CompTIA A+ 220-1101 (Core 1): What's Actually Tested

CompTIA A+ 220-1101 (Core 1) is the hardware-and-networking half of the A+ certification, the credential most help desk and IT support hires start with. The exam was $249, ran 90 minutes, had up to 90 questions, and required 675 out of 900 to pass. One important fact up front: the 220-1101 version retired on September 25, 2025, and was replaced by 220-1201 (the V15 release). If you're booking a test today, you'll sit 220-1201, not 220-1101. The good news is the two are about 80% the same exam, so everything here still maps almost directly to what you'll study. Read this as the honest overview of Core 1, with the version change called out where it matters.

The 90-second answer

Take A+ Core 1 if you want to break into IT support, help desk, or field tech work and you don't have a degree or prior certs. A+ is the credential that gets resumes past the first filter for $40K to $55K entry roles. Core 1 is the hardware, networking, and troubleshooting half. You pass it plus Core 2 (220-1102, now 220-1202) to earn the full A+.

Skip A+ Core 1 if you already have 2+ years of hands-on IT experience or a networking-focused goal. If you're aiming straight at networking, Network+ is the better target. If you're aiming at security, you can often skip A+ and go Security+ with some experience. A+ is an entry credential, not a career capstone. Paying $249 twice to prove you can reseat RAM is wasteful if you're already past that level.

What does A+ Core 1 actually test?

220-1101 tested five domains. The weights below are the official 220-1101 breakdown. The successor 220-1201 keeps the same five domain names with only minor weight shifts, so this table is still your study map.

Domain	Weight	What it covers
Hardware and Network Troubleshooting	29%	Diagnosing failed RAM, storage, displays, printers, network connectivity, and a methodical troubleshooting process
Hardware	25%	RAM, storage (SATA/NVMe), CPUs, motherboards, power supplies, cables, connectors, peripherals, printers
Networking	20%	Ports and protocols, TCP/IP, Wi-Fi standards, SOHO routers, network types, DNS, DHCP
Mobile Devices	15%	Laptop components, display types, mobile connectivity, accessories, configuration
Virtualization and Cloud Computing	11%	Cloud models (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS), client-side virtualization, resource requirements

The exam is broad, not deep. It rewards recognition over reasoning. A typical question shows you a symptom ("a laptop displays dim, flickering output that improves when you press on the bezel") and asks for the most likely cause. You're matching symptoms to components, ports to protocols, and standards to speeds. Performance-based questions (PBQs) put you in a simulated interface and ask you to configure a SOHO router or match cables to ports.

If you've heard A+ described as "a mile wide and an inch deep," that's accurate. The challenge is volume, not difficulty.

How hard is A+ Core 1?

A+ Core 1 is a difficulty 2 out of 5. It's an entry exam by design. Harder than nothing, easier than Network+ or Security+. The published pass mark is 675 on a 100 to 900 scale, which works out to roughly 75%. CompTIA does not publish pass rates, but community surveys put first-attempt pass rates around 65 to 75% for people who studied 6+ weeks.

The hard part isn't any single concept. The hard parts are:

• Sheer breadth. You memorize dozens of port numbers, Wi-Fi standards, RAM types, connector shapes, and cable categories. None of it is hard, but there is a lot of it.
• Performance-based questions first. PBQs usually appear at the start. They eat time and rattle nervous candidates. Flag them, skip ahead, do the multiple-choice, then come back.
• Trick distractors. Many questions offer two plausible answers (for example, two RAM types that both fit the slot) where only one matches the full scenario.
• Pacing. Up to 90 questions in 90 minutes is one minute each. PBQs can burn five minutes apiece, so the multiple-choice has to move fast.

People who fail Core 1 usually fail because they crammed acronyms without ever touching hardware, or they froze on the opening PBQs and lost 20 minutes before answering a single regular question. Do the PBQs last.

How long should you study for A+ Core 1?

CompTIA recommends 12 months of hands-on IT support experience before A+. Most candidates don't have that, and that's fine, you just study longer. A realistic plan:

• With IT experience (1+ year): 3 to 5 weeks at 8 to 10 hours per week
• With some computer comfort, no IT job: 6 to 8 weeks at 8 to 10 hours per week
• Complete beginner: 10 to 12 weeks, and budget hands-on time with real or simulated hardware
• Studying Core 1 and Core 2 back to back: plan 10 to 16 weeks total and test for Core 1 first

The biggest waste of study time is pure video watching with no recall practice. A+ is a memorization exam, so active recall (flashcards, practice questions) beats passive video by a wide margin. If you can, open a desktop case and identify the parts. Building or upgrading one cheap PC teaches more hardware than ten hours of lectures.

A realistic week-by-week pace for a 6-week plan looks like:

1. Week 1: Hardware fundamentals (RAM types, storage, CPUs, motherboards, power supplies)
2. Week 2: Cables, connectors, peripherals, and printers
3. Week 3: Networking (ports and protocols, TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP)
4. Week 4: Wi-Fi standards, SOHO routers, network types, mobile devices
5. Week 5: Virtualization, cloud models, and the full troubleshooting methodology
6. Week 6: Performance-based question drills, timed practice exams, and memorizing the port-number and Wi-Fi-standard cheat sheets cold

Most failures come from skipping the dedicated troubleshooting week. The troubleshooting domain is 29% of the exam, the single biggest slice, and it's the one that rewards method (identify the problem, establish a theory, test, resolve, document) over raw facts.

What does A+ Core 1 cost?

The exam itself was $249 USD per attempt, and that's the same price as the current 220-1201. Remember A+ requires two exams (Core 1 and Core 2), so the full certification is two fees. Real total cost depends on your study path:

Component	Range	Notes
Exam fee (Core 1)	$249	One attempt. Retake is another $249 if you fail. Full A+ needs Core 2 too.
Study course	$0 to $130	Professor Messer's A+ videos are free; CompTIA CertMaster Learn is the paid official path
Practice questions	$0 to $50	NerdExam has 1003 220-1101 questions if you want a free option
Lab hardware	$0 to $100	Optional. An old desktop or a $40 parts bundle helps the hardware domain stick
Books	$0 to $50	Mike Meyers' All-in-One is the classic; optional if you use video plus questions
Total realistic spend	$249 to $480	Cheapest viable path: $249 (exam only) plus free videos

CompTIA sometimes bundles a Core 1 plus Core 2 voucher pack and discounts retakes, and academic vouchers run cheaper if you qualify through a school. There's no free retake, so don't book until your practice scores sit above the pass line consistently.

What salary can you expect?

A+ is an entry-level credential, and the salaries reflect that. It opens the door; it doesn't pay six figures on its own. 2025 to 2026 US data shows:

• Entry help desk / IT support technician: $40,000 to $55,000
• Field service / desktop support technician: $45,000 to $60,000
• Median across A+ holders: roughly $63,000 (skewed up by people who hold more than just A+)
• With 3+ years plus a second cert (Network+ or Security+): $70,000 to $85,000

The honest framing: A+ gets you the first IT job. The salary jump comes from the experience that job gives you, plus the next cert. Treat A+ as the entry ticket, not the destination. The people earning $80K with "A+" on their resume earned it through the roles A+ unlocked, not the cert itself.

A practical tip: if you're currently in a non-IT job and earn A+, apply internally first. Many companies will move a warehouse or retail employee into a help desk seat once they have A+, and that internal move is often easier than breaking in cold from the outside.

What study resources actually work?

The candidates who pass on the first attempt use a consistent, cheap stack:

1. Professor Messer's free A+ Core 1 video series on YouTube. It's the community default for a reason: complete, current, and free. Watch at 1.5x.
2. CompTIA CertMaster Learn or Mike Meyers' All-in-One book for structured depth if videos alone don't stick. Pick one, not both.
3. Heavy practice questions to convert recognition into recall. This is the single highest-leverage activity for a memorization exam.
4. PBQ-specific practice. The simulations trip people up. Do as many as you can find so the format isn't new on test day.
5. Cheat sheets memorized cold: port numbers, Wi-Fi standards (and their speeds and frequencies), RAM generations, and the troubleshooting steps in order.

Skip the expensive bootcamps. A+ does not require one. Free Professor Messer videos plus a strong question bank cover the same ground for a fraction of the cost. The r/CompTIA subreddit has the most current crowd-sourced advice on which resources are working this quarter.

For the practice question portion, NerdExam has 1003 enriched 220-1101 questions with full explanations. Start practicing 220-1101 questions to see the question style before you commit to a study plan. The free question explanations show you the symptom-to-component reasoning the exam expects, which is exactly the pattern videos teach slowest.

Who should NOT take A+ Core 1?

The cert is wrong for these candidates:

You are	Take instead
Already 2+ years into an IT role	Network+ or Security+ (skip the entry credential)
Targeting networking specifically	CompTIA Network+
Targeting cybersecurity with some experience	CompTIA Security+
A software developer	A+ teaches nothing relevant; skip it
Booking a test in 2026	The same content, but as 220-1201 (V15), since 220-1101 retired in September 2025

The last row matters most right now. If you search for "220-1101" and try to register, you won't be able to: it's retired. Study the same domains, but book the 220-1201 exam. Any 220-1101 material that covers the five domains above is roughly 80% applicable, with updates mostly in cloud, Wi-Fi 6E/7, and newer connector standards.

What's next after A+ Core 1?

Core 1 is half the A+. Here's the realistic path forward:

• Finish A+: Pass Core 2 (220-1102, now 220-1202) to earn the full certification. Most people do this within a month or two of Core 1.
• Network+: The natural next step for anyone leaning toward infrastructure or network admin work. Builds directly on the networking domain you just studied.
• Security+: The highest-value follow-on for most A+ holders. DoD-approved, widely required, and the cert that moves you from "support" pay to "security" pay.
• Land the job first. A+ plus a help desk role for 6 to 12 months beats collecting certs with no experience. Hiring managers want both.

Most people go A+, then Network+ or Security+ within a year, while working an entry IT role. The cert ladder pays off when each rung sits on top of real job experience, not when you stack three certs with an empty work history.

Ready to start? Practice with real 220-1101 questions on NerdExam or jump straight into the free per-question explanations. The official A+ objectives are also worth skimming before you build a study plan: see CompTIA's A+ page here.