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Google Cloud · Associate Cloud Engineer
50 to 60 questions. Google won't say how many you need right.
No published pass mark, no fixed question count, and a pass/fail result at the end. You get $125 and two hours to find out. We can't tell you Google's line either — but we can tell you where you stand, and say plainly what we measured it against.
- Weighted to the four sections in the current guide, including the Gemini tooling added in June
- Free practice, unlimited, no card
- A readiness range when you want it, measured against a line we show you
Free practice across all four sections. No card required.
ACEConfiguring access and securityMedium
An app on a Compute Engine VM in project A must write objects to a Cloud Storage bucket in project B. Security has ruled out long-lived keys. What do you do?
Select one.
One choice only. Your earliest pick was dropped.
Where this question sits in the exam
Configuring access and security is ~20% of the Associate Cloud Engineer exam. Our mocks use the same mix.
0 of 1 selected
An original item written against the Google Cloud exam guide, last checked 18 September 2026. Not a real exam question.
June 2026
The guide picked up a lot of Gemini
The English exam changed on 30 June. The guide now lists Gemini Cloud Assist, Gemini CLI and Google Antigravity among the tools an Associate Cloud Engineer is expected to use, and Vertex AI Agent Engine and Vertex AI Workbench appear under their new Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform names.
The role description itself says the work is done "supported by AI tooling." If your notes say Vertex AI Workbench, they were written against the previous version.
| Previous English version | Live 30 June 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| AI tooling | Not named as part of the associate toolkit | Gemini Cloud Assist, Gemini CLI, Google Antigravity |
| Agent platform | Vertex AI Agent Engine | Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Notebooks | Vertex AI Workbench | Renamed under Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform |
| Role description | Hands-on cloud engineering | The same work, "supported by AI tooling" |
How it's scored
Two things Google doesn't tell you
The pass mark isn't published, and the question count is a range — 50 to 60. So there's no percentage to aim at and no denominator to aim it at.
A readiness read still needs a line, so we use 80% weighted accuracy. It's ours, not Google's, and it's drawn that way: dashed where a published pass mark would be solid.
We set it high on purpose. Too strict costs you a week. Too lenient costs you $125.
Renewing is a shorter exam, not the full sitting again
The credential lasts three years. Renewal is a 20-question exam in one hour for USD 75, available from 180 days before you expire, online-proctored or at a test centre, and it requires that you currently hold the certification.
There is also a route through designated Google Skills courses and skill badges, which extends validity by a year.
Question types
Some questions want more than one answer
Multiple choice
One right answer out of four. Most of the exam.
Multiple select
Pick every correct option. Three of four right scores the same as none, so the option you're unsure about decides the whole question.
Everything in the stem matters
Most options describe something that would genuinely work. What rules them out is usually one clause — scale to zero, don't manage a cluster, must not cross the internet.
The loop
Practice, sit, review, repeat
Step 1 is free. Steps 2 to 4 need a subscription.
certs.acedify.com/associate-cloud-engineer
Practice · untimed
MediumAn app on a Compute Engine VM in project A must write objects to a Cloud Storage bucket in project B. Security has ruled out long-lived keys.
What do you do?
Create a service account key in project B and store it in Secret Manager
Attach a service account to the VM and grant it the Storage Object Creator role on the bucket
Grant `allUsers` the Storage Object Creator role on the bucket
Run the VM as the default Compute Engine service account with the Editor role
An attached service account gets credentials from the metadata server, so nothing long-lived is stored anywhere. Granting the role on the bucket rather than the project keeps it to the one resource. Domain: Configuring access and security.
Click a step to see it.
What you get back
No official line. So we show you ours.
Readiness is a range, because it's inferred from what you've answered rather than earned. The exam is pass or fail, so the only question is whether the whole range sits above the line.
AWS publishes 720 and we measure you against their number. Google publishes nothing, so we measure you against ours — 80% weighted accuracy, drawn dashed and labelled everywhere it appears.
Planning and Operations are about 30% each. A weak spot in either is worth roughly a third of the exam; the same gap in Setup or Security is worth a fifth.
When the range stops narrowing and stops rising, more drilling isn't buying anything. Better to know that before you book.
ACE · 4 mocks completed
Where you stand
Borderline
70–90
assumed 80% — ours, not Google's
Your range crosses our assumed line. On today's evidence it's a coin flip, and we'll say so.
Three states
Try the three states. We won't show you a percentage chance of passing — nobody can calculate one honestly without years of real outcomes to calibrate against.
What we don't do
We won't show you a percentage chance of passing. Nobody can calculate one honestly without years of real outcomes behind it.
What it covers
Four sections, and Google rounds the weights
The guide gives approximate figures rather than exact ones: roughly 20% setup, 30% planning, 30% operations, 20% access and security. We practise in those proportions, and we say approximate because Google does.
| Domain | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Setting up a cloud solution environment | ~20% | Resource hierarchy, org policies, IAM at project level, Cloud Identity, quotas, billing accounts and budgets. |
| Planning and implementing a cloud solution | ~30% | Picking compute, storage and networking for a stated workload. Compute Engine, GKE, Cloud Run, VPCs, load balancers, and Terraform or Config Connector. |
| Ensuring the successful operation of a cloud solution | ~30% | Running what you deployed. Node pools, autoscaling, traffic splits, snapshots, backups, Cloud Monitoring alerts and log routing. |
| Configuring access and security | ~20% | IAM policies and inheritance, custom roles, service accounts, impersonation, short-lived credentials and Workload Identity Federation. |
From the Associate Cloud Engineer exam guide. Google publishes these as approximations. Last checked 18 September 2026.
Planning and Operations are about 30% each. A gap there costs more than the same gap in Setup.
Exam facts
Null fields are omitted. We do not print TBA.
- Credential
- Google Cloud Certified — Associate Cloud Engineer
- Level
- Associate
- Current version
- English version live 30 June 2026
- Length
- 2 hours
- Questions
- 50–60
- Question types
- Multiple choice, multiple select
- Pass mark
- Not published
- Sections
- 4
- Fee
- USD 125 + tax
- Delivery
- Online-proctored or test centre
- Languages
- English, 日本語, Español, Português
- Prerequisite
- None
- Recommended experience
- 6+ months hands-on with Google Cloud
- Validity
- 3 years
- Renewal
- 20 questions in 1 hour, USD 75, from 180 days before expiry
Pricing
Practice free. Pay when you want to know where you stand.
Pro
- Timed mocks at exam length
- Weighted accuracy across every mock
- Your readiness range, and how it's moving
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