Microsoft Exam Passing Score: 700 out of 1,000, Not 70%

Microsoft technical exams, including AZ-900, AZ-104 and SC-900, are scored from 1 to 1,000, and you pass with 700 or higher. That is a scaled score, so it does not equal 70% of questions. Microsoft does not publish exact question counts; most exams have roughly 40 to 60 questions.

By MSCertQuiz Team · Last verified October 2026 · Sources: Microsoft Learn pages listed in How we verified this

What does a passing score of 700 actually mean?

Every Microsoft technical exam reports a number between 1 and 1,000, and 700 is the line between pass and fail. Microsoft's own wording is that, as this is a scaled score, it “may not equal 70% of the points” (Exam scoring and score reports).

The reason is how the pass mark is set. Microsoft says it is based on subject matter experts' review of question difficulty relative to the expected skill level: for an easier set of questions, more points are required to pass, and for a harder set, fewer points are required. Two people sitting different versions of AZ-104 on the same day can therefore need a different raw number of correct answers to reach the same 700.

Practically, this has one consequence worth acting on: stop trying to calculate “I need 35 out of 50.” Microsoft does not publish a raw-score cutoff, and the score report cannot be used to count correct answers. Aim to know the skills, not to hit a percentage.

How are Microsoft exams scored, and what counts?

Is there partial credit?

Sometimes. For most multi-part questions you receive one point per correctly answered component, so you can earn all, some or none of the points for that question. If an item is worth more than one point, the question says so. The practice-test world often assumes everything is all-or-nothing; Microsoft's scoring page says otherwise for the real exam. (Microsoft notes its free Practice Assessments score “select two” items differently from the real exam, which is one reason practice scores are only a rough guide.)

Is there negative marking for guessing?

No. A wrong answer earns nothing and costs nothing. Never leave a question blank; a guess has a chance of earning a point and no downside.

Are all questions scored?

Not necessarily. Microsoft says some questions may be unscored while it gathers data on their quality, and you cannot tell which ones. Treat every item as live. It also means a question that looks odd or off-syllabus is no reason to panic.

How are case studies and labs scored?

Case studies are scenarios with several linked questions; they are not timed separately from the rest of the exam, and once you leave one you cannot go back to its questions (Microsoft exam FAQ). Labs, where an exam includes them, are scored on the end result of each task, not the method: PowerShell, CLI and portal all count equally. Most tasks are worth one point, and labs can take around 30 minutes or longer to score, so your result may not appear instantly. Microsoft does not publish which exams contain labs, because their presence can change between candidates.

How many questions are on a Microsoft exam, and how long do you get?

Microsoft says the number of questions is subject to change as exams are updated and that “most Microsoft Certification exams typically contain between 40-60 questions; however, the number can vary” (Exam duration and exam experience). It does not publish a per-exam count, so any site quoting an exact number for a single exam is quoting candidate recollection, not Microsoft. The time limit is firm by exam type:

Source: Microsoft Learn, Exam duration and exam experience. Five minutes of break time are built into the exam time, and the clock keeps running during a break. Learn access on role-based exams does not add time.

If you are weighing the fundamentals route first, our AZ-900 first-try plan and SC-900 difficulty breakdown show what that 45-minute window feels like in practice. For fees, see how much Microsoft exams cost in 2026.

Passing score, time and status for each exam

All rows share the 700 passing score from the scoring page. The question count is the same Microsoft-wide guidance (about 40 to 60, can vary) because no exam-specific figure is published. Status was checked on each exam's Microsoft Learn page on 2 October 2026.

Already retired and no longer sittable: MS-900 (Microsoft 365 Fundamentals), AI-900 (retired June 30, 2026, replaced by AI-901) and AZ-500 (retired August 31, 2026). Exam changes land often, so see our 2026 exam changes roundup.

What is the Microsoft exam retake policy?

For role-based, specialty and fundamentals exams, Microsoft's rules are as follows (Exam retake policy):

1. First fail: wait 24 hours before retaking.
2. Every attempt after that: wait 14 days, up to five attempts.
3. Five attempts in 12 months: you cannot take the exam more than five times within 12 months of your first attempt. After five failures you can retake it 12 months from the date of your first attempt.
4. Passed already: you cannot retake a passed exam unless the certification has expired (see do Microsoft certifications expire).
5. Fees: you pay for each retake where a fee applies, and Microsoft does not refund failed exams.

The waiting period can be waived only if you had an internet connectivity problem or equipment failure during the exam and a Pearson VUE case was opened; you need that case number. Renewal assessments are different: there is no limit on retakes, and you can retry immediately after the first failure.

What should you do if you scored 680 (or any near-miss)?

A 680 is 20 scaled points short. It tells you that you were close, but because of scaling and unscored items you cannot convert that into a number of questions. Here is a sensible sequence:

1. Read the bar chart, not the number. It shows performance by skill area; shorter bars are weaker. It cannot tell you how many questions you got right, and Microsoft will not reveal which ones you missed.
2. Weight your study by exam percentages.Microsoft says to practice both your weak areas and the areas with the highest percentage of questions. A skill area with few questions can even score zero, so a bad section is not always the section that cost you most. Check the weightings on the exam's study guide page, such as the one for AZ-104.
3. Close the gap with hands-on time, not another read-through. Microsoft says hands-on experience is required to pass, and that exams assess skills at a higher level than training covers. Rebuild the things you missed in a free Azure or Microsoft 365 trial tenant.
4. Test yourself on scenario questions. Our free AZ-104 practice questions are a quick way to see whether the weak area has really improved. Do not memorise answers: Microsoft rewrites and rotates its items, and a same-score retake is not a sign something is wrong with the exam.
5. Respect the 14-day gap. A second attempt is allowed after 14 days, but if your weak areas need two weeks of lab work you are better booking three or four weeks out. Each retake is paid.
6. Challenge a genuinely broken question. If you believe an item was technically wrong, use the item challenge process. Microsoft says results are rarely changed by re-evaluation, but where a question is flawed it offers a free retake.

For a tighter plan across any exam, see how to pass a Microsoft exam on the first try.

Why did I fail with every bar above 70%?

It is the most common misreading of the score report. The bars are not on a shared scale: each skill area has a different number of questions, so you cannot average them. Microsoft states there is no one-to-one relationship between bar length and pass or fail. The overall scaled score is the only number that decides the result.

Where to practice before you sit the exam

MSCertQuiz has a 40-question free tier on each exam and a 500-question paid bank, with practice and exam modes (see pricing). Good starting points are the AZ-900 practice exam for the fundamentals, AZ-104 for administrators and SC-900 for security basics. If you are deciding whether paid prep is worth it, read free versus paid exam prep. Remember that no third-party site, ours included, can tell you your real scaled score.

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