15-Day Preparation Plan (CCAO-F)¶
Level: Beginner to Intermediate · Time: about 2 hours a day, ~30 hours total · Track: CCAO-F (Claude Certified Associate – Foundations)
Who this plan is for¶
This plan suits people who have used Claude or a similar AI assistant now and then and want to prepare properly for CCAO-F in about two weeks. No coding is required. It assumes you are comfortable trying things in an app and can find two hours a day.
It is not ideal for complete beginners: it moves through the fundamentals quickly. If AI is entirely new to you, take the 30-day structured plan instead. If you already use Claude daily and have built Projects, the 7-day plan may be enough.
Exam format and domain weights are in registry.yaml and Exam facts.
flowchart LR
W1["Days 1-6: foundations, prompting, output evaluation"] --> R1{{"Day 6: revision milestone 1"}}
R1 --> W2["Days 7-12: products, Projects, governance, workflows, troubleshooting"]
W2 --> R2{{"Day 13: full mock 1"}}
R2 --> G["Day 14: gap repair"]
G --> R3{{"Day 15: full mock 2 + readiness"}}How to use the tables¶
Each row is one day. "Checkpoint" is what you must be able to do before moving on; if you cannot, spend 20 minutes on the weakest page and retry. Practice questions are in 17-practice-questions; run them in the mock exam engine in learning mode with --domain. Labs run free in mock mode (environment setup); in-app exercises need a Claude account.
Days 1 to 6: foundations, prompting and output evaluation¶
| Day | Objectives | Reading | Practical exercises | Time | Knowledge checkpoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explain AI, generative AI and LLMs; define tokens | What is AI? · Generative AI · Large language models · Tokens | Lab 01: First Claude interaction in mock mode, or the classify-versus-generate exercise in Generative AI | 2 h | All four page quizzes correct; estimate tokens for a 1,000-word document |
| 2 | Explain context windows, hallucinations and limitations; explain statelessness and roles | Context windows · Hallucinations · Capabilities and limitations · How Claude works | The statelessness test (incognito chat) from How Claude works; the summarise-and-restart exercise | 2 h | State restart, summarise and persist with one example each; list five hallucination-reduction techniques |
| 3 | Hold a productive conversation; write a structured prompt (CCAO-F-1.1, 1.3) | Your first conversation · Prompt fundamentals · Clear, direct instructions · XML tags | The guided office-move exercise in Your first conversation; Lab 02: Prompt improvement | 2 h | Rewrite a vague prompt using all eight building blocks without notes |
| 4 | Use examples, decompose tasks, iterate, adapt to task type (1.2, 1.3, 1.4) | Few-shot examples · Task decomposition · Iterating on prompts · Study guide: Domain 1 | Split a real multi-part request into a chain of three prompts in the app; Domain 1 items in practical exercises | 2 h | 80% or more on 15 Domain 1 practice questions |
| 5 | Evaluate outputs, catch hallucinations, fact-check, decide on human review (2.1 to 2.4) | Re-read the techniques in Hallucinations · Responsible use: verify · Study guide: Domain 2 | Lab 04: Document-grounded Q&A; in the app, verify every figure in a Claude summary of a public report | 2 h | Classify five outputs as low, medium or high stakes and state the review each needs |
| 6 | Adapt outputs for audiences and choose formats (2.5, 2.6) | Artifacts and output formats · Structured output | Lab 03: Structured outputs; the four-formats exercise in the Artifacts page | 2 h | 80% or more on 20 Domain 2 questions. Revision milestone 1: fundamentals flashcards and a review of your study log |
Days 7 to 12: products, Projects, governance, workflows and troubleshooting¶
| Day | Objectives | Reading | Practical exercises | Time | Knowledge checkpoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Choose features; differentiate model families; match models to needs (3.1 to 3.3) | Product ecosystem · Model families · Model selection · Study guide: Domain 3 | Lab 06: Model comparison in mock mode; in the app, run one prompt on two models and compare | 2 h | Pick a feature and a model for five scenarios and justify each in one sentence |
| 8 | Manage context and memory; configure Projects (3.4, 5.1) | Projects and knowledge · What is context engineering? · Memory and persistence | Lab 05: Context management; create a Project for a recurring task | 2 h | 80% or more on 10 Domain 3 questions |
| 9 | Write system-level instructions; manage knowledge and connectors; maintain configurations (5.2 to 5.4) | System prompts and roles · Connectors and integrations · Study guide: Domain 5 | Rewrite yesterday's Project instructions in six sections; add a change note; test with three standard questions; enable one connector read-only and try it | 2 h | 80% or more on 15 Domain 5 questions |
| 10 | Apply responsible use, data sensitivity and policy (6.1 to 6.4) | Anthropic's safety approach · Responsible use · AI governance · Human oversight · Study guide: Domain 6 | Classify ten work tasks with the Usage Policy flowchart; draft a one-page team AI-use checklist | 2 h | 80% or more on 15 Domain 6 questions |
| 11 | Use Claude for requirements, research, design and workflow integration; communicate value and limits (4.1 to 4.5) | Capabilities and limitations · Workflows versus agents · Stakeholder communication · Study guide: Domain 4 | Map one of your processes into assist, augment and automate steps; write a short stakeholder note | 2 h | 80% or more on 15 Domain 4 questions |
| 12 | Diagnose poor outputs; adjust from feedback; optimise workflows (7.1 to 7.3) | Prompts and outputs troubleshooting · Study guide: Domain 7 · Decision scenarios | Take three weak outputs from earlier days and fix each with one targeted change | 2 h | 80% or more on 10 Domain 7 questions |
Days 13 to 15: mock exams and readiness¶
| Day | Objectives | Reading | Practical exercises | Time | Knowledge checkpoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Perform under exam conditions | None beforehand | Revision milestone 2: full-length timed mock (python 18-mock-examinations/run_mock_exam.py --track CCAO-F --mode timed); review every miss |
2.5 h | 70% or more in every domain; list your two weakest domains |
| 14 | Repair gaps | Common misconceptions · the study-guide pages for your two weakest domains | Retry missed questions with --weak; 15 more questions per weak domain; CCAO-F flashcards |
2 h | 80% or more on the retried and new questions |
| 15 | Confirm readiness | Revision notes · CCAO-F one-pager · Exam day | Revision milestone 3: second full mock using a different form; readiness assessment | 2.5 h | Above 80% overall, no domain below 70%, and "ready" on the assessment. Otherwise add three days of targeted revision |
Revision milestones¶
| Day | What | Pass bar |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Fundamentals flashcards; study-log review | All cards answered confidently or scheduled for review |
| 13 | Full timed mock 1 | 70% in every domain |
| 15 | Full timed mock 2 and readiness assessment | 80% overall, 70% per domain |
Practice scores are a study signal only; the questions are unofficial and do not predict an official scaled score.