Every AWS certification exam can be taken either at a Pearson VUE test center or online from home through OnVUE. Both are legitimate. Both produce the same certification.

They’re very different experiences, though, and picking the wrong one causes avoidable problems on a day when you don’t need any.

What the online option requires

If you test from home, you install **OnVUE**, which is the software that runs the exam and the proctoring. Before you can start, you go through a check-in process: photos of your ID, photos of your room, and a live proctor reviewing everything.

The requirements that catch people out:

• **A private room.** Cafes, libraries, coworking spaces, and shared offices are not acceptable. You need a door, and nobody else can enter during the exam.
• **A clear desk.** No notes, no second screen, no phone within reach, nothing on the walls within camera view in some cases.
• **One monitor only.** Multiple monitors aren’t allowed. If you run a laptop plus an external display, you’ll need to physically disconnect one.
• **No touch screens.**
• **Webcam at eye level, facing forward**, showing your head and shoulders. Not angled up from a laptop on your lap. Webcam filters are prohibited, including Apple’s Reactions feature, which has genuinely tripped people up.
• **No VPN or proxy.** Corporate networks and firewalls cause failures. A wired connection is recommended over Wi-Fi.
• **Government-issued photo ID** where the name matches your exam booking exactly. If your booking says “Mike” and your license says “Michael,” fix that before exam day, not on it.

Run the OnVUE system test **days in advance**, not an hour before. It checks your hardware and connection, and finding out your webcam is unsupported at T-minus-30-minutes is a bad way to spend a morning.

What a test center is like

You show up, present ID, lock your belongings in a locker, and sit at a provided workstation in a room with other test takers. A proctor is physically present. You get a whiteboard or laminated sheet and a marker.

No software to install, no room scan, no worrying about your internet. If something goes wrong with the machine, staff are right there.

The downsides are that you have to travel, seats fill up in smaller metros, and the room can be noisy. You may be sitting next to someone taking a completely different exam who types like they’re angry at the keyboard. Earplugs or headphones are usually provided. Ask.

Which should you pick?

**Take it at home if:**

• You have a genuinely private room with a door you can close
• Your internet is stable and you can go wired
• You’re comfortable with software setup and following proctor instructions
• The nearest test center is a long drive

**Go to a test center if:**

• You live with family, roommates, or anyone who might walk in
• Your internet is unreliable or you’re on a corporate network
• You find being watched through a webcam more stressful than being watched in person
• You’ve had a previous online exam interrupted
• You want zero technical variables on exam day

I lean toward recommending test centers for a first certification, and for anyone whose home setup has any question mark over it. The exam is hard enough without adding a room scan and a software install to the morning.

What gets people disqualified

Worth knowing, because these end exams with no refund:

• Someone else entering the room
• Looking away from the screen repeatedly or for extended periods
• Speaking out loud, including reading questions to yourself under your breath
• Phone or smartwatch within reach
• Leaving the camera’s view
• Notes or writing materials in the room that you didn’t declare

That last one surprises people. On an online exam you generally can’t use scratch paper at all. If you’re someone who thinks by sketching architecture diagrams, a test center with a whiteboard may suit you far better. That’s a real consideration for Solutions Architect scenarios.

Exam day practicalities

**Online:** Check in 30 minutes early. Close every application before you start, because OnVUE will complain about background processes. Use the bathroom first, since breaks are limited or unavailable depending on the exam. Tell everyone in your home what’s happening and put a note on the door.

**Test center:** Arrive 30 minutes early. Bring two forms of ID if you can. Expect to leave your phone, bag, watch, and jacket in a locker.

Either way, know what’s coming on the day itself. We put together [what to expect on AWS exam day](/blog/aws-exam-day-what-to-expect/) covering the whole sequence from check-in to score report.