SC-300 Certification Cost in India (2026): Fee, Exam and Who It Suits

How Much Does the SC-300 Exam Cost in India?

The Microsoft SC-300 exam costs about US$165 at the typical associate-level price, and Indian candidates report paying roughly Rs. 4,800–4,900 before tax for comparable associate exams. Microsoft states that the price is based on the country or region where the exam is proctored, so the figure you see at checkout is the one that counts.

Two checks matter before you budget. Microsoft’s SC-300 page, read on 2 November 2026, shows no rupee price. A Microsoft Q&A answer dated July 2025 reports Rs. 4,865 for AZ-104 and AZ-800, and a 2026 guide from BeInCareer lists associate exams at Rs. 4,800. Treat Rs. 4,800–4,900 as an estimate for SC-300, then add any tax shown on the payment screen.

For US and UK readers, the exam is the same exam: only the price and tax treatment change by country. If you are also weighing other credentials, our guide to the best IAM certification in India for 2026 compares SC-300 with Security+ and CISSP on cost and salary.

What Is the SC-300 Exam?

SC-300 is the exam for Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate, a certification that proves you can implement and manage identity, authentication, workload identities and governance in Microsoft Entra. It is a Microsoft credential about Microsoft’s platform, not about SailPoint.

Microsoft lists no formal prerequisites but recommends familiarity with Azure, Microsoft 365 services, Active Directory Domain Services, PowerShell and Kusto Query Language. The exam is proctored, scheduled through Pearson VUE and offered in ten languages including English, Japanese and Portuguese (Brazil). Microsoft’s certification page was last updated on 27 April 2026.

What Does the SC-300 Exam Cover After the 28 October 2026 Update?

Microsoft’s study guide lists four skill areas with weights: user identities 20–25%, authentication and access management 25–30%, workload identities 20–25%, and identity governance 20–25%. Microsoft updated the English exam on 28 October 2026, and its change log marks the changes as minor.

The fourth area is where SC-300 touches the same ideas as SailPoint IdentityIQ (IIQ): access reviews resemble access certification campaigns and entitlement management resembles request-and-approval workflows. Our 15-module SailPoint IIQ curriculum covers that governance work on SailPoint’s platform, which is a separate skill.

How Long Is the SC-300 Exam and What Is the Passing Score?

The SC-300 exam gives you 100 minutes, and Microsoft requires a score of 700 or greater to pass. Microsoft does not publish a fixed number of questions. Candidates in a Reddit r/AzureCertification thread reported 67 questions in two hours and 71 questions in 100 minutes, many of them long scenarios.

Those are individual reports, not Microsoft statements, so use them only to plan your pacing. The same thread and a July 2025 Microsoft Tech Community post describe candidates who scored in the 90s on practice assessments and still failed, which suggests practice scores overstate readiness for scenario questions on topics such as PIM and RBAC roles.

What Does a Retake Cost if You Fail SC-300?

A failed SC-300 attempt is not refunded, and every retake is paid at the full exam fee. Microsoft allows a retake 24 hours after the first failure, according to its certification page. A 2026 guide adds a 14-day wait between later attempts and a maximum of five attempts in 12 months.

In India that means a fail-then-pass costs roughly Rs. 9,600–9,800 before tax, double the base fee. Microsoft also sells Exam Replay, which bundles one exam voucher with one retake to be used within 12 months; its price is not stated on the pages we read, so check it at Pearson VUE before choosing it.

Does Renewing SC-300 Cost Anything?

No. The Identity and Access Administrator Associate certification lasts 12 months, and Microsoft states you can renew at no cost by passing an online assessment on Microsoft Learn. You become eligible when the certification will expire within six months. The English renewal assessment was updated on 4 May 2026.

Can You Get an SC-300 Discount or Free Voucher in India?

Sometimes, but not through student pricing. Microsoft’s academic discount is not available in India, according to a 2026 guide citing Microsoft Learn. Time-limited routes are Virtual Training Day vouchers, reported at 50% off, and Cloud Skills Challenge vouchers, typically valid for about 180 days. Offers change, so confirm eligibility for SC-300 specifically.

Employers also hold vouchers. If you work at a services firm that is a Microsoft partner, ask your learning team before paying personally, and register the exam with a personal Microsoft account so your record survives a job change, as Microsoft advises.

How Do You Prepare for SC-300 Without Spending Extra?

Use Microsoft’s free resources first: the Microsoft Learn learning path, the study guide, and the SC-300 practice assessment on AI Skills Navigator. Then practise in a Microsoft Entra trial and configure Conditional Access, access reviews and app registrations yourself, because candidates say the exam rewards applied knowledge.

1. Read the current study guide and note the four weighted areas.
2. Work through the free Microsoft Learn path and its practice assessment.
3. Practise scenarios: a Conditional Access policy, an access review, an app registration.
4. Review weak areas from any score report before booking.
5. Book only when you are consistently confident, since each attempt costs a full fee.

Is SC-300 Worth the Cost?

At roughly Rs. 4,800 for the exam plus free preparation material, SC-300 is among the cheaper identity credentials, and it is worth it if your target employers run Microsoft Entra ID. It is not a substitute for platform experience: listings that name a product ask for configuration work, which an exam pass alone does not show.

On pay, ExamCert’s SC-300 salary guide, published 22 July 2026, says identity and access administrators in the US commonly earn US$65,000–90,000 at 0–2 years, US$90,000–125,000 at 2–5 years and US$120,000–160,000+ at 5+ years. It gives no India or UK figures, and we found no reliable SC-300-specific salary for India, so treat any Indian number you see as an estimate. These are market estimates, not guarantees; pay depends on employer, location, experience and negotiation.

Should You Take SC-300 or Learn SailPoint First?

Take SC-300 if your job or target employer is Microsoft-centred; learn SailPoint IdentityIQ (IIQ) or Identity Security Cloud (ISC) if you want governance engineering roles at banks, GCCs and consultancies. SC-300 certifies Entra administration. SailPoint skills are about connectors, rules, workflows and certification campaigns, and many enterprises run both.

Our detailed comparison, SailPoint vs Microsoft Entra in 2026, walks through that decision, and the is SailPoint certification worth it guide covers SailPoint’s own exam. Browse the IAM career paths in India to see where each skill leads.

For the SailPoint route, the live online SailPoint IIQ training program from IAM Careers runs 45 days, costs ₹25,000, takes a maximum of 15 learners per batch and is taught live by Oishi, our lead IIQ trainer with 15 years of enterprise IAM experience, with guided hands-on practice and LMS recordings. The SailPoint IIQ course fees guide breaks down what is included. IAM Careers is an independent training provider; we award an IAM Careers certificate of completion, not an official certification from SailPoint Technologies, and we do not sell Microsoft exams or Microsoft training.

Microsoft and product names are used descriptively to identify the subject matter. Exam facts were checked on 2 November 2026 on learn.microsoft.com and the third-party sources named on this page; Microsoft changes prices, policies and exam content, so verify them on the official exam page before you pay. IAM Careers is not affiliated with Microsoft Corporation.