The Certified Data Engineering Professional (CDEP) is an intermediate, vendor-neutral certification for the engineers who build the data platforms everything else runs on. It validates that you understand data architecture, can model and store data for analytics, can build reliable ETL/ELT and incremental pipelines, can choose between batch and streaming and reason about event time and skew, can make pipelines reliable with orchestration, testing and contracts, and can govern data for security, privacy and cost. The exam is computer adaptive and performance-based, and the credential is kept current through continuing education.
| Level | Intermediate. A professional credential: it assumes some data or software experience and tests building reliable data platforms. |
|---|---|
| Delivery model | Computer adaptive, three stages. Your score on each stage selects the difficulty of the next, so no two candidates sit the same paper. |
| Format | 80 questions. A performance-based exam that includes performance-based questions and multiple-choice questions. Concepts transfer across every warehouse, engine and cloud. |
| Time | 120 minutes for the whole exam, timed. Autosaves every answer. |
| Scoring | You need a score of 700 out of 900 to pass. Results are reported on a scale of 100 to 900, and 700 corresponds to answering 72% of the exam correctly. Harder questions carry more weight, so a score means the same thing on any route. Multiple-response items and PBQs are all or nothing. |
| Retakes | No waiting period after a failed first attempt. Every attempt is paid for at the exam price. See the CertLabz Certification Retake Policy. |
| Voucher validity | 12 months from purchase, for one sitting. |
| Certification validity | 3 years. Renew with 50 CEUs per cycle and the $35 annual CE fee, or pass the current exam. Renewal details. |
| Language | English. |
| Credential | PDF certificate with QR code, public verification page, LinkedIn-ready credential ID. Issuer: CertLabz Certification Board. |
| Free resources | The exam objectives PDF and the ten sample questions PDF. |
| Workforce mapping | NICE Framework work roles: Database Administration (IO-WRL-002), Data Analysis (IO-WRL-001). O*NET occupations: Database Architects (15-1243.00), Software Developers (15-1252.00). Self-declared by CertLabz, not reviewed by NIST or CISA. See the full mapping. |
A signed, verifiable:
The CDEP is a performance-based exam: it includes performance-based questions alongside multiple-choice questions. Instead of only picking A, B, C or D, you match stores to their roles, order a robust incremental ingestion, choose batch versus streaming, and pick the reliability fix for a failure. It is computer adaptive, is proctored and timed, needs no mandatory course, and tests building real data platforms rather than reciting tools.
Warehouses, lakes and lakehouses, dimensional modeling, columnar storage and partitioning.
ETL versus ELT, CDC, incremental loads, atomic and idempotent pipelines that survive retries.
Distributed processing, event time, windowing, late data, delivery semantics and skew.
Orchestration, data quality, contracts, security, privacy and cost control.
Data engineering underpins analytics, BI and AI alike, and skilled data engineers are among the most in-demand roles in tech. Every route is shown here at once, so nothing is hidden behind a control you have to find.
United States pay reported by Glassdoor, checked September 2026. Pay varies by location, employer and experience. No certification guarantees a salary or a job.
| CertLabz CDEP | Google Data Engineer | Databricks DE Associate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Certification exam | Certification exam | Certification exam |
| Computer adaptive | Yes | No | No |
| Hands-on PBQs | Yes | No | No |
| Scope | Data engineering, vendor neutral | Data engineering on Google Cloud | Data engineering on Databricks |
| Vendor neutral | Yes | No | No |
| Proctored | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Questions | 80 | 50 to 60 | 45 |
| Time | 120 min | 120 min | 90 min |
| Pass mark | 700 of 900 | Not published | Not published |
| Course required | No | No | No |
| Exam voucher | $149 | $200 | $200 |
Compiled September 2026 from the Google Professional Data Engineer and Databricks Data Engineer Associate pages. Those are single-platform exams; the CDEP is vendor neutral. Product names and trademarks belong to their owners; CertLabz is not affiliated with any of them. Confirm current details with each provider.
Six reasons this credential is worth your time, and worth an employer's attention.
One price for the exam, set by its level. Bundles add the study guide and hands-on practice at a saving.
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Every form is drawn from a bank of more than 90 items to these exact weights, whichever adaptive route you take. Filter by the area you want to study.
The exam runs in three stages. Your score on each stage selects the difficulty of the next, so a strong candidate is stretched and a struggling one is measured fairly rather than swamped. No two candidates sit the same paper. Harder questions carry more weight, so a scaled score means the same thing whichever route you took.
Each exam can have up to 5 to 12 performance-based questions, drawn fresh on every attempt, alongside the multiple-choice questions. A PBQ is a task rather than a list: you match stores to roles, order an ingestion flow, choose batch versus streaming, or pick a reliability fix. They are scored all or nothing, so partial guesses do not pass.
Yes. Warehouses, engines, formats and orchestration are described generically. Where a question involves a component, it is described by what it does, not by one product's name.
No. The CDEP tests data engineering concepts that transfer across platforms. Experience with any warehouse and processing engine helps, but no vendor exam is a prerequisite.
700 out of 900. Results are reported on a scale of 100 to 900, and 700 corresponds to answering 72% of the exam correctly.
There is no waiting period between a failed first attempt and a second attempt. Buy another voucher and sit the exam again when you are ready, and it will draw a fresh adaptive form from the bank. See the CertLabz Certification Retake Policy.
Yes, after three years. Keep it current by logging 50 CEUs during the cycle and paying the $35 annual CE fee before expiry, or by passing the current exam again.
The exam objectives PDF and the ten sample questions PDF. The CDEP Official Study Guide is a $50 ebook, included in two of the bundles. Hands-on practice comes with the All Access plan, included in the Complete bundle.
A laptop or desktop with a webcam and microphone, Chrome, Edge or Firefox, a stable connection, and a quiet private room for two hours. Phones and tablets are not supported.
CDEP is a continuing-education certification, like the CE credentials from CompTIA and ISC2. It is valid for three years from the day you pass. To keep it, log 50 continuing-education units during the cycle and pay the $35 annual CE fee before your expiry date. Or pass the current version of the exam again. Earning a higher-level CertLabz certification renews it too, the way CompTIA certifications stack.
CEUs are logged from your CertLabz dashboard with supporting evidence. A certification that lapses can be reinstated only by passing the current exam.
Buy a voucher, study the objectives, sit the exam when you are ready. Your credential is issued the moment you pass.