Learn Claude: courses and certifications

Two halves, one program

Anthropic's learning program has a free half and a paid half, and they are not the same thing. The free half is a catalog of around twenty self-paced courses covering Claude, Claude Code, the API, MCP, agent skills, and AI fluency. The paid half is four proctored exams that award a credential. You can do either without the other.

That distinction matters more than it sounds. Nothing in the catalog is a prerequisite for any exam, and no exam requires you to have completed a single course. Anthropic's exam guides say plainly that recommended experience is advisory and the credential is awarded on exam performance alone. So treat the catalog as the study material and the exams as the optional proof.

One thing to know before you read further, because it decides whether half this article applies to you: the courses are open to anyone, the exams are not. Registration is gated to organizations in the Claude Partner Network - free to join, but not open to a personal email address. Section 05 has the detail.

Most people should start free. Work the courses that match what you actually do, then decide whether a credential is worth the fee - it is worth it when a client, an employer, or a partner listing asks for one, and often not otherwise.

The free course catalog

Anthropic's courses are hosted at anthropic.skilljar.com. All of them are free and self-paced, and you do not need an Anthropic account to take them. Grouped by what they are for:

Start here

• Claude 101. Using Claude for everyday work tasks, the core features, and where to go next.
• Claude Code 101. Getting Claude Code into your daily development workflow.
• Claude Platform 101. Building on the platform from the ground up, whether you have made a few API calls or only ever used the chat window.
• Introduction to Claude Cowork. The Cowork task loop, plugins and skills, file and research workflows, and steering multi-step work.
• AI Capabilities and Limitations. An introductory course on how AI works.

Build on the API

• Building with the Claude API. The full spectrum of working with Anthropic models through the API.
• Claude Code in Action. Running long, hands-off Claude Code sessions you can trust - steering, configuring, automating, verifying.

Agents, MCP, and Skills

• Introduction to Model Context Protocol. Building MCP servers and clients from scratch in Python, across the three primitives: tools, resources, and prompts.
• Model Context Protocol: Advanced Topics. Sampling, notifications, file system access, and transports for production MCP servers.
• Introduction to agent skills. Building, configuring, and sharing Skills in Claude Code, from your first Skill to distributing them across a team.
• Introduction to subagents. Using and creating subagents in Claude Code to manage context and delegate work.

AI Fluency

A family of courses on collaborating with AI effectively, efficiently, ethically, and safely. AI Fluency: Framework and Foundations is the core one; the rest apply the same framework to an audience - Builders, students, educators, nonprofits, and small businesses - plus Teaching AI Fluency for instructor-led settings and a two-course AI Fluency for pK-12 Educators path.

Pick your route

Four routes cover almost everyone. Anthropic does not publish a required course list for any exam, so this is a sensible order rather than an official mapping. The exams in the last column are unpacked in Section 05:

If you are picking between the Associate and the Developer exam, the question is not seniority - it is whether you build against the API. If your work happens in the chat window, in Cowork, and in documents, the Associate exam is the one that matches. If you write the code that calls Claude, go straight to the Developer exam instead.

A four-week plan

Concrete version for anyone who wants a schedule rather than a menu. Adjust the courses to your route from the table above.

• Week 1 - ground yourself. Finish the first course on your route. Use Claude daily on real work while you do it; the exams are scenario-based, and scenarios are easier when you have lived a few.
• Week 2 - go deep on one thing. Take the second course on your route. Build something small end to end, even if it is throwaway.
• Week 3 - read the exam guide. Download the current version, list the domains and their weights, and score yourself honestly on each. Study the two lowest, not the ones you enjoy.
• Week 4 - rehearse and book. Practice under a clock - every exam runs 120 minutes (Section 06), which is comfortable only if you are not re-reading questions. Book the slot before you feel ready; the deadline does the rest.

One judgment call worth making early: the Associate exam is heavier on evaluating output and deciding responsibly than on prompting technique. If your prep is all prompt patterns, you are studying the smallest part of the test.

The four certifications

There are exactly four Claude certifications: three Foundations exams, one for each role, plus a single Professional exam sitting above the Architect track.

The prices are per attempt. There is no bundle and no subscription: you pay for the exam you sit. All four are listed on the Anthropic Partner Academy certifications page, each with its own prep courses, exam guide, and registration link.

One eligibility catch worth knowing before you plan around a credential: the exams are open to organizations in the Claude Partner Network, and registration expects a company email tied to a member organization. Joining the network is free, but a personal address alone will not get you to checkout. The course catalog in Section 02 has no such gate.

How the exams work

All four share the same machinery, which makes planning easy - the only real variable is the syllabus.

• 120 minutes, for every one of the four.
• Multiple-choice and multiple-response items. Multiple-response questions tell you how many answers to select, and they are scored all-or-nothing, so a half-right answer earns nothing.
• Scaled scoring from 100 to 1,000, pass at 720. The cut score comes from a formal standard-setting study, not from a fixed percentage of correct answers. Your score report breaks down percent correct per domain.
• Delivered by Pearson VUE, either online-proctored from home or at a physical test center. Passing issues a digital badge through Credly.
• No mandatory prerequisites. You can sit the Architect exams without the Developer one. That does not make it a good idea, but the door is open.
• Valid for 12 months, with a free renewal assessment if you take it on time.

Registration runs through the Anthropic Partner Academy: review the exam guide, accept the terms, check out, then book a slot with Pearson VUE from the confirmation instructions. Read the current exam guide before you pay - it is the only document that defines the domains and their weights, and it is versioned.

One naming quirk to expect: Pearson VUE's own program page still describes the roles as Practitioner, Architect, and Developer, while the exam guides and credentials use Associate, Developer, and Architect. Same program, older labels.

Keeping the credential

A Claude credential is valid for 12 months. Renewing on time is a free, non-proctored assessment - much lighter than the original exam, but only if you do it inside the window. Miss it and you are back to a full paid attempt.

Put the expiry date in your calendar the day you pass, with a reminder a month out. The renewal is also the moment to re-read the current exam guide: the program reached its four-exam shape in 2026 and the guides are versioned, so the syllabus you passed is not automatically the syllabus you renew against.