How I passed DP-700: Implementing Data Engineering Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric

I took the DP-700 exam in January 2025 as soon as it was released and passed! To prepare, I used the official study guide along with the official course. To track my progress, I used an Excel sheet, which I later imported into a Power BI file for better high-level understanding of my progress. I also took notes from all the Microsoft Learn modules that I studied and saved them in OneNote, which proved invaluable for review. The day before and the day of the exam, I relied on my OneNote notes for a final refresher. Later in this post, I’ll share a link to my GitHub, where I’ve uploaded all these files.

Here is a link to my video on the same topic where I walk you through the exact resources and strategies I used to pass the DP-700 exam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om0kJ2fbmko

Why the Study Guide is important?

Like any other Microsoft certification, the best place to start is the official study guide: Study Guide for Exam DP-700: Implementing Data Engineering Solutions Using Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn , so that’s exactly where I started!

The study guide is essential because it outlines the 48 key skills tested in the exam. Given that everyone has limited study time, focusing on the exact scope of the exam helps ensure efficient and targeted preparation.

At the bottom of the study guide, you’ll find a link to the official DP-700 course, which I used to study each listed skill. As I went through the course, I revisited the study guide, checking off the skills I had covered.

Tracking my Study Progress

To track my progress, I used an Excel file and a Power BI report.

Below is an image of my Excel file. As I studied each Microsoft Learn module from the official course, I returned to this file and marked a row with “1” to indicate completion. However, some skills were spread across multiple modules or sometimes not fully covered in the official materials. For these, I initially assigned a partial score (e.g., 0.25 or 0.5) to reflect my progress. In cases where topics weren’t fully covered, I had to explore community blogs and external resources to fill in the gaps.

Being a Power BI enthusiast, I couldn’t resist taking it a step further—I imported my Excel file into Power BI to visualize my progress! The image below shows my study progress toward the end of my preparation.

Since the passing score for DP-700 is 70% (700 out of 1000), I set a personal goal of 80% to allow some margin for error. I also took a conservative approach when marking topics as studied. If a Learn module only partially covered a concept and I didn’t feel confident in my understanding, I left it unmarked.

Here is a link to my GitHub where you can find the above resources: GitHub

Know Your Way Around Microsoft Learn

Since the DP-700 exam is open book, meaning you can access Microsoft Learn during the test, I made sure I was comfortable navigating the site. I practiced finding my way from Microsoft Learn’s main landing page to the Microsoft Fabric area, as well as locating syntax pages for PySpark, KQL, and SQL—all of which are tested in the exam.

To prepare, I used the following search phrases to quickly find language references:

• KQL: arg_max()
• SQL: DENSE_RANK
• PySpark: pySpark.sql

You can have multiple tabs open within the Microsoft Learn section during the exam. To save time, I searched for and opened three tabs at the beginning of the exam using the search phrases I mentioned above. This allowed me to quickly switch between references without having to search repeatedly.

Keep in mind that even if you know where to look, searching for answers takes time, and you don’t want to rely on it too much. While taking the exam, I used Microsoft Learn for about 5–10 questions, sometimes just for a quick confirmation of something I already knew.

Finally, on exam day, if you’re taking the exam remotely and have access to a larger external monitor, I highly recommend using it. This will give you more screen space, allowing you to keep Microsoft Learn open on the side without constantly opening and closing it, making navigation much more efficient.

Practice Test

At the time I took the exam (January 2025), a DP-700 practice test was not available. However, I took the DP-203 practice test instead. While DP-203 is an older exam, it includes many KQL and Pipeline questions that overlap with DP-700. Even though DP-700 focuses on the SaaS (Software as a Service) model, the core concepts remain the same, making it a valuable resource.

Taking the practice test helped me identify my knowledge gaps in the areas of KQL and Pipelines and focus my study efforts on areas that needed improvement. I highly recommend adding the practice test into your preparation strategy!

A Few Final Words

Before exam day, if you are taking the exam remotely, make sure to run a hardware test (network, display, etc.). Pearson VUE, the provider I took the exam with, offers this check to ensure your system meets the requirements. I highly recommend doing it a week in advance and again the day before to avoid any last-minute technical issues.

Also, keep in mind that simply going through the Microsoft Learn modules is not enough to pass the exam. While the knowledge checks at the end of each module are helpful, they represent the easiest level of questions you’ll encounter. Don’t let them give you a false sense of confidence—the actual exam is much more challenging, and proper study is essential.

Best of luck with your exam! You’ve got this! 🎉