SC-300 study plan: Identity and Access Administrator in 30 days
SC-300 covers the identity layer every Microsoft 365 workload depends on. This is the plan I’d follow if I were starting today.
What the exam covers
Section titled “What the exam covers”Microsoft groups the skills into four areas — check the official study guide for the current weightings, as they change:
- Implement and manage user identities — users, groups, external identities, hybrid identity with Entra Connect / Cloud Sync.
- Implement authentication and access management — MFA, authentication methods, passwordless, Conditional Access, Identity Protection.
- Plan and implement workload identities — app registrations, enterprise apps, SSO, service principals, managed identities.
- Plan and automate identity governance — entitlement management, access reviews, PIM, lifecycle workflows.
The 30-day plan
Section titled “The 30-day plan”| Days | Focus | Build in your lab |
|---|---|---|
| 1–7 | Users, groups, external identities, hybrid basics | Dynamic groups, invite a guest, cross-tenant access settings |
| 8–14 | Authentication & Conditional Access | Passkeys/Authenticator, MFA policy in Report-only, block legacy auth, What If |
| 15–20 | Identity Protection & app access | Risk policies, app registration, SSO for a gallery app |
| 21–26 | Governance | Access package, access review, PIM eligible role activation |
| 27–30 | Review | Free practice assessment, redo weak areas, read the docs you guessed on |
Lab first
Section titled “Lab first”The exam rewards people who have clicked through the portal. Use a test tenant with an Entra ID P2 trial — P2 unlocks Identity Protection, PIM and access reviews. Never practise in your employer’s production tenant.
- Licensing: know which features need Entra ID P1, P2 or Governance.
- PIM: eligible vs active assignments and activation settings.
- Conditional Access logic: block wins; exclusions beat inclusions.
- Hybrid identity: password hash sync vs pass-through authentication vs federation.
After you pass
Section titled “After you pass”Associate and expert certifications need a free online renewal assessment every year. Put a reminder in your calendar.
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