Want to know how I studied, took the test, and earned an official GitHub certification in a day? Keep reading this post! I'm going to tell you about my study and preparation process for the GitHub Foundations certification, which verifies knowledge of the platform's basics like commits, repositories, projects, branches, and more.
Before I dive into my experience, I want to highlight that I’ve been using Git and GitHub for personal and academic projects for a few years now. I even wrote an article about the GitHub CLI. I'm no expert and don’t have professional experience, but it's good to keep this context in mind while reading.
What is it?
Last year, GitHub launched official certifications, which are GitHub Foundations, Actions, Advanced Security, Administration, and Copilot. Each one covers different areas of the GitHub ecosystem and are designed for developers at different levels.
GitHub Foundations is the most basic of them, requiring knowledge of repositories, commits, open source, issues, pull requests—basically, the essentials for using the platform.
And the cost?
If you're a student, I have great news for you: with a student account, you can take the GitHub Foundations exam completely free!
All you need to do is go to GitHub Education, click on "Join GitHub Education," and follow the steps to verify your connection to your school, university, or similar institution. Once verified, you'll have access not only to Foundations but also to Copilot and other benefits.
If that’s not your situation, the current cost of the exam is $49 😬, so I’d recommend keeping an eye out for discounts or promotions.
How to study?
On the exam page, you'll find a variety of resources, including additional information, explanations, study materials, and a link to schedule the exam.
Apart from my prior knowledge, I only studied using this free Microsoft learning path, aptly named GitHub Foundations. It's specifically designed for this certification. I suggest taking notes throughout the lessons, as there are many terms and keywords that can be hard to remember. A mind map can be very helpful here.
After finishing this study path, I still didn’t feel confident about passing. I saw people on Reddit saying that you need over 70% to pass, and I had no idea what the questions would be like. The Microsoft course includes some questions, but they’re pretty easy, and I figured the official test wouldn’t be that simple.
So, I looked for practice exams to see how I would perform. I found two great resources:
Both are excellent for testing your knowledge, but I especially recommend the practice tests on GHCertified. This site allows you to prepare for any GitHub certification, choose the number of questions you want to answer, request hints, review a summary of errors and correct answers, and find additional resources and study guides. The questions are similar to the official exam (but not identical). The site is super useful and entirely open source.
The moment of truth
I didn’t plan to study and take the exam on the same day, but after spending some time on the practice tests and reviewing my notes, I realized it was already 8 PM. Since the exam takes a maximum of 2 hours, I decided to have dinner and take the test right after.
At this point, you need to go to the "Book your exam" link. Specifically, the Foundations exam can be scheduled and taken immediately, as it’s an online test without direct supervision (I was worried about being watched by a proctor at 9 PM).
If you have a student account, a 100% discount coupon will be applied at this stage.
However, you still need to download a special browser from PSI, the company responsible for administering the exams. This browser prevents you from accessing other apps on your computer during the exam, so keep that in mind.
And that’s how I earned the GitHub Foundations certification in one day, scoring 77%!
Conclusion
In my opinion, if you’re a student and interested in technology, there’s no reason not to get this certification. It’s completely free and can help you stand out in the job market. Plus, you’ll test what you already know and learn new things about the tools you use.
My biggest disappointment with this certification is that it has a validity period of 3 years. So honestly, I don’t think it’s worth spending $49 on it. Better to wait for a promotion or explore other options.
Finally, don’t rush! There’s no reason to do what I did and complete everything in a single day. Take your time and absorb as much knowledge as possible. Don’t pressure yourself or compare yourself to others (because that will lead you to do what I did, lol). Be yourself and enjoy the process—that’s my biggest tip.
Thanks for reading!
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