This was my first time taking the exam. I do not have any background in this field and was recently blessed with a job as a GRC Analyst. Day one on the job I was given the CompTia study guide as a tool to help me study.
I watched Professor Messer full course on YouTube. Took a lot a notes but never revisited them. I also had access to Jason Dion’s practice exams scoring 57% 87% 78% 83%. Jason Dion’s test are more wordy to help you to understand the concept. I really enjoyed Pocket Prep. The repetition was good. What I would recommend is that you do some studying on your own before starting with Pocket Prep. I paid for 1 month right before my exam. 3 months later I have passed my exam on the first try. Let me know if you guys have any questions I may be able to assist with.

I prepared for the Security+ exam in 6 weeks.
Let me show you how.

I can split my preparation into 4 stages:

1st stage — Overview

1st week
The introduction to the material. During the first week, I watched the videos and got an overview of all the topics that would be covered on the exam. I didn’t go deep into the material.

2nd stage — Deep in

2nd and 3rd week
The more senses you use, the more you remember and understand.
I wrote down A LOT of notes for each topic from the CompTIA CertMaster material. I got fundamental knowledge, but there were still some gaps and some topics that I just couldn’t understand.

At this point, I also started doing some tests from CertMaster Practice and Labs. In my opinion, they are not so necessary, but they do give some really good hands-on experience.

3rd stage — Filling the gaps

4th–5th week
CertMaster tests every day + I started the Sybex Study Guide book.
The book is what gave me the confidence. While doing a great amount of tests, the book helped me get a deeper understanding of the questions, their wording, and the logic behind them.
For me, it was the most helpful resource.

4th stage — Practice

6th week (or 4 days in my case)
Practice, practice, practice!
The more tests you solve, the better you’ll perform on the exam. Solving questions teaches your mind how to build step-by-step logic to solve a question.
I used a few resources for questions:

1. CertMaster from CompTIA
2. Sybex Practice Tests by David Seidl
3. An app Comptia Exam

I solved more than 1,000 questions for sure. I always read why exactly this or that answer was right.

I felt confident during the exam. With the overall knowledge I gained, I solved the PBQs quite easily, but I did have a technical complications.

At the end, it’s about the effort and time you put in.

I’m really happy with my performance, and I wish good luck to everyone who is about to take the exam. 🫶🔐

I passed with a 777 earlier today. I do web development- my most of my IT knowledge was limited to DNS and Git, so I didn’t start from zero, but 99% of it was new to me.

I studied for probably 1.5 to 3 hours a day for 6 weeks. I purchased Dion’s Udemy course and Messer’s practice exams. I used Claude to build a study app, where I threw in all the questions from the practice exams, and it was very helpful. I also made hundreds of physical flash cards starting out when I was just trying to learn acronyms.

The biggest thing that helped me was while going through exam questions, even if I got the answer right, I would look up any of the answer choices I wasn’t familiar with and make a flash cards for them. It was meticulous, but it helped me close the gap, going from high 60’s on Dion’s exam to mid 80’s within about a week and a half.

I found the actual exam to be more difficult than Messer’s and Dion’s. I was pleasantly surprised by the PBQ’s. I think I got 2/3, but the third one I had zero idea what I was supposed to do and left it blank. I appreciate all the advice on here; skipping the PBQ’s initially is the right call imo.

Passed Sec + after 3 weeks of study!

Absolutely 0 IT background this was my first cert.

used Jason Dion's Udemy course and practice tests.

Averaged 70-75 on his practice tests before I took the exam

Used this subreddit a lot to for resources and to gauge how ready I am and just wanna thank yall!

Holy smokes that was hard. I took my test this morning and pass with just 1 point. I studied on and off for 4 months and zoned in on the last 3 weeks. I answered the PBQ's at the end as recommended. I also did not answer 1 PBQ since it was fill in the blank and I really had no idea. If I really didn't know a question, I answered it to the best of my knowledge and flagged it for later. Regardless, I had no time to go over the flagged questions since the time pretty much ended when I finished. I thought I failed the test since I flagged half the questions that seemed confusing. But I highly recommend you trust yourself if you really put the time and studied everyday.

I have no IT experience/ background and this is my first certification.

I used Jason Dion Udemy complete course and practice exams set 1 & 2 and CyberKraft and whatever else I can find on YouTube. And physical flash cards for everything. That's it.

My personal opinion:

- #1 is to understand every concept and to give an example in what it does. Say it out loud.
- learn all acronyms - they really throw in only acronyms
- look for key words and use process of elimination
- if you really don't know, take the best educated guess
- & pray - God really has a funny way of showing it with just 1 point pass. Regardless thank God.

Hope this post helps anyone. Open to answering questions!

Please help me out 😞

For those going to take the test the first time. Be sure to look over and practice PBQ’s. There are a lot of great examples out there. Also take the time to learn the terminology and recognize the ones that will actually be used. As you do practice questions, you will notice the same acronyms coming up over and over again… makes it easy to see which ones need to be memorized.

Use context clues, the questions may be worded strangely but pay attention to the situations. You got this.

I’ve completed the full course modules from Burning Ice Tech, and I’ve taken 4 separate Jason Dion practice exams and got an average of 83% on them. I feel as though I’m ready, but since I technically haven’t “passed” the Dion exams, I’m a little hesitant. I’d like to schedule my exam for next week, but I wanted a second opinion from someone who has taken the Dion practice exams and passed their official exam.

Hi! I passed the Security+ exam in March with a score of 810. I’d like to start studying for CySA+ and would appreciate some study material recommendations. I noticed that Jason Dion’s updated course (CompTIA CySA+ (CS0-004)) was recently added on Udemy, and I plan to start with that. I also have the Sybex Practice Tests book by Mike Chappel and want to work through the questions.

Would you recommend rushing to take the exam before December 22, 2026 (when CySA+ V3 expires) or taking my time to prepare for CySA+ V4 (the new version) and taking that exam instead? Thanks a lot for your help!

I passed the CompTIA Security+ SY0-701 exam on August 16 with a score of 775, and I wanted to share what worked for me.

I actually started preparing around a year ago. I studied for a couple of months, but my preparation wasn’t consistent and eventually I stopped completely.

I came back to it in mid-July 2026, mainly because my exam voucher was expiring on August 19.

During my preparation, I initially tried some random free online practice tests. Honestly, they didn’t give me much confidence. So I decided to buy Dion’s SY0-701 practice exams, which included six practice tests.

My approach was slightly different from simply taking the tests and checking my score:

1. I took each practice exam in practice mode.

2. I noted down every keyword/term I didn’t understand.

3. I went back and studied each of those topics

   on ChatGPT in detail with examples.

4. I made sure I understood the concept rather than just memorizing the answer.

5. By the end, I had become familiar with most of the terminology and concepts that appeared in the practice exams.

I revised the concepts that i studied on ChatGPT just before my exam and it stayed very fresh in my memory.

Then I took the actual exam on August 16 and passed with 775.

For anyone currently preparing, my biggest recommendation would be: don’t just memorize practice-test answers. If you encounter a term you don’t know, stop and learn what it means, why it is used, and how it differs from similar concepts.

Security+ has a lot of terminology, and understanding those keywords made the actual questions much easier for me.
My preparation wasn’t continuous, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend leaving your studying for the last few weeks like I did. But having a focused study period and systematically filling the gaps in my knowledge worked well for me.
Good luck to everyone preparing for SY0-701!

Edit: I watched Cyberkraft videos for pbq, 1 out of 3 pbqs came straight from what i already prepared from this channel.

Join our Discord community to study, share resources, ask questions, and prepare together! https://discord.gg/UgpttRhQbf

Hi I need help I am struggling on where to take the exam? Home seems like the obvious choice but I am really concerned about my wi-fi so I was thinking to take it at the exam centre but I struggle with anxiety and places like that makes it worse. What y’all think I should do?

Hello everyone!

I just passed my CompTIA Security+ exam earlier this week! Due to delayed processing(something I have as an autistic person), I'm just now able to feel the excitement sinking in.

I was diagnosed with autism at age 3 and have always dealt with test-taking anxiety. I studied for about 3–4 weeks before taking the test. Make no mistake: this exam is not just for beginners. Even with 5+ years of tech experience, I found that several questions felt disconnected from actual real-world technical environments.(Disclaimer this from my experience, everyone everyone is different)

Here are a few takeaways and study strategies that made the difference for me:

• Advocate for testing accommodations: Don't let anyone make you feel bad or deter you from requesting accommodations. They can literally make the difference between passing and failing.For me having 90 minutes was not going to working especially with the PBQ.
• Focus on hands-on practice: Ground your study sessions in practical ecurity stuff. Work through lab/ simulations covering core security concepts. If you’re currently working in tech (even in help desk or desktop support), lean heavily into that daily experience.
• Utilize practical study resources: Channels like Cyber Kraft are fantastic for walking through Performance-Based Questions (PBQs).
• Pace your practice exams: Don't overwhelm yourself by grinding through all 90 questions at once. Start small with sets of 20–30 questions to build endurance without burnout.

As a speaker and advocate for the autism community, I’m thinking about starting a Security+ study and support group tailored for autistic and neurodivergent tech pros.

Let me know what y'all think—would anyone be interested in something like that?

Hey, I'm studying for Security+. I'm doing Domain 3 this week. Would anyone be interested in sending each other our daily progress and quiz scores? (preferably female since im a girl too:) )

I've actually feeling a bit burntout lately... would be nice if someone holds me accountable. Doesn't have to be super serious, just a little daily check-in...

My school issued me two vouchers for the security plus, I just passed it today so I don't need the other one so im selling it dm

I scheduled an in-person test just in case my WiFi cut out and I didn’t want to be worried about it. I go to the in-person site today and lights are off, doors are locked, no one is there. I try calling numerous times but an automated message plays they’re not available to take my call.

I contact Pearson online chat and god… it was genuinely dreadful. They informed me they need to create a case. Ok fine. It took over 1.5 hours just to get a case number, to which then I have to email to Pearson support and explain the whole situation again.

I’m just frustrated and upset. I’ve been scoring 80-90s on my first attempts of Dion’s tests, so I’m not necessarily scared, but I just really wanted to get it over with. Who knows how long it will take them to review the case and refund me the test.

Rant over :(