SC-300 Study Guide 2026: Complete 4-Week Plan to Pass

Before You Start

SC-300 is an associate-level exam — you can't pass it by reading alone. Set up a free Microsoft 365 Developer tenant at developer.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/dev-program before starting. You get a full E5 environment to practise every feature hands-on.

Week 1 — Entra ID Foundations

• Day 1: Entra ID overview — tenants, licences, admin roles. Compare Entra ID vs on-premises AD DS.
• Day 2: Users and groups — create users, dynamic groups, bulk operations, administrative units.
• Day 3: Hybrid identity — Entra Connect, PHS vs PTA vs Federation, Seamless SSO.
• Day 4: External identities — B2B collaboration, guest users, cross-tenant access settings.
• Day 5: Entra ID Protection — sign-in risk, user risk, risk detections, remediation.
• Day 6–7: Practice questions on Week 1 topics. Identify weak areas.

Week 2 — Authentication Deep Dive

Authentication is 25–30% of the exam. Give it more time than you think it needs.

• Day 8: MFA methods — registration, number matching, authentication strengths.
• Day 9: Passwordless — Windows Hello for Business, FIDO2 keys, Authenticator app sign-in.
• Day 10: SSPR — configuration, registration, combined registration, writeback.
• Day 11: Conditional Access — policy structure, conditions, grant controls, session controls.
• Day 12: Conditional Access advanced — named locations, device compliance, CAE, token protection.
• Day 13: Legacy authentication — what it is, why and how to block it.
• Day 14: Timed practice test — 40 questions. Review all wrong answers.

Week 3 — Applications and Privileged Access

• Day 15: App registrations — single vs multi-tenant, API permissions, certificates.
• Day 16: Enterprise applications — SSO, SCIM provisioning, user assignment, consent.
• Day 17: Managed identities — system-assigned vs user-assigned, configuration.
• Day 18: PIM — eligible vs active, activation settings, approval workflows, alerts.
• Day 19: PIM for Azure resources — onboarding, JIT access for Azure roles.
• Day 20: Access reviews — configure reviews for groups, apps, and privileged roles.
• Day 21: Second timed practice test. Compare score to Week 2.

Week 4 — Governance and Final Prep

• Day 22: Entitlement management — access packages, catalogues, connected organisations.
• Day 23: Lifecycle workflows — joiner, mover, leaver automation. Temporary Access Pass.
• Day 24: Monitoring — audit logs, sign-in logs, Log Analytics, workbooks.
• Day 25: Microsoft Graph — permissions model, delegated vs application, admin consent.
• Day 26: Weak areas — revisit your two lowest-scoring topics from practice tests.
• Day 27: Final mock exam — 40 questions timed. If scoring above 75%, you're ready.
• Day 28: Light review only. Do 10 easy questions. Rest.

Best Resources

• Microsoft Learn SC-300 path — Free, authoritative, start here
• Microsoft 365 Developer Program — Free E5 tenant for hands-on practice
• John Savill YouTube — SC-300 deep dives, highly technical
• MS Cert Prep practice questions — 100+ SC-300 scenario questions