SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification Practice Test

What the SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification is and how it works

According to Scaled Agile, Inc., “A timed, multiple-choice, 45-question exam with a coaching report.”^[1]

The SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification tests whether you understand how SAFe approaches DevOps: building a shared view of the value stream, exploring and integrating work continuously, deploying safely and releasing when the business chooses. Scaled Agile, Inc. now publishes the current version of this exam as SDP 6.0, the successor to SAFe 5 DevOps. The facts below come from its official study guide, so check that guide for the version you are actually booked on.

The exam is web-based and closed book, with no outside assistance. It is a timed, multiple-choice exam with 45 questions and a 90 minute limit. The passing score is 73%. A coaching report comes with the result.

To sit the exam you must first attend the SAFe DevOps course. The initial attempts are included in your course registration fee when taken within 60 days of course completion. Additional attempts cost $50 per retake. The third attempt is available immediately after a second failed attempt. The fourth attempt is available after 10 days, and after that there are 30 days between attempts.

The certification is valid for 1 year and is renewed annually. Renewal at the SAFe Foundational tier is $195/year, plus 12 CEUs. Fees, tax and rules can change, so confirm them on the Scaled Agile site before you book.

SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification Exam at a Glance

What changed for SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification in 2026

• Apr 14, 2026: From April 14, 2026, Foundational exams such as SDP include two attempts within 60 days of finishing the course, up from one attempt within 30 days under SAFe 5.^[3]

SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification content outline and where to practise each area

The content areas below are copied from the official SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification content outline published by Scaled Agile, Inc., with the share of the exam each area carries. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.

Worked examples: how to reason through SAFe® 5 DevOps Certification questions

These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.

Example 1

Question: What SAFe concept ensures software is always technically ready to release, even if the business hasn't decided to release it yet?

1. Continuous Deployment to a staging environment only
2. The Continuous Delivery Pipeline
3. Program Increment boundaries
4. ART sync meetings

Answer: B. The Continuous Delivery Pipeline

Explanation:

The correct answer is the Continuous Delivery Pipeline. Its purpose is to keep every change in a state where it could be released, so the business can decide the moment of release separately from the technical work.

Continuous Deployment to a staging environment only is wrong because staging is just one step and says nothing about readiness for production or about who decides. Program Increment boundaries are a planning cadence, not a mechanism that keeps software releasable. ART sync meetings are coordination events, and a meeting cannot make code technically ready.

Rule to remember: technical readiness comes from the pipeline, while the decision to release belongs to the business.

Example 2

Question: What role does a rollback strategy play in SAFe® 5 DevOps Continuous Deployment?

1. It provides a plan to revert a deployment quickly if critical defects are discovered in production
2. It defines how teams roll back sprint goals when capacity is exceeded
3. It outlines the process for reverting code changes in the source control repository only
4. It is used exclusively during blue-green deployments and not other deployment types

Answer: A. It provides a plan to revert a deployment quickly if critical defects are discovered in production

Explanation:

The correct answer is that a rollback strategy gives you a plan to revert a deployment quickly if critical defects appear in production. It is part of deploying safely, because it limits how long users live with a bad change.

Rolling back sprint goals is a planning idea and has nothing to do with deployment. Reverting code in the source control repository only is too narrow: the running production environment also has to return to a stable state. The claim that it is used exclusively during blue-green deployments is wrong because every deployment approach needs a way back, not just one.

Rule to remember: a rollback plan restores the running system, and it applies to any deployment type.

Example 3

Question: What is the blast radius concept in DevOps release strategies?

1. The scope of impact if a deployment fails, which should be minimized through incremental releases
2. The distance a notification travels through the organization
3. The number of teams involved in a release
4. The amount of code changed in a deployment

Answer: A. The scope of impact if a deployment fails, which should be minimized through incremental releases

Explanation:

The correct answer is that blast radius is the scope of impact if a deployment fails, which you reduce by releasing in small increments. Techniques such as canary releases, blue-green deployments and feature flags expose a change to a limited group first, so a failure touches fewer users.

The distance a notification travels is about communication, not release risk. The number of teams involved describes coordination effort, which may correlate with risk but is not what the term means. The amount of code changed is related to risk, but blast radius measures who is affected when something breaks, not how large the change was.

Rule to remember: blast radius is about impact, so shrink exposure first and widen it as confidence builds.

How to use these practice tests

Start with the official study guide for the version you are booked on, and read the list of content areas so you know what is covered. Then take the DevOps and value stream sets to check your base. If you cannot explain why a wrong option is wrong, note the topic and go back to your course materials for it.

Next, work through the topic sets one at a time, in the order of the delivery flow: continuous exploration, the CI/CD pipeline, continuous deployment, then release on demand. After each set, read every explanation, including the ones for questions you got right. Keep a short list of terms you mix up, such as deployment versus release, or blast radius versus rollback.

The exam is closed book, so practise without notes. Once your weak areas are shorter, take the full practice test in one sitting, timed against the official limit of 90 minutes, and review each miss by topic rather than by question. Keep in mind that our questions are our own writing, so use them to find gaps in understanding, not to predict the real wording. In the last days, reread your list of confused terms and the course workbook instead of starting new material.

Sources & last verified

1. Scaled Agile, Inc. — number of questions, eligibility (official source). “A timed, multiple-choice, 45-question exam with a coaching report.” Verified Oct 17, 2026 · source checked Oct 17, 2026.
2. Scaled Agile, Inc. — time limit, passing score, exam fee, delivery (official source). “Duration 90 minutes” Verified Oct 17, 2026 · source checked Oct 17, 2026.
3. Scaled Agile, Inc. — retake fee, retake policy, other (official source). “The retake fee is $50 for most exams; however, the Implementing SAFe exam has a retake fee of $250.” Verified Oct 17, 2026 · source checked Oct 17, 2026.
4. Scaled Agile, Inc. — validity (official source). “You can renew your certification up to 270 days before your current certification expires . Renewals are every year .” Verified Oct 17, 2026 · source checked Oct 17, 2026.
5. Scaled Agile, Inc. — renewal (official source). “SAFe® Foundational ($195/year + applicable tax) - For those who currently hold one or more Foundational certifications.” Verified Oct 17, 2026 · source checked Oct 17, 2026.
6. Scaled Agile, Inc. — other (official source). “introducing devops 11%” Verified Oct 28, 2026.

How we verify: editorial & fact-checking policy. Report an error: contact us.