- What the ITS-DA Credential Actually Is
- Who Issues It and Who Delivers It
- The Five Exam Domains
- Tools and Topics You Will Be Expected to Know
- Exam Format, Timing and Scoring
- Registration, Vouchers and Fee Mechanics
- Readiness, Prerequisites and Validity
- Who Benefits and Where It Fits
- A Domain-Ordered Preparation Sequence
- Frequently Asked Questions
- ITS-DA means Information Technology Specialist - Data Analytics, a Pearson credential delivered through Certiport, a Pearson VUE business.
- The official outline has five domains, from Data Basics through Responsible Analytics Practices, and publishes no percentage weights.
- Expect 35-45 questions in a 50-minute timed limit; a passing score is 700 on a 1-1000 scale.
- Awards earned on or after 2025-06-18 are valid for five years; renewal means passing the current exam.
What the ITS-DA Credential Actually Is
ITS-DA stands for Information Technology Specialist - Data Analytics. On the issuer's side, the public credential name is "IT Specialist - Data Analytics," and it sits inside Pearson's IT Specialist family of certifications. It is a computer-based, proctored knowledge assessment that tests whether you understand the foundations of working with data: what data is, how to clean and reshape it, how to analyze it, how to show it honestly, and how to handle it responsibly.
If you have run into other credentials that use the same abbreviation, set them aside. This article, and this site, concern only the Pearson IT Specialist exam. Its scope comes from the issuer's published exam objectives document for Data Analytics, and everything below is drawn from that outline and from the issuer's exam-policy pages. For shorter definitions, see our explainers What Is ITS-DA? and What Does ITS-DA Stand For?.
One distinction matters early: Data Analytics is a separate exam from Databases in the IT Specialist catalogue. Candidates sometimes assume that passing one covers the other, or that preparing for one prepares them for both. It does not. The Data Analytics exam does include SQL, but as one tool among several in an analyst's workflow rather than as a database-administration discipline.
Who Issues It and Who Delivers It
The credential is issued by Pearson. Exam administration runs through Certiport, which is a Pearson VUE business. In practice this means you will encounter three names on the path to certification:
- Pearson, the issuer, which publishes the exam objectives and catalogues the exam under the identifier INF-202.
- Certiport, which administers the IT Specialist program, sets scoring and expiration policies, and sells vouchers through its store.
- Pearson VUE, which delivers the exam either at a test center or online through OnVUE remote proctoring.
There is also a separate channel, the Certiport Authorized Testing Center (CATC) network, which many schools and training providers use. The CATC route has its own voucher and its own candidate conditions, covered in the registration section below. If you are comparing routes, our guide to ITS-DA certification cost lays out the pricing side in more detail.
The Five Exam Domains
The official outline lists five domains. Two things are worth knowing before you study. First, the issuer publishes no percentage weights for these domains, so you cannot reliably tell how many questions come from each. Second, the five headings are exam objectives, not a preparation curriculum; they describe what you must be able to do, not a course you must take. For a deeper walkthrough, read the complete guide to all five ITS-DA content areas.
Domain 1: Data Basics
This domain establishes the vocabulary and structures of data work. Candidates should be comfortable with how data is represented before they try to transform or analyze it.
- Data types, including date/time values and how they behave
- Tuples and other basic structured representations
- The basic roles AI and machine learning play in analysis, at a conceptual level
Domain 2: Data Manipulation
This is where the tools come in. Candidates must show they can retrieve, clean, reshape and combine data using common analyst environments.
- SQL for querying and shaping data
- Python and R for scripted manipulation
- Excel and Power Query for spreadsheet-based transformation
Domain 3: Data Analysis
This domain moves from preparing data to drawing conclusions from it using recognized analytical techniques.
- Principal component analysis
- Cluster analysis
- Association analysis
Domain 4: Data Visualization and Communication
Analysis has little value if it cannot be conveyed accurately. This domain tests both chart selection and the ability to spot visuals that mislead.
- Sankey diagrams and box plots
- Recognizing misleading charts
- Communicating findings to an audience
Domain 5: Responsible Analytics Practices
The final domain treats ethics and limits as part of the technical job, not an afterthought.
- Privacy considerations
- Small-sample anonymity risks
- Bias and limits on generalization
Tools and Topics You Will Be Expected to Know
What sets this exam apart from a generic "intro to data" quiz is how many distinct tool ecosystems it touches. Current coverage includes date/time handling, tuples, SQL, R, Python, Excel and Power Query, plus principal component, cluster and association analysis. These match the additions the issuer announced in its IT Specialist update notice (published May 14, 2025 and maintained since). That notice still uses future-tense "fall" wording, and no exact release date or exam version number is published, so be cautious about any source that claims to know which specific revision you will sit.
Why the breadth matters
Because the exam samples across SQL, two programming languages, and a spreadsheet tool, a candidate who knows only one environment well will struggle. You do not need to be an expert in each, but you should be able to recognize what a short SQL query returns, read a few lines of Python or R, and know what Power Query is for. The questions test comprehension of data concepts as expressed in these tools, rather than long, from-scratch programming.
What is deliberately out of scope
The outline covers basic AI and machine-learning roles within analysis, yet it explicitly excludes specific machine-learning algorithms. If you are tempted to spend weeks on random forests or neural networks, redirect that effort. Principal component, cluster and association analysis are in scope; model-specific algorithm detail is not.
Exam Format, Timing and Scoring
The exam is a computer-based, proctored knowledge assessment. Here is how the key figures fit together:
| Element | What the issuer publishes |
|---|---|
| Question count | An estimated 35-45 questions; a variable range, not a fixed form count |
| Time limit | 50-minute maximum of timed exam time |
| What the clock excludes | Administration and tutorial screens |
| Passing score | 700 on a 1-1000 scaled score |
| Delivery | Pearson VUE test center, OnVUE online proctoring, or a CATC |
| Pass rate | Not published by Certiport |
Reading the question count correctly
The 35-45 figure is an estimate that reflects a variable range. Do not plan around a precise number. You may also see an older, generic estimate of 36-40 questions in the 2021 IT Specialist Exam Tutorial; that tutorial remains useful for understanding how to navigate answer options, but the exam-specific listing used here is more current for question count.
Why 700 is not 70 percent
The passing score is a scaled 700 on a 1-1000 scale. It is not a raw requirement of answering 70 percent of questions correctly, and you should not convert it that way. For the full explanation, see ITS-DA passing score: exactly what you need to pass. And because Certiport does not publish pass rates, any specific percentage you see quoted online is unverified; our piece on the ITS-DA pass rate explains what can and cannot be said.
Key Takeaway
Treat the 50 minutes as pure exam time. Tutorial and administrative screens do not count against it, so pacing is about the question range of 35-45, not about squeezing in setup time.
Registration, Vouchers and Fee Mechanics
There are two purchasing routes, and they are not interchangeable.
The Pearson MindhubPro voucher
Pearson MindhubPro displays USD 127 web/member pricing for the exam-only voucher. A few conditions apply: the voucher is country-restricted and unavailable in certain listed markets, and it expires 12 months after purchase. Voucher expiry is a separate matter from credential validity; the 12 months governs how long you have to use the voucher, not how long your certification lasts once earned.
The CATC voucher with retake
An alternative is a USD 133, US-only CATC voucher that includes a retake. Proctoring may cost extra at the testing center. Critically, this voucher is not usable at Pearson VUE test centers or through OnVUE, so it only works within the CATC channel. Buying the wrong voucher for your chosen delivery method is a common and avoidable mistake.
| Route | Listed price | Key condition |
|---|---|---|
| MindhubPro voucher | USD 127 (web/member) | Country-restricted; expires 12 months after purchase |
| CATC voucher with retake | USD 133 | US-only; proctoring may cost extra; not valid at Pearson VUE centers or OnVUE |
Delivery conditions to know in advance
For OnVUE, you must complete a system check and test with a live webcam proctor. For CATC sittings, expect to present photo and signature identification and to sign a non-disclosure agreement; candidates under 18 need parental consent, and personal paper and communication devices are not permitted in the room. For scheduling details, see ITS-DA exam dates, testing windows and scheduling.
Readiness, Prerequisites and Validity
There is no degree requirement beyond knowledge of the objective domains. What the program does offer is a readiness profile: it suggests approximately 150 hours of preparation, and objective profiles describe candidates with at least 150 hours of experience. Treat this as a guide to the depth expected, not as a verified logged-hours application requirement; nobody checks a timesheet. Our ITS-DA requirements guide covers eligibility in full.
How long the credential lasts
Validity depends on when you earned it:
- Awards on or after 2025-06-18 are valid for five years.
- Earlier awards remain nonexpiring.
- Recertification requires purchasing a new voucher and passing the current exam.
Who Benefits and Where It Fits
The credential is aimed at people entering or formalizing data work: students, career changers, and early-career professionals who want a recognized, vendor-issued signal that they understand the analytics workflow from raw data through communication and ethics. Because the exam spans SQL, Python, R and Excel/Power Query, it suits roles where an analyst moves between tools rather than living in one.
Be realistic about what it is. It is a knowledge assessment, not a portfolio, and it does not replace demonstrable project work. Employers in analyst-adjacent positions are likely to read it as evidence of baseline fluency, strongest when paired with real examples of your own analysis. If you are weighing the payoff, our ROI analysis, salary guide, and overview of ITS-DA jobs work through the career side without relying on invented figures.
A Domain-Ordered Preparation Sequence
Rather than a generic schedule, order your study around how the domains depend on each other. Data Basics underpins everything, so it comes first. Manipulation is the broadest and most tool-heavy, so it earns the most time. A rough 150-hour readiness target can be mapped like this:
Data Basics
- Date/time behavior and tuples
- Conceptual roles of AI and ML in analysis
Data Manipulation
- SQL queries, then Python and R reading practice
- Excel and Power Query transformations
Data Analysis
- Principal component, cluster and association analysis concepts
Visualization and Responsible Practices
- Sankey diagrams, box plots, misleading charts
- Privacy, small-sample anonymity, bias
Leave the final days for mixed review across all five domains and timed practice against the 50-minute limit. For a fuller plan, see the ITS-DA study guide, and for a quick refresher near test day, the one-page cheat sheet. When you are ready to test yourself, our ITS-DA practice tests mirror the five-domain structure, and you can gauge your starting point with how hard the exam is.
Frequently Asked Questions
It covers five domains: Data Basics, Data Manipulation, Data Analysis, Data Visualization and Communication, and Responsible Analytics Practices. Tools in scope include SQL, Python, R and Excel/Power Query, plus principal component, cluster and association analysis.
No. Data Analytics is a separate exam from Databases. Both touch SQL, but ITS-DA frames it as one analyst tool alongside programming, spreadsheets, visualization and ethics.
The listing estimates 35-45 questions with a 50-minute maximum. The count is a variable range, not a fixed number, and the clock excludes administration and tutorial screens.
Awards on or after 2025-06-18 are valid for five years, while earlier awards do not expire. Recertifying means buying a new voucher and passing the current exam. The voucher itself expires 12 months after purchase.
No. The outline includes basic AI and machine-learning roles in analysis but explicitly excludes specific machine-learning algorithms. Focus on principal component, cluster and association analysis instead.