Azure Data Engineering Certification in 2026
SkillKoder · · 9 min read
The exam almost every search result still points you at no longer exists. Here is what replaced it, what it tests, and whether the skills you already have still count.
If you have been researching an Azure data engineering certification, you have almost certainly been pointed at DP-203: Data Engineering on Microsoft Azure. It is the exam named in most course listings, most YouTube roadmaps, and a good share of the training-institute pages currently competing for this search.
It is also retired. You cannot sit it.
What actually changed
Microsoft has spent the last few years consolidating its data products into Microsoft Fabric — a single platform that folds in what used to be sold separately as Synapse Analytics, Data Factory, Power BI and OneLake storage. The certification track followed the product.
So DP-203 did not disappear because data engineering on Azure stopped mattering. It disappeared because the platform it was written against was reorganised underneath it. The instructor-led course that accompanied it, DP-203T00, was retired at the same time.
The certification map as it stands
There is more than one successor, which is the main reason people find this confusing. These are the exams in the data engineering area right now:
| Exam | Certification | Focus | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| DP-203 | Azure Data Engineer Associate | Synapse, Data Factory, Databricks | Retired 31 March 2025 |
| DP-700 | Fabric Data Engineer Associate | Microsoft Fabric end to end | Current — the main successor |
| DP-750 | Azure Databricks Data Engineer Associate | Databricks specifically | Current |
| DP-600 | Fabric Analytics Engineer Associate | Analytics and semantic modelling on Fabric | Current — adjacent, not a data engineering exam |
For most people asking this question, the choice is between DP-700 and DP-750. DP-600 is worth knowing about but sits closer to the analytics side of the line.
What DP-700 tests
The exam is built around three areas: ingesting and transforming data, securing and managing an analytics solution, and monitoring and optimising an analytics solution.
The languages it expects you to be comfortable in are SQL, PySpark and KQL (Kusto Query Language). The first two will be familiar to anyone who has done pipeline work. KQL is the one that catches people out — it is used for log and telemetry querying, and it is genuinely different from SQL rather than a dialect of it. If you are budgeting study time, give KQL more than feels reasonable.
The exam is proctored and may include interactive components rather than being purely multiple choice, so hands-on practice in an actual Fabric workspace is not optional preparation.
If you already hold DP-203
It stays on your Microsoft Learn transcript. It does not vanish, and it is not something to remove from your CV.
What you cannot do is renew it or re-earn it, because the exam no longer runs. In practice that means the certification gradually ages: a recruiter in 2026 reads it as evidence you did the work, and a recruiter in 2029 will read it as evidence you did the work a while ago. If you want a current credential, DP-700 is the path — and you are starting from a strong position, because most of what DP-203 taught still applies.
Are the Azure skills themselves obsolete?
No, and this is the part worth being precise about, because the retirement announcement is easy to over-read.
Azure Data Factory, Databricks, PySpark, Delta and lakehouse architecture are all still in heavy production use across the industry. Enormous numbers of pipelines are running on them right now and will be for years. A certification retiring is a statement about Microsoft's product packaging, not a statement that the technology underneath has stopped being used.
What has changed is the framing. Fabric is where Microsoft is pointing new work, and Synapse is being absorbed into it. So the honest position is: the skills transfer almost entirely, the platform boundaries have moved, and the exam name on your CV should be the current one.
DP-700 or DP-750?
- Choose DP-700 if you want the broad, default data engineering credential, or you do not yet know which platform your next employer uses. It is the direct successor and the one most job descriptions will start naming.
- Choose DP-750 if you already work in a Databricks shop, or you are targeting one. Databricks skills are portable across clouds in a way Fabric skills are not, which some people reasonably weight heavily.
- Do both, eventually, if data engineering is your long-term direction. They overlap enough that the second is much cheaper in study time than the first.
A buying signal worth using
Here is a practical test you can apply to any training provider, including this one.
Search their site for DP-203. If they are still advertising DP-203 preparation in 2026 — more than a year after the exam was withdrawn — you have learned something useful about how closely their curriculum tracks the field they teach. It is a small check and it is quite revealing.
Where to start
- Read the official DP-700 study guide on Microsoft Learn. It is free, it is authoritative, and it is updated when the exam changes — unlike most articles about it, including this one eventually.
- Get a Fabric workspace and build something end to end. Ingest a real dataset, transform it, and put it somewhere queryable. The interactive exam components reward people who have actually done this.
- Drill KQL separately. It is the most common gap for people arriving from a SQL background.
- Sit the exam once you can build the pipeline without looking things up constantly. Certification confirms skill; it is a poor way to acquire it.
Our Azure Data Engineering programme teaches the underlying stack — Data Factory, Databricks, PySpark, Synapse and lakehouse design — with real pipelines rather than exam drills. It is a skills course, not a cram course, and those skills are what both DP-700 and DP-750 are testing for. See the Azure Data Engineering course
Frequently asked questions
Is DP-203 still valid in 2026?
If you already passed it, the certification remains on your Microsoft Learn transcript and is still reasonable to list on a CV. But the exam was retired on 31 March 2025, so it cannot be taken or renewed. Anyone starting now should plan for DP-700 instead.
Which certification replaced DP-203?
DP-700, which awards Microsoft Certified: Fabric Data Engineer Associate. There is also DP-750 for Azure Databricks specifically. DP-700 is the closer match to what DP-203 covered and is the sensible default.
Do I need to know Microsoft Fabric to pass DP-700?
Yes — it is a Fabric exam, and it includes interactive components. Reading about Fabric is not sufficient preparation. You need hands-on time in a workspace ingesting, transforming and monitoring data.
Is an Azure data engineering certification worth it in India?
It helps most when you are moving into data engineering from an adjacent role and need something on the CV that says the skills are real. It matters less once you have shipped pipelines in production, at which point your project history carries more weight than the badge. Treat it as a door-opener rather than a destination.
Do I need DP-900 before DP-700?
No. DP-900 is a fundamentals-level exam with no prerequisite relationship to DP-700. It is a reasonable warm-up if you are completely new to Azure data services, and skippable if you are not.