DP-800 study plan

Week 1chapters 1–5 · about 11 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. Designing tables
  • 2. Specialised tables, JSON storage and partitioning
  • 3. Programmability objects and error handling
  • 4. Advanced T-SQL queries
  • 5. JSON, regular expression and fuzzy matching functions
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: System-versioned temporal tables in SQL Server and Azure SQL, T-SQL window functions: OVER, PARTITION BY, ORDER BY and frames.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Design and develop database solutions · 35–40%

Week 2chapters 6–10 · about 10 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 6. AI-assisted SQL development
  • 7. Encryption, masking, row-level security and permissions
  • 8. Secure access, auditing and securing endpoints
  • 9. Optimising performance and concurrency
  • 10. CI/CD with SQL Database Projects
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Always Encrypted in SQL Server and Azure SQL: deterministic vs randomised encryption, Row-level security in SQL Server and Azure SQL: filter and block predicates, SQL Server transaction isolation levels: READ COMMITTED, snapshot and serializable.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Design and develop database solutions · 35–40%Secure, optimize, and deploy database solutions · 35–40%

Week 3chapters 11–14 · about 9 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 11. Data API builder and monitoring
  • 12. Handling data changes
  • 13. Models and embeddings
  • 14. Intelligent search and RAG
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: CDC vs change tracking vs change event streaming in SQL Server and Azure SQL, Exact (KNN) vs approximate (ANN) vector search and vector indexes in Azure SQL, Hybrid search and reciprocal rank fusion (RRF) in SQL Server and Azure SQL.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Secure, optimize, and deploy database solutions · 35–40%Implement AI capabilities in database solutions · 25–30%

Week 4review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official DP-800 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.

Week 1chapters 1–2 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 1. Designing tables
  • 2. Specialised tables, JSON storage and partitioning
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: System-versioned temporal tables in SQL Server and Azure SQL.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Design and develop database solutions · 35–40%

Week 2chapters 3–4 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 3. Programmability objects and error handling
  • 4. Advanced T-SQL queries
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: T-SQL window functions: OVER, PARTITION BY, ORDER BY and frames.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Design and develop database solutions · 35–40%

Week 3chapters 5–6 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 5. JSON, regular expression and fuzzy matching functions
  • 6. AI-assisted SQL development
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Design and develop database solutions · 35–40%

Week 4chapters 7–8 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 7. Encryption, masking, row-level security and permissions
  • 8. Secure access, auditing and securing endpoints
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Always Encrypted in SQL Server and Azure SQL: deterministic vs randomised encryption, Row-level security in SQL Server and Azure SQL: filter and block predicates.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Secure, optimize, and deploy database solutions · 35–40%

Week 5chapters 9–10 · about 5 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 9. Optimising performance and concurrency
  • 10. CI/CD with SQL Database Projects
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: SQL Server transaction isolation levels: READ COMMITTED, snapshot and serializable.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Secure, optimize, and deploy database solutions · 35–40%

Week 6chapters 11–12 · about 5 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 11. Data API builder and monitoring
  • 12. Handling data changes
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: CDC vs change tracking vs change event streaming in SQL Server and Azure SQL.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Secure, optimize, and deploy database solutions · 35–40%

Week 7chapters 13–14 · about 4 hours Done

• Read these chapters:
  • 13. Models and embeddings
  • 14. Intelligent search and RAG
• After each chapter, cover its key takeaways and explain each one out loud. Re-read any you can’t.
• Free study notes for this week: Exact (KNN) vs approximate (ANN) vector search and vector indexes in Azure SQL, Hybrid search and reciprocal rank fusion (RRF) in SQL Server and Azure SQL.
• Look up any unfamiliar term in the DP-800 glossary.

Exam skill areas this week: Implement AI capabilities in database solutions · 25–30%

Week 8review Done

• Go back through every chapter’s key takeaways. Anything you can’t explain without looking, re-read that section.
• Re-read the common-trap callouts: they mark the answers that look right but aren’t.
• Check the exam coverage map against Microsoft’s own outline, in case it has changed since the book was checked.
• Take Microsoft’s free practice assessment, if your exam has one, from the official DP-800 study guide page. Revisit the chapters behind any weak area.
• Try the exam sandbox to get used to the exam’s screens and question formats.
• Get the free exam-day checklist and work through it a few days before your exam.