I've been trying to pass the SAF certification for almost a year now and honestly it's been humbling. First attempt I went in basically cold after just reading through the handbook — scored a 68, needed a 75. Second attempt I bought a random study guide off Amazon, studied for three weeks, and somehow did worse (65). I was ready to give up.
What turned things around was actually finding a solid SAF practice test that matched the real exam format. I'd been memorizing content without understanding how the questions are actually phrased, and that's where I kept losing points. Once I started doing timed practice runs and reviewing my wrong answers in detail, things clicked. I went from consistently failing mock tests to hitting 80+ in about five weeks.
For anyone else struggling, I'd genuinely focus less on reading and more on doing. The exam tips that helped me most were around time management — I was spending too long on scenario-based questions and rushing the straightforward ones. What's everyone else's experience been with preparing for this one?