7-Day Accelerated Plan (CCAO-F)¶

Level: Intermediate · Time: 3 to 4 hours a day, ~25 hours total · Track: CCAO-F (Claude Certified Associate – Foundations)

Who this plan is for¶

This is a sprint for experienced Claude users: people who already use Claude (or a similar assistant) most working days, have set up at least one Project, and are comfortable iterating on prompts. It is not suitable for complete beginners. If you are new to AI, use the 30-day structured plan; if you have some experience but not daily use, use the 15-day plan.

The plan follows the seven CCAO-F domains and spends the most time on the most heavily weighted ones. Weights and exam format are recorded in registry.yaml and summarised in Exam facts.

gantt
    title 7-day accelerated plan
    dateFormat X
    axisFormat Day %s
    section Learn
    D1 Prompting                     :1, 2
    D2 Output evaluation             :2, 3
    D3 and D5 Products, models, Projects :3, 4
    D4 and D7 Workflows, troubleshooting :4, 5
    D6 Governance                    :5, 6
    section Test and revise
    Full mock exam and gap repair    :6, 7
    Final revision and readiness     :7, 8

Before you start (30 minutes)¶

Do the CCAO-F readiness assessment once, untimed, to find your weakest domains. Give those domains extra time on their day.
Make sure you can run the mock exam engine: see Mock examinations.
Have a Claude account ready. A paid plan helps (research, larger Project knowledge) but is not essential.

Day 1: Prompting and task execution (Domain 1)¶


Objectives	Write prompts that state task, context, audience, format and constraints (CCAO-F-1.1); decompose a complex request (1.2); iterate based on output (1.3); adapt to drafting, analysis, research and brainstorming (1.4)
Reading	Prompt fundamentals · Clear, direct instructions · Structure with XML tags · Examples (few-shot) · Task decomposition and chaining · Iterating on prompts · Study guide: Domain 1
Practical exercises	Lab 02: Prompt improvement (mock mode) or the in-app version: take one real work task, write a one-line prompt, then rewrite it with all eight building blocks and compare. Do the Domain 1 items in practical exercises
Estimated time	3.5 hours (2 h reading, 1 h exercises, 30 min questions)
Knowledge checkpoint	Score 80% or more on 15 Domain 1 practice questions in learning mode. From memory, list the eight prompt building blocks and match each task type to its most helpful technique

Day 2: Output evaluation and validation (Domain 2, the heaviest domain)¶


Objectives	Evaluate accuracy and completeness (2.1); spot hallucinations, inconsistency and bias (2.2); apply fact-checking (2.3); decide when human review is needed (2.4); adapt outputs for an audience (2.5); choose output formats (2.6)
Reading	Hallucinations · Capabilities and limitations · Artifacts and output formats · Structured output · Study guide: Domain 2
Practical exercises	Lab 04: Document-grounded Q&A and Lab 03: Structured outputs. In the app: ask Claude for a summary of a public report with statistics, then verify every figure against the source and record what you found
Estimated time	4 hours
Knowledge checkpoint	80% or more on 20 Domain 2 questions. Explain from memory the three review levels (low, medium, high stakes) and give one example of each

Day 3: Products, models and configuration (Domains 3 and 5)¶


Objectives	Choose the right feature: chat, Projects, research, Artifacts (3.1); differentiate model families (3.2); match model to cost, speed and quality (3.3); manage context with restart, summarise or persist (3.4); configure Projects with instructions and knowledge (5.1); manage knowledge and connectors (5.2); write system-level instructions (5.3); maintain configurations (5.4)
Reading	All of Module 05: ecosystem, model families, model selection, Projects and knowledge, connectors · Context windows · System prompts and roles · Study guides: Domain 3, Domain 5
Practical exercises	Build a Project for a recurring task with six-section instructions and two knowledge files, then test it with three standard questions. Lab 05: Context management and Lab 06: Model comparison in mock mode
Estimated time	4 hours
Knowledge checkpoint	80% or more on 10 Domain 3 and 10 Domain 5 questions. Without notes, state when to restart, summarise or persist, and name the four model lines in order of speed

Day 4: Workflow integration and troubleshooting (Domains 4 and 7)¶


Objectives	Use Claude to analyse requirements (4.1), research and plan (4.2), support solution design (4.3), integrate into workflows (4.4), and communicate value and limitations (4.5); diagnose poor outputs (7.1), adjust from feedback (7.2), and optimise workflows (7.3)
Reading	Capabilities and limitations (re-read the augment versus automate section) · Stakeholder communication · Business value and ROI · Workflows versus agents · Prompts and outputs troubleshooting · Study guides: Domain 4, Domain 7
Practical exercises	Map one of your own weekly processes, mark which steps Claude could assist, augment or automate, and write a half-page stakeholder note on value and limits. Work through the decision scenarios for Domains 4 and 7
Estimated time	3.5 hours
Knowledge checkpoint	80% or more on 10 Domain 4 and 10 Domain 7 questions. Given a weak output, name its likely cause and fix within one minute

Day 5: Governance, risk and responsible use (Domain 6)¶


Objectives	Distinguish appropriate from inappropriate use (6.1); apply data-sensitivity, regulatory and privacy considerations (6.2); follow organisational policy (6.3); understand ethical implications (6.4)
Reading	Anthropic's safety approach · Responsible use · Prompt injection · Data exfiltration and disclosure · AI governance · Human oversight · Study guide: Domain 6
Practical exercises	Classify ten realistic tasks from your job as allowed, allowed with human review, or not allowed, using the Usage Policy flowchart. Skim the README of Lab 15: Sensitive data protection
Estimated time	3.5 hours
Knowledge checkpoint	80% or more on 15 Domain 6 questions. Revision milestone: a half-length mock exam in learning mode across all domains

Day 6: Full mock exam and gap repair¶


Objectives	Sit a full-length timed mock under exam conditions; turn every miss into a targeted fix
Reading	Only the pages linked from your missed questions. Then common misconceptions
Practical exercises	Revision milestone: full-length timed mock (`python 18-mock-examinations/run_mock_exam.py --track CCAO-F --mode timed`), then retry missed questions with `--weak`
Estimated time	4 hours (2 h mock, 2 h review)
Knowledge checkpoint	Every domain at 70% or more. Any domain below that gets a 45-minute focused re-read and 10 more questions today

Day 7: Final revision and readiness¶


Objectives	Consolidate; confirm readiness; prepare for exam day
Reading	Revision notes · CCAO-F one-pager · Exam-day guide
Practical exercises	Review the CCAO-F flashcards. Revision milestone: a second full mock using a different form, then the readiness assessment
Estimated time	3.5 hours
Knowledge checkpoint	Above 80% overall on the second mock with no domain below 70%, and a "ready" result on the readiness assessment. If not, extend by two or three days using the 15-day plan's revision days

Revision milestones summary¶

When	Milestone	Pass bar
End of Day 5	Half-length mock, learning mode	75% overall
Day 6	Full timed mock 1	70% in every domain
Day 7	Full timed mock 2 and readiness assessment	80% overall, 70% per domain, "ready"

Practice scores are a study signal, not a prediction of an official scaled score.