question may seem easy but it is actually quite difficult to create a good exam item; the correct answer(s) have to be 100% correct, and the wrong answers, the distractors, have to be 100% wrong and cannot be made up, and the question cannot be ambiguous. For MeasureUp, an item writer has to also provide a detailed explanation for every right answer and every wrong answer and provide references. This is to help the learner understand why they got the question right or wrong and to provide additional learning resources. This goes further than actual exam items where the level of justification and explanation is higher.

Here is a checklist that I use when reviewing items:

• Technical accuracy: The item is technically accurate with no technical errors.
• Maps to objective: The item matches one or more tasks contained in the objectives in the study guide.
• Appropriate cognitive level: Not too easy or not too hard. Items need to be for the minimally viable candidate and not an expert.
• Answer choices: Each correct answer choice is valid and 100% correct and every wrong answer is 100% incorrect.
• Fictitious distractors: Each wrong answer choice is not made up and is something that to the products and services covered by exam.
• Explanation: The detailed explanation explains the answers.
• Correct terminology: No incorrect terminology used anywhere in the item.
• Not UI-centric: The item does not rely on the user interface of the products or services as these often change.
• References: All URLs provided work and are relevant to the item.

There is a rule in MeasureUp that someone who has worked on the Microsoft exam cannot work on the corresponding MeasureUp test in order to maintain the exam’s integrity.

How well does MeasureUp prepare you for the exam

Simple answer is it depends. In the exam you get a random set of items from a pool of questions and there may be some topics not covered by MeasureUp. It can vary by exam, sometimes MeasureUp is a great help for the exam and sometimes it may not be as good. It really depends on the item writers both at Microsoft and MeasureUp.

One piece of advice is to use MeasureUp in test mode not certification mode and to select show correct answers for each question so that you can learn as you go.

I often see people complain that the exam questions were different from the exam. That is correct, MeasureUp is not an exam dump, each item is created independently and the purpose is to understand what you know and what you don’t and can therefore focus on the areas that you are weaker on.

MeasureUp also offers a Test Pass Guarantee: if the candidate follows the recommended study plan and doesn’t pass the official exam, they can request a full refund. This reflects their strong commitment to real learning over question memorization.

Pros of MeasureUp

• Multiple question types that match the item types in the exam
• Includes case studies
• Full explanation of correct and incorrect answers
• Multiple links to relevant content (not only from Microsoft)
• Test tool allows you to test in learning mode one question at a time
• Test tool allows you to test an objective or only test a small number of items at a time to have focussed learning

Cons of MeasureUp

• MeasureUp tends to lag in changes to the objective domain so may not have items on newly added tasks until after these tasks have been published in the exam guide
• Case studies tend to only include questions from a single objective whereas a case study in an exam may cover multiple objectives
• Scoring of items that contain more than one question e.g. multiple drop-downs which in the exam you get partial marks but the MeasureUp test tool currently only scores if all are correct
• You need to pay! – use my referral code FEDB13

Microsoft Practice assessments

Microsoft provide free practice assessments for many of their exams. You can find these linked from the exam and certification pages on Learn. The process to write items for practice assessments follows the same process as the exam with item writers allocated a number of questions to create for each objective in the study guide.

This is taken from the Microsoft practice assessments page on Learn:

These assessments provide you with an overview of the style, wording, and difficulty of the questions you’re likely to experience on the exam. Through these assessments, you’re able to assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed, and fill knowledge gaps bringing you one step closer to the likelihood of passing your exam.

These questions are not the same as what you will see on the exam nor is this document illustrative of the length of the exam or its complexity. For example, you may see additional question types, multiple case studies, and labs. These questions are examples only to provide insight into what to expect on the exam and help you determine if additional preparation is required. Taking a Practice Assessment is not a replacement for training taken or experience using Microsoft products.

To use practice assessments, you need to be signed into Microsoft Learn. The assessment tool on Learn is however restrictive and only multiple choice questions are available and the questions cannot include images or tables.

How well do Practice assessments prepare you for the exam

Simple answer is it depends. For fundamental exams, they are good but for associate and expert level exams that make extensive use of complex question types, exhibits, or code segments they may not be that helpful. The assessment tool is very limited in question types and functionality compared to the exam.

I have found the questions in practice assessments can be too easy and this can lead learners to think that they are more prepared than they are.

Pros of Practice assessments

• Free
• References to Microsoft Learn included
• Items are reviewed and updated regularly
• Items are updated when the exam objectives are changed

Cons of Practice assessments

• Single or multiple-choice question types only
• No tables or exhibits
• No case studies
• Questions can be simpler than the exam
• Can only sit in batches of 50 questions
• Explanation are short and focus only on the correct answer

Conclusion

I often use tests to help my students prepare for exams. One training partner I work with provides MeasureUp to students. I often tell my students to use MeasureUp and the Microsoft practice assessment to get a different perspective of the exam. There are some exams that, from experience, I tell my students to avoid one or the other test.

In the end, practice tests are just another resource that a learner can employ, but my advice is to not rely only on them. I have seen people online who have just prepared by using the tests and this is not enough as all you learn is how to answer those questions. You need to study the Learn modules and get hands on with the product and tools to be successful.

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