Passing SQLD 2024 (4th Sitting)
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The Exam
Exam date: 2024-11-17
The exam is held four times a year. There’s a failing threshold of under 40% per subject, and you need a total score above 60 to pass.
Each question is worth 2 points: 10 questions for subject 1, and 40 questions for subject 2.
For reference, I got my Engineer Information Processing certification in the first sitting of 2023, and I currently work as a developer.
How I Studied
The book known as the “yellow book” for SQLD
The book known as the “yellow book” for SQLD
The yellow book only contains practice questions and solutions. Looking at the table of contents, it goes up to subject 3, but SQLD itself only covers up to subject 2.
Subject 1 has 50 questions.
Subject 2 has 126 questions.
I’m not really the type to set aside a whole day and grind through problems. So I studied by chipping away at a few questions after work each day, starting about a month before the exam. I didn’t follow any lecture series or structured materials — I just looked up whatever keywords came up while solving problems, as I went.
I didn’t manage to finish a full pass through the book — I only got up to question 79 of subject 2 before going into the exam.
Exam Impressions
Compared to the yellow book, the actual exam’s passages and four-choice options were less convoluted. That said, the same nagging “I’m not 100% sure” feeling was still there.
Most of the query questions require you to distinguish differences in results based on a specific factor. Since the passages and answer choices were relatively simple, it was easier than with the yellow book to recognize “ah, this is asking about the difference caused by factor A” — but pinning down exactly what that difference was still tripped me up, both while studying and during the actual exam.
The exam time is 1 hour 30 minutes. If you go through it without overthinking, you have plenty of time to spare; if you get stuck and second-guess yourself 2-3 times, you’ll use up nearly all of it. Overall, this isn’t an exam where you need to worry about running out of time.
If You’re Preparing for This Exam
How long you need to prepare will vary depending on your study style and background knowledge.
If you want to prepare thoroughly with no ambiguity left, I think the most effective approach is to go through the yellow book quickly the first time (without overthinking), and then use the second pass to review and reinforce what you learned.
On the first pass, aim to recognize “ah, this is asking about the difference caused by factor A.”
On the second pass, review exactly what that difference caused by factor A actually was.
Doing this should leave you feeling confident about most of the questions.