Appeared for DEA Exam : Got the new version of the exam on May 03 !!

[SDK]

Hi,

I appeared for the Databricks Data Engineer Associate exam on May 3 at 11:00 PM EDT. I am writing to formally raise a concern regarding the mismatch between the exam content and the officially published exam guide that was applicable at the time I took the exam.

Since I took the exam before May 4, I reasonably expected it to follow the previous exam guide outlined on the Databricks Data Engineer Associate webpage. Accordingly, my preparation—including a structured course delivered by Databricks MVPs—was entirely based on the 2025 exam guide. I was consistently scoring 85% and above in mock exams aligned to that guide, so the outcome came as a genuine and unexpected shock.

The topics listed on the official DEA page at the time were:

• Databricks Intelligence Platform
• Development and Ingestion
• Data Processing & Transformations
• Productionizing Data Pipelines
• Data Governance & Quality

However, during the actual exam, I was assessed on the following topics:

• Databricks Intelligence Platform
• Development and Ingestion
• Data Transformation and Modeling
• Working with Lakeflow Jobs
• Implementing CI/CD
• Troubleshooting, Monitoring, and Optimization
• Governance and Security

This represents a significant deviation from the published scope, and unfortunately placed me at a disadvantage despite thorough and diligent preparation.

Given these circumstances, I respectfully request either a refund of the exam fee or the issuance of a complimentary exam voucher, so that my skills can be evaluated under fair and clearly communicated exam conditions

[Sumit_7]

@SDK As per my understanding, the coverage of the topics are same as earlier. It's just updated a bit to fit current version of the features and tools in the Databricks ecosystem.

If you had the previous topics covered, passing the 70% mark won't be much difficult.

[SDK]

@Sumit_7  I did have them covered pretty thoroughly , but it seems like the new version of the exam was already live before I started my exam. All prep resources  including courses by databricks MVPs are updated with 2025 syllabus. 

[Leon_543]

That's rough. They really should communicate exam updates more clearly and give people a proper transition period.
The new topics (Lakeflow, CI/CD, Troubleshooting etc.) are quite different from the old guide, so I don't blame you for being caught off guard. Many prep resources were still based on the previous version.
Did you reach out to Databricks certification support directly? They sometimes issue a free retake in these situations.

[SDK]

I created a ticket with the Databricks Academy more than 48 hours ago for this issue , still no one has replied. What is the usual turn around time ?

[VK88]

I think they meant 4thMay 00:00 UTC. So obviously in your timezone it is already 4th May. You just missed out by few hours.

[SDK]

@VK88 It makes sense that they are uploaded the new version of the exam at midnight UTC time. But no where on the certification page, FAQs or the exam guide it has been mentioned.

[VK88]

I totally understand what you mean. I am myself preparing for the exam and didn't take a look at full guide initially only to later find out that whatever I read is now not enough. The changes are huge. 
Atleast they could'hv mentioned on home page of the exam for candidates that you are going to take a newer version of the exam.

[SDK]

@VK88  Its been 72 hours and still reply from the Databricks Academy support team on my ticket !!

[SDK]

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[SDK]

Its been 1 week since I opened ticket with Databricks Academy and no one from their team  has applied. Who else can I contact to get it resolved.