Security+ Exam Day Checklist: What to Bring, What to Expect, and How to Pass

Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep. Don't cram — review summary notes for 30 minutes, then stop. Prepare your bag: two forms of ID (primary: passport or driver's license; secondary: credit card or student ID — check Pearson VUE requirements for your country). Know the testing center location and arrive 30 minutes early. Eat a good meal beforehand but nothing heavy.

Required: valid government-issued photo ID (passport, driver's license, or national ID card). A second form of ID with signature (credit card). Optional but helpful: Appointment confirmation email (saves time at check-in), light jacket (testing rooms can be cold), and earplugs if needed (test centers usually provide noise-canceling headphones). NOT allowed: phones, smartwatches, bags, notes, calculators, food or drink, hats or bulky jackets.

The SY0-701 exam has a maximum of 90 questions (typically 75-85). Time limit: 90 minutes. Passing score: 750/900. Question types: multiple choice (single and multiple answer), drag-and-drop, and performance-based questions (PBQs). The exam starts with PBQs — you can flag them and return later. Each question has a timer visible. A whiteboard or laminated sheet with marker is provided for notes.

For 90 minutes and 90 questions: spend no more than 1 minute per multiple-choice question. Skip hard questions and flag them for review. Budget 10-15 minutes for PBQs at the start. Leave 5-10 minutes at the end to review flagged questions. If you're stuck on a question, eliminate obviously wrong answers first (typically 2 of 4 are clearly wrong), then choose between the remaining two.

Focus on high-frequency topics the night before: CIA Triad examples (know which principle applies to each scenario), port numbers (22 SSH, 80 HTTP, 443 HTTPS, 3389 RDP, 1433 SQL), firewall types (packet filter, stateful, NGFW, WAF), encryption (symmetric vs asymmetric — AES vs RSA), disaster recovery (RTO vs RPO), and incident response phases (NIST 800-61 order).