Forum Discussion
MD-102 Practice Test Does Not Prepare You for the Actual Exam + Poor Support Links
The following was edited by Copilot but is actually my own personal experience and I have read through it and found it accurate to what I wrote for it to edit to a better format:
I’m posting this here because I was unable to successfully submit this feedback through the official Microsoft Credentials support channels (links either redirected to Azure support or returned a 404 error).
I recently prepared for the MD-102 Endpoint Administrator certification using the official Microsoft Learn modules and the associated Practice Assessment. Based on my performance with those materials, I felt reasonably prepared going into the exam.
However, the actual exam experience was significantly different from the Practice Assessment.
Issue
The Microsoft Learn Practice Assessment primarily uses straightforward, single-concept multiple-choice questions. In contrast, the actual MD-102 exam includes:
- Multi-step, scenario-based questions
- Questions requiring evaluation of multiple valid solutions
- “Best answer” decisions involving trade-offs (not just correctness)
These are fundamentally different question styles and require different types of preparation.
Impact
This mismatch creates a false sense of readiness.
Candidates who rely on official Microsoft Learn materials—including the Practice Assessment—may believe they are adequately prepared, but encounter a much more complex and different exam experience.
In my case, this gap was a major factor in not passing the exam despite completing the recommended preparation resources.
Additional Concern
I attempted to submit this feedback through the official Microsoft Credentials support links, but encountered issues:
- Redirects to Azure “Support for Business” instead of certification support
- (https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/support/help)
- Credentials support page returning a 404 error
- (https://learn.microsoft.com/credentials/support/)
- No visible feedback mechanism on the Practice Assessment page itself
- (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/modern-desktop/practice/assessment)
This makes it difficult to report issues with certification preparation materials through the intended channels.
Suggestions
To improve the effectiveness of Microsoft Learn as an exam preparation tool:
- Clearly indicate that Practice Assessments are not representative of actual exam format or difficulty
AND
- Update Practice Assessments to include:
- Scenario-based questions
- Multi-step decision questions
- “Best solution” style problems
- Provide a full-length mock exam that more closely reflects the real exam experience
- Add a visible feedback option directly on Practice Assessment pages
- Fix routing issues with Credentials support links
I’m sharing this because I suspect others may run into the same issue when relying on official preparation materials.
4 Replies
Thanks for sharing .
The Engage Hub Support for Business https://aka.ms/credentials-support is the support location for certification support.
Practice Assessments Practice Assessments for Microsoft Certifications | Microsoft Learn are not meant to be mock exams, they are intended to:
assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed
As stated in https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/exam-duration-exam-experience#take-a-practice-assessment
These questions are not the same as what you will see on the exam nor is this document illustrative of the length of the exam or its complexity (e.g., you may see additional question types, multiple case studies, and possibly labs). These questions are examples only to provide insight into what to expect on the exam and help you determine if additional preparation is required.
You are not meant to rely on practice assessments or even the Learn modules; you need real hands-on experience with the topics listed in the study guide Study guide for Exam MD-102: Endpoint Administrator | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft also provides details of the question types in the exam Exam duration and exam experience | Microsoft Learn and a simulation https://aka.ms/examdemo of the exam and questions.
Microsoft provides a mechanism for feedback in Practice Assessments Certification exam, renewal assessment, and assessment lab Credential challenge process | Microsoft Learn
If you would like to provide feedback about on the Practice Assessment experience, use the Practice Assessment feedback form
I am sharing this so that test takes are better prepared for an exam
PS If you want a mock exam then look at MeasureUp https://www.measureup.com/
My point here is that literally no person is going through the practice assessment unless they are planning to take the exam.
Completing the practice assessment does not, in any way, "assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed"; because you can do very well on the practice assessment and still FAIL the exam. Which specifically shows that the Practice Assessment did NOT "assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed".
On the https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/modern-desktop/?practice-assessment-type=certification page where it discusses the Practice Assessment it says"Practice assessments provide you with an overview of the style, wording, and difficulty of the questions you're likely to experience on the exam. Through these assessments, you're able to assess your readiness, determine where additional preparation is needed, and fill knowledge gaps bringing you one step closer to the likelihood of passing your exam."
I'm saying that statement is false. That statement also contradicts the statement you quoted in your reply to me.
These questions are not the same as what you will see on the exam nor is this document illustrative of the length of the exam or its complexity (e.g., you may see additional question types, multiple case studies, and possibly labs). These questions are examples only to provide insight into what to expect on the exam and help you determine if additional preparation is required.
The Practice Assessment is not
- the style
- no case studies
- not the same style
- no build/reorder lists
- no active screens
- no “hot areas”
- no exhibits (single or multiple)
- no questions about code/script entry
- the difficulty
- The questions on the Practice Assessment are simplistic compared to the exam.
The exam demo does show what those type of questions look like but they are fake questions that do nothing in preparing a learner for the exam.
The link you provided for https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/exam-item-challenge-process is not on the Practice Assessment pages, or the results pages or the training pages and is, therefore, hidden unless you know where to look. It should be much more accessible.
Lastly, you directed users to MeasureUp (which when I try to reply here with a link like you put I get an alert pop up that says we are not even allowed to mention Measureup in this Community.
If I go pay a third party for their exam prep, are they going to have questions that more closely match the exam? If they do, why would Microsoft not? If they don’t, what would be the point?
- the style
Well MD-102 is a role-based exam, it tests have a hands-on experience with the products (in the role of endpoint admin), as detailed in the study guide.
By design it doesn't test your ability to read an online course or finish an assessment so using those as your only form of preparation is setting yourself up for a failure as you have just experienced.
As a candidate for this exam, you have subject matter expertise managing devices and client applications in a Microsoft 365 tenant by using Microsoft Intune and agentic tools and workflows.
You must have experience with Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365 technologies, including Intune, as well as strong skills and experience in deploying, configuring, and maintaining Windows client and non-Windows devices. You should also have an understanding of Microsoft Security Copilot, Intune agents, and Microsoft Defender XDR.
Study guide for Exam MD-102: Endpoint Administrator | Microsoft Learn
Microsoft details the types of questions on this website:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/support/exam-duration-exam-experience and in their exam sandbox
