The screen you keep opening says “CompTIA A+” and then splits into two exam codes, and something in your chest tightens. You are switching careers. You do not have a CS degree. You have never racked a server or reimaged a laptop for a living, and now a certification body is telling you there are two separate exams, both required, before anyone will take your resume seriously. You do not know which one to sit first. You do not know how many hours this actually takes. You have a full-time job and a finite number of evenings, and every forum thread you open contradicts the last one. That is the real problem. Not “can I learn this,” but “what is the exact order and method so I do not waste three months guessing.” This is the plan I would run if I were you, start to finish.
The quick answer
Treat the CompTIA exam objectives as your syllabus, not the textbook. Study one core at a time, Core 1 first for most switchers. Read each objective area once, then spend the bulk of your time answering questions on it, because reading feels like progress and answering reveals the truth. Practice the performance-based questions deliberately, since they are where under-prepared people bleed points. And book the real exam only when your scores on unseen practice questions sit consistently above the passing line, not when you have “finished the material.” That is the whole thing. The rest of this article is how to actually execute it without a technical background.
What A+ actually is (two exams, not one)
The first thing to internalize: A+ is not one test. It is two, and you need to pass both to earn the certification. The current codes are 220-1201 (Core 1) and 220-1202 (Core 2), the version 15 exams released in March 2025, which succeeded the retired 220-1101 and 220-1102 exams that sunset in September 2025. CompTIA refreshes exam versions periodically, so it is always worth confirming the live code on CompTIA’s site before you book. The structure holds regardless: each exam is up to 90 questions in 90 minutes, and each includes performance-based questions, the interactive tasks that ask you to do something rather than pick a letter.
The single biggest mistake I watch career switchers make is treating A+ like one big blob of material instead of two distinct exams with two distinct passing bars. Core 1 leans toward the physical and the network layer. Core 2 leans toward the operating system and the human layer. They reward different kinds of study, and blurring them is how people end up half-ready for both and confident in neither.
| Core 1 (220-1201) | Core 2 (220-1202) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Hardware, networking basics, mobile devices, virtualization and cloud, hardware and network troubleshooting | Operating systems, security fundamentals, software troubleshooting, operational procedures |
| Passing score | 675 out of 900 | 700 out of 900 |
| Format | Up to 90 questions, 90 minutes, includes PBQs | Up to 90 questions, 90 minutes, includes PBQs |
| What trips switchers up | Sheer breadth of ports, connectors, and specs to memorize | Windows admin steps and security terms that assume hands-on familiarity |
The one decision: which core first
People agonize over this, so let me just give you an opinion. Take Core 1 first.
Two reasons. First, Core 1 is more concrete. Hardware, cables, ports, RAM types, laptop components: these are things you can see, hold, and label. For someone with no IT background, tangible material is a gentler on-ramp than the abstract operating-system and security concepts in Core 2. You build confidence on things that behave predictably before you wade into the messier, more conceptual half. And on the current version, Core 2 leans a bit harder on security and operating systems, with security now around 28% of the exam, which only reinforces starting with the more concrete core.
Second, Core 1 gives you the mental scaffolding that Core 2 hangs off. Understanding how a network physically connects makes the security fundamentals in Core 2 land properly instead of floating as disconnected vocabulary. There is one honest exception: if your target job is very software or help-desk-Windows heavy and you already live in Windows all day, starting with Core 2 is defensible. For most switchers, though, Core 1 first is the cleaner path.
The study loop that actually works
Here is the thesis I would tattoo on this whole plan, and it is the thing the top-ranking guides mostly miss.
Studying is not reading about a topic, it is answering timed questions about it until the right answer is automatic.
Reading a chapter, watching a video, highlighting a PDF: that is input. It feels productive because your brain recognizes the concepts as they float by. But recognition is a trap. On exam day nobody hands you the concept and asks “does this look familiar?” They hand you a scenario and demand you produce the correct action, under a clock, with three plausible-looking wrong answers sitting right next to the correct one. Recognition and production are different skills, and only one of them passes the exam.
So the loop I would run is simple. Start from the official A+ exam objectives and treat that document as your syllabus, since it tells you exactly what CompTIA will test. For the read-once layer, the free video course the community has trusted for years is Professor Messer’s A+ series, and it is genuinely good, so use it to get each objective area into your head the first time. Then close the video and answer questions on it. Every question you get wrong is a signal pointing at a specific gap. You go back, watch or read only that gap, and come back to more questions. My rough ratio: for every hour you spend reading or watching, spend two hours answering questions. If that feels backwards, that is exactly the instinct A+ punishes.
The people who pass are not the ones who read the most. They are the ones who spent the most time being wrong in practice, where it is free, instead of on the exam, where it costs $265.
I got obsessed with this gap because of what I build. When you spend your days constructing question banks, you watch the same pattern over and over: someone can explain a concept out loud but cannot pick the right answer when four options are engineered to look alike. Closing that gap is the entire game.
A realistic plan for a switcher with a day job
Realistically, budget about two to three months of steady evening and weekend study if you are starting cold with no experience. That is the honest answer to the “how many hours does this actually take” question you probably walked in with, and it is a hedge, not a promise. Some people move faster, some slower, and life happens. CompTIA suggests around 9 to 12 months of hands-on experience as ideal background, but it is a recommendation, not a hard prerequisite. You can absolutely self-study this without it. Here is how I would phase it.
Weeks 1 to 5: Core 1
Pull the official Core 1 objectives and make it your checklist. Work through it domain by domain, using the read-once-then-drill loop above, Professor Messer for the read-once layer, questions for the rest. Get hands-on where you can, and it does not need to be expensive. An old laptop you can open up, swap RAM in, and reimage teaches you more about hardware than any video. If you have no spare machine, free virtualization tools let you spin up virtual machines and practice OS installs and settings. Around week four, start taking full-length timed practice sets. When your scores on questions you have never seen before sit comfortably above 675 across a few attempts, book Core 1.
Weeks 6 to 10: Core 2
Same loop, new material. Core 2 is where security fundamentals and operating-system procedures live, and it assumes more hands-on Windows familiarity than switchers expect. Spend real time inside Windows settings, user accounts, permissions, and command-line basics. Keep the questions-first discipline. Core 2’s bar is 700 out of 900, slightly higher than Core 1, so give yourself margin before you book. Do not let the momentum from passing Core 1 tempt you into sitting Core 2 half-ready.
The reason I split it cleanly is focus. Trying to hold both cores in your head at once, with a job on top, is how people burn out at week six and quit. One core, passed, then the next.
The PBQs, and the mistake that costs a retake
Performance-based questions are the interactive tasks near the start of each exam. Instead of picking a letter, you configure something, sort items, or walk through a simulated scenario. They carry weight, they eat time, and they are precisely where under-prepared people lose a retake’s worth of points.
The mistake is not being bad at PBQs. It is being surprised by them. People spend twelve minutes on the first PBQ, panic about the clock, and rush the multiple-choice questions where their easy points were. The fix is boring and it works: practice PBQ-style tasks before exam day so the format is familiar, and if a PBQ is draining your time, mark it, move on, clear the questions you know cold, and circle back. Never let one interactive task hold your whole exam hostage. Active recall under a real clock is the skill. Build it in practice, not in the testing center.
Where I am coming from, and what I would use to prep
Quick honesty about my angle, because you should know it. I am a software engineer by training, out of NUST, and I have spent years building machine-learning and product tools. My connection to the security world is real but modest: across 2022 and 2023 I delivered cybersecurity webinars for a software vendor, GFI Software, sometimes solo and sometimes alongside their regional channel manager, on topics like security directives, email security, network performance, and firewall-as-a-service. I have also done marketing work with cybersecurity companies over the years. I am not going to pretend I sat these exams and aced them, that is not my lane, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
My actual edge is different, and it is the reason this whole article is built around one method. My team and I build the practice-question banks people study with. Living in that work is what made me obsessed with the recognition-versus-production gap I keep hammering. That is a builder’s lens on how to study, not a test-taker’s war story.
So, the tool I would reach for is the one we built: PrepClubs. Think of it as the drill layer that sits under a free read-once course like Professor Messer, not a replacement for it. Every test starts with a free 25-question diagnostic, so you find your weakest domain before spending a cent, then ten full-length practice forms if you want to drill properly. The access model is a one-time payment with 30-day access and a Pass Guarantee, not a subscription. And to be straight with you: these are original practice questions, not the real exam, and we are not affiliated with CompTIA. Take the free diagnostic first. If you clear it comfortably, you may not need us at all. If A+ is your on-ramp to a longer path, you can stack the same approach with Network+ and Security+ later.
FAQ
How long does it take to study for A+ with no experience?
For a career switcher starting cold, plan on roughly two to three months of steady evening and weekend study across both cores. That is an estimate, not a guarantee. Consistency matters far more than raw hours, and the questions-first method above tends to get people to the passing line faster than pure reading does.
Which A+ core should I take first?
For most switchers, Core 1 first. It is more concrete, hardware and networking you can physically touch, which builds confidence and gives you scaffolding for the more abstract material in Core 2. The exception is if you already live in Windows and your target role is very software or help-desk heavy.
Can I self-study A+ with no IT background?
Yes. CompTIA recommends hands-on experience as ideal, but it is not a hard prerequisite. The objectives are public, the material is learnable from scratch, and cheap hands-on practice on an old machine or free virtualization tools covers the gap. The switchers who struggle are usually the ones who only read and never drilled.
Is A+ hard for career switchers?
It is challenging, mostly because of breadth rather than depth. There is a lot of ground to cover and two separate exams to clear. But nothing in A+ requires a CS degree or advanced math. If you follow a structured plan and practice under timed conditions, it is very passable.
How many practice questions do I need?
More than feels comfortable. There is no magic number, but the honest answer is: keep drilling until your scores on questions you have never seen before sit consistently above the passing line across multiple full-length attempts. If you can only clear the bar on questions you have already memorized, you are not ready.
Do I need to take both cores?
Yes. The A+ certification requires passing both Core 1 (220-1201) and Core 2 (220-1202). Passing only one does not earn you the certification. Budget for around $265 an exam, so roughly $530 for both, and check for student bundles or discount vouchers that can bring that down.
One last time, because it is the only sentence that matters: read each topic once, then spend the rest of your time answering timed questions until the right answer is automatic.