Certification candidates are required to provide two forms of identification at the testing center, including one photo identification such as a driver's license or a valid passport. Both forms must display the candidate's signature. Candidates should plan to arrive 15 minutes before their scheduled exam time. Candidates arriving more than 15 minutes late are not guaranteed exam availability or a refund. To maintain the security of the test environment, candidates are not permitted to bring reference materials of any kind into the testing center. Prometric exam centers don’t allow bringing cell phone, bags or other personal belongings inside the exam center, you will have to leave them outside in your car or keep them in a locker if it is available at your exam center. It might be a good idea to carry a sweater or a jacket, in case you start feeling cold. There are no breaks so candidates are required to complete exam in one stretch, so might want to use bathroom before you start your exam. For more information on how to register check out SAS Global Certification program on SAS website.
First thing after you read your question is to ask yourself, which topic the author is trying to test. Once you figure that out, read all the choices carefully before choosing an answer. If you are uncertain on some answers, you can mark them and move onto the next question. At the end of the exam you can come back to them and change your answer. The tips and tricks illustrated in this paper will improve chances of getting the answer right even if you don’t know the correct answer. I highly recommend buying sample questions from SAS website, so that you get familiar with type of questions asked and software interface used by the test engine.
All questions asked are multiple choice questions, in which there is one and only one correct answer. At your exam center you will be provided with a scratch paper, work out the question on this paper instead of just doing it in your head. You may also see some direct questions on a SAS function, procedure or system option. Exam authors want to see if you are keeping up with the new additions to the SAS software, so they might throw some new SAS function or options introduced in the latest version.
Table 1:
SAS Base Programming Exam | SAS Advance Programming Exam | |
Number of Questions | 70 multiple-choice questions | 65 multiple-choice questions |
# Correct answers to pass | Must answer 46 correctly to pass | Must answer 42 correctly to pass |
Time | 2 hours to complete exam | 2 hours to complete exam |
≈ Time/Question | 1.71 min/question | 1.84 min/question |
Topics covered (For complete list visit SAS website) | Accessing Data, Creating Data Structures, Managing Data, Generating Reports and Handling Errors. | Accessing Data Using SQL, Macro Processing and Advanced Programming Techniques. |
Sample Test | Available on SAS website. | Available on SAS website. |
