PL-300 certification: Power BI exam format, passing score and renewal

What is the PL-300 certification?

PL-300 is the exam that earns Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate. One exam, no second paper, and Microsoft states no enforced prerequisites. You will see it written as Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate PL-300, as Microsoft PL-300 certification, or simply as Power BI PL-300 and Power BI PL 300 — one credential under several spellings, and the PL-300 certification and the PL 300 certification are the same thing.

The role it describes is the whole Power BI workflow rather than report design alone: connecting and cleaning data, building the model, producing the visuals and analysis, and then administering and securing what you built.

One disambiguation, because the search results mix them: PL 300 is also a Loctite foamboard construction adhesive, and “300 … Pl” turns up as a street address in a dozen American cities. This page is about the Microsoft exam.

Source: Microsoft — Power BI Data Analyst Associate. Checked 26 September 2026.

What is on the PL-300 exam?

Microsoft publishes the weightings as ranges. Prepare the data, model the data, and visualize and analyze the data each account for 25 to 30 per cent; manage and secure Power BI accounts for 15 to 20 per cent.

Read that carefully before you plan: three quarters or more of the exam sits in the hands-on modelling and analysis work, and the administration slice is the smallest — but it is also the one analysts who only ever build reports tend to skip entirely, and 15 to 20 per cent is more than enough to fail on.

The skills were last updated on 20 April 2026, so any study material written against an older version of the outline is out of date.

Source: Microsoft — Study guide for Exam PL-300. Checked 26 September 2026.

PL-300 passing score and format

Microsoft states a passing score of 700 or greater, on its usual scaled range. That is a scaled score, not a percentage of questions answered correctly — 700 does not mean 70 per cent, and a practice result in per cent is not directly comparable to it.

The PL-300 exam runs 100 minutes. Microsoft does not publish how many questions the PL 300 exam contains, on either the certification page or the study guide, so treat any specific count you see elsewhere as unsourced.

Source: Microsoft — Study guide for Exam PL-300. Checked 26 September 2026.

Renewal: yearly, and free

This is the detail that surprises people coming from other vendors. Microsoft role-based certifications expire after 12 months, and you renew by passing a free online assessment on Microsoft Learn — unproctored, and repeatable if you do not pass the first time.

So the cost of holding PL-300 is not the exam fee repeated every year; it is one afternoon a year. Worth building into your calendar, because an expired certification is simply gone.

Source: Microsoft — Power BI Data Analyst Associate. Checked 26 September 2026.

What does the PL-300 certification cost?

Microsoft does not put a USD figure on the certification page. It states only that the price depends on the country or region in which the exam is proctored, so the amount appears at registration.

We would rather point you there than publish a number Microsoft has not stated on the page we can cite.

Source: Microsoft — Power BI Data Analyst Associate. Checked 26 September 2026.

PL-300 practice questions and practice exams

PL-300 practice questions are not yet on this site. There is no PL-300 practice exam here, and no PL 300 practice exam either — the question bank is in build, and the waitlist on this page is how you hear when it opens.

When it does, it will carry questions with an explanation for every option, weighted the way Microsoft weights the exam — including the manage-and-secure material that report-builders skip.

PL-300 questions people ask

What certification does PL-300 earn?

Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate — the credential you will also see written as Microsoft Certified Power BI Data Analyst Associate exam PL 300. Source: Microsoft, checked 26 September 2026.

What is the PL-300 passing score?

700 or greater, on Microsoft’s scaled range. It is not a percentage. Source: Microsoft study guide, checked 26 September 2026.

How long is the exam?

100 minutes. Microsoft does not publish a question count, checked 26 September 2026.

How is PL-300 weighted?

Prepare the data 25–30%, model the data 25–30%, visualize and analyze 25–30%, manage and secure Power BI 15–20%. Source: Microsoft, checked 26 September 2026.

Does PL-300 expire?

Yes — after 12 months. Renewal is free through an online assessment on Microsoft Learn. Source: Microsoft, checked 26 September 2026.

How much does the PL-300 certification cost?

Microsoft publishes no USD price; it states the price depends on the country or region where the exam is proctored, checked 26 September 2026.

Is PL 300 the same as PL-300?

Yes. The hyphen is a spelling difference, not a different exam — Microsoft Certified Power BI Data Analyst Associate PL-300 and Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate are the same credential.

Does Certsqill have PL-300 practice questions?

Not yet — the question bank is in build. Join the waitlist on this page to be told when it opens.