How Hard Is the Security+ Exam?
An honest look at Security+ SY0-701 difficulty: breadth vs depth, performance-based questions and how to know you are ready.
Exam strategy · 5 min read · updated 2026-09-04
Security+ is an entry-level certification by audience, not by content volume. The difficulty comes from breadth: five domains covering threats, architecture, operations and governance, all tested in 90 minutes.
Breadth beats depth
You are not asked to configure a firewall from memory - you are asked to recognise which control class mitigates which risk, why a zero-trust design changes an access decision and how a governance choice maps to compliance. The volume of terms is the challenge.
Spaced repetition and short daily question sets beat weekend cramming. Rotating through all five domains weekly keeps the vocabulary fresh.
The performance-based questions (PBQs)
A few PBQs open the exam: drag-and-drop matching, ordering incident-response steps or completing a simple configuration. They are unfamiliar at first and time-hungry.
Strategy used by successful candidates: skim the PBQs, flag the ones that look heavy, do the multiple choice first and return with the time you have banked.
How to know you are ready
Consistent 80%+ scores on mixed-domain timed sets are a much better signal than a single good day. You should be able to explain why each wrong option is wrong - the exam counts on you picking the second-best answer.
Try the free 10-question Security+ quiz before you buy anything: it calibrates your baseline in five minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the passing score for Security+?
- 750 on a scale from 100 to 900. In practice you want your practice exams comfortably above 80% so exam-day nerves have margin.
- Is Security+ enough to get a security job?
- Security+ satisfies the baseline requirement for many helpdesk-to-security, SOC analyst level 1 and government contractor roles (it is DoD 8140/8570 approved). It opens the door; hands-on labs and demonstrable skills carry the interview.
- What happens if I fail the Security+ exam?
- You can retake it immediately after a first failure, after 14 days for subsequent attempts, with an exam fee each time. This is why mock exams under real timing are worth the discipline before your first sitting.
Keep reading for Security+
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