I recently sat the Alteryx Designer Core exam and wanted to put together a short guide for anyone planning to take it in the future. This post walks through what the exam is, how it is set up, what it covers, and some practical tips that I found useful when sitting it.
What is the Alteryx Core exam?
The Alteryx Designer Core exam tests your understanding of the core tools and concepts used in Alteryx Designer. It focuses on foundational data preparation, transformation, and workflow logic, rather than advanced tools or complex use cases. The aim is to check that you understand how tools behave, how data flows through a workflow, and how different configurations affect the final output.
Exam setup
- Who can take it: Anyone with an Alteryx Community profile and a Basic Designer license.
- Experience level: Intermediate
- Price: Free
- Exam type: Online and on demand
- Time allowed: 2½ hours
- Number of questions: 80
- Pass mark: 64%
- Question types: A mix of multiple-choice, matching, multiple-response, and practical application questions
- Scoring:
- Most questions are worth 1 point
- Partial credit is given for matching and multiple-response questions where more than one option is correct
What the exam covers
The Core exam is weighted towards core data preparation and transformation skills. The questions are spread across areas such as general Designer knowledge, input and output data, blending and parsing data, and transforming data.
Rather than testing obscure tools, the exam focuses heavily on common tools and scenarios you are likely to use regularly.
Tips for approaching the exam
- Use process of elimination. Even if you are unsure of the correct answer straight away, you can often rule out options that clearly do not make sense.
- For shorter questions, if you think you can test the scenario in 30–40 seconds, it can be worth quickly trying it in Alteryx.
- If a question looks like it will take longer to build or test properly, do not risk it, as time can disappear quickly.
- Make use of the bookmark feature and come back to questions later. Seeing the question a second time often helps it click.
- Go into the exam knowing what is on it and what resources you can rely on. Knowing what topics are covered and where to look things up helps you stay calm and focused during the exam, rather than trying to work everything out on the spot.
Practice and resources
The first resource I found useful is a website that hosts weekly Alteryx challenges covering the tools and concepts tested in the Core exam.
Anna Roumpelaki
Two Alteryx Community cheat sheets that link common data tasks to the relevant tools and functions in Designer, making them useful for quick reference and revision.
ianwi
Final thoughts
The Alteryx Designer Core exam is very manageable with a solid understanding of the core tools and some structured practice. It focuses more on how workflows behave than on memorising answers, and preparing for it helped reinforce my overall confidence working in Alteryx.