- You need 29 out of 50 scored questions correct - a 58% passing score - to earn AEMSAM.
- Up to 10 extra unscored items may appear, but your 100-minute limit stays fixed either way.
- Solution design carries 44% weight, so it decides most of your point total on exam day.
- The exam costs USD 225 globally, USD 150 in India, with 33% discounts for eligible partners and students.
The Actual AEMSAM Passing Score
If you're preparing for the Adobe Experience Manager Sites Architect Master credential, the number that matters most is simple: you need 29 correct answers out of 50 scored questions, which works out to a 58% passing score. That's the published standard for exam AD0-E117, the official exam ID behind AEMSAM, delivered through Adobe's Customer Experience Certification Program.
There's no partial credit tiering, no domain-by-domain minimum threshold that you have to clear separately, and no sliding scale based on difficulty of the specific form you receive. It's a flat count: get 29 of the 50 scored items right, and you pass. Miss that mark, and you don't - regardless of how strong you were in any single domain.
How Scoring Actually Works
Adobe's certification program policy permits up to 10 additional unscored questions embedded within the same 100-minute time limit. In practice, this means your exam session could contain anywhere from 50 to 60 total questions, but only 50 of them are scored toward your 29-correct threshold. The unscored items are used by Adobe to evaluate future exam content - you have no way to identify which questions count and which don't, so the only sane strategy is to treat every question as if it's scored.
This detail matters for pacing. With a 100-minute limit covering as many as 60 questions, you can't assume you have a leisurely two minutes per question. Budget your time as if the full complement of questions is scored, and don't burn disproportionate time trying to "figure out" whether a question feels unscored - it's not a productive use of your clock.
Key Takeaway
Plan your pacing around the worst case: 60 total questions in 100 minutes. If you finish with scored questions unanswered because you slowed down hunting for unscored ones, you've made a costly guess.
What 29/50 Means by Domain
AEMSAM's scored content is distributed across four domains, and understanding this weighting is essential to hitting 29 correct answers reliably rather than by luck:
Domain 1: Discovery (18%)
Roughly 9 of the 50 scored questions fall here. Candidates must be able to translate business requirements gathered from stakeholders into architectural constraints and scope decisions before any design work begins.
- Requirements-gathering techniques for AEM Sites engagements
- Identifying constraints tied to Adobe Managed Services vs. AEM as a Cloud Service
Domain 2: Solution design (44%)
This is the largest domain by far - approximately 22 of the 50 scored questions. It's the domain that decides whether most candidates pass or fail, since it dwarfs the other three combined.
- Architecting content models, workflows, and multi-site deployments
- Making defensible tradeoffs between on-prem, Adobe Managed Services, and AEM as a Cloud Service architectures
Domain 3: Implementation (22%)
About 11 scored questions test whether you can operationalize a design - not just describe it on a whiteboard.
- Component, template, and dispatcher configuration decisions
- Integration patterns relevant to enterprise AEM Sites rollouts
Domain 4: Maintenance (16%)
Roughly 8 scored questions cover the lifecycle work that happens after go-live.
- Monitoring, upgrade planning, and long-term platform health
- Recognizing when an architecture decision needs revisiting post-launch
For a deeper walkthrough of each of these four content areas, see the AEMSAM Exam Domains 2026 guide, which breaks down subtopics and typical question angles domain by domain.
| Domain | Weight | Approx. Scored Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | 18% | ~9 |
| Solution design | 44% | ~22 |
| Implementation | 22% | ~11 |
| Maintenance | 16% | ~8 |
The math here is instructive. Because Solution design alone accounts for nearly half the scored questions, a candidate who is excellent at Discovery and Maintenance but weak on Solution design will still struggle to reach 29 correct answers. Conversely, mastering Solution design gives you a much larger buffer against mistakes elsewhere. If you're trying to gauge how tough this exam feels in practice, How Hard Is the AEMSAM Exam? looks at difficulty through this same domain-weighting lens.
Exam Format and Question Mechanics
AEMSAM (AD0-E117) is delivered online through the Adobe Certification Portal and easyProctor, and it's closed-book with remote proctoring. That means no reference material, no second monitor, and a strict system check before you're allowed to start. Practical requirements include:
- A working camera and a physical government-issued photo ID for identity verification
- Whole-screen sharing enabled throughout the session
- Process Tracker running, with a successful pre-exam system check completed
- Guardian Browser removed from your machine before testing begins - it's flagged as incompatible with proctoring
The exam is offered in English and Japanese, and the 100-minute window covers the full set of scored and unscored questions together - there's no separate timer for unscored content. Adobe recommends candidates have at least three years of AEM Sites architecture experience, including exposure to Adobe Managed Services and AEM as a Cloud Service, before attempting the exam. This isn't an enforced prerequisite check at registration, but the question difficulty assumes that background. If you're unsure whether you meet the recommended experience level, AEMSAM Requirements 2026 covers eligibility and prerequisites in detail.
Registration, Fees, and Delivery
The AEMSAM exam is administered by Adobe through its Customer Experience Certification Program. Registration and delivery mechanics you should know before scheduling:
- Fee: USD 225 globally, USD 150 in India
- Discounts: Eligible partner employees and verified students receive 33% off the standard fee
- Delivery: Online via the Adobe Certification Portal or easyProctor
- Official prep guide: EPG-E117, published by Adobe
- Validity: 2 years from the date you pass
Because the fee structure varies by region and eligibility, it's worth confirming your exact cost before budgeting for a retake attempt if needed. A full breakdown of pricing scenarios, including how the partner and student discounts apply, is available in AEMSAM Certification Cost 2026.
Key Takeaway
Your passing score doesn't change based on fee tier or region - 29/50 applies everywhere the exam is offered, in either supported language.
A Domain-Weighted Preparation Plan
Given that Solution design alone represents 44% of your scored questions, your study time should not be split evenly across the four domains. A weighting-aware plan looks something like this:
Discovery + baseline diagnostic
- Run a diagnostic practice session to see where you already stand against the 29-question bar
- Review requirements-gathering and scoping patterns for AEM Sites engagements
Solution design (the 44% domain)
- Spend roughly double the time here compared to any other domain - it decides most of your final score
- Work through architecture tradeoff scenarios: AEM as a Cloud Service vs. Adobe Managed Services vs. on-prem
Implementation
- Drill component, template, and dispatcher configuration decisions
- Practice translating a design document into concrete implementation steps
Maintenance + full-length review
- Cover lifecycle, monitoring, and upgrade-planning topics
- Take a full timed practice run at 100 minutes to rehearse pacing under the unscored-question uncertainty
Rotating short review sessions of previously missed questions back into later weeks - a light form of spaced repetition - helps here specifically because Solution design content resurfaces conceptually across Implementation and Maintenance questions. For a more complete week-by-week framework, see the AEMSAM Study Guide 2026, and for a fast pre-exam review, the AEMSAM Cheat Sheet 2026 condenses must-know facts onto a single page.
If you want to rehearse the actual passing-score math under realistic conditions, running full-length timed sets on our practice test platform lets you see exactly how far you are from 29 correct answers before you spend money on the real exam.
After You Sit the Exam
Once you clear the 29/50 threshold, your AEMSAM credential is valid for 2 years. The renewal window opens 180 days before your expiration date, and Adobe assigns specific renewal requirements inside the certification portal that you must complete before the credential lapses. If it does expire without renewal, there's no shortcut back - you have to retake the full paid exam from scratch, at the same passing-score standard of 29/50.
This makes it worth calendaring your renewal window the moment you pass, rather than waiting for a reminder email. Candidates who let a credential expire often underestimate how much re-preparation the full exam retake requires compared to the lighter renewal path.
Curious what the credential is actually worth on the job market once you've earned it? Is the AEMSAM Certification Worth It? walks through the ROI question, and AEMSAM Salary Guide 2026 looks at earnings context for certified architects. If you're weighing this cert against pass-rate data before you commit study hours, AEMSAM Pass Rate 2026 is a useful companion read, and you can practice against domain-weighted question sets any time on the main practice test site.
FAQ
You need 29 correct answers out of 50 scored questions, which equals 58%. This is the published standard for exam AD0-E117.
No. Up to 10 additional unscored questions may appear within your 100-minute session, but only the 50 scored questions count toward the 29-correct passing threshold. You won't know which questions are unscored, so answer every question as if it counts.
Solution design, at 44% of scored content, represents roughly 22 of your 50 scored questions - nearly double the weight of Implementation and far more than Discovery or Maintenance. Strong performance here gives you the biggest buffer toward passing.
No. The fee differs by region (USD 225 globally, USD 150 in India) and eligible partners or students receive a 33% discount, but the passing score of 29/50 is identical for every candidate regardless of fee tier or region.
You don't earn the AEMSAM credential for that attempt. Since the credential's 2-year validity and renewal path only apply once you've passed, an unsuccessful attempt means re-registering and paying the exam fee again to retest.