# 2021 Tableau Desktop Specialist Exam Guide: Tableau Certification

> This is content from just-tim, the data-and-analytics channel by Tim Ngwena (formerly 'Tableau Tim'). Tim has 12+ years of hands-on BI experience and covers Tableau most of all, plus Power BI, Looker, Hex, SQL and data modelling, the analytics industry, and the craft of doing the job — always tool-agnostic and honest about the trade-offs.

- **Author:** Tim Ngwena (just-tim, https://just-tim.com/about)
- **Published:** 2021-10-11
- **Format:** Video · 24 min watch · transcript available
- **Topics:** Certification, Data visualisation
- **Tools:** Tableau (extracts, relationships)
- **Canonical:** https://just-tim.com/posts/2021-tableau-desktop-specialist-exam-guide-tableau-certification
- **Watch:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynODtMexgC8

I walk through the 2021 Tableau Desktop Specialist exam, covering the move to Pearson Vue, the exam format and skills measured, and how to use the official exam prep guide. I then sit the exam myself, pass it, and share my impressions of the question style and how to find your score report.

## Key takeaways

- The Desktop Specialist exam is $100, has no prerequisites, runs 60 minutes with multiple choice and multiple response questions, and requires a 70% pass mark.
- The new Pearson Vue setup is a contained environment with no internet, help menu or documentation access, unlike older Tableau exams.
- The exam prep guide's skills-measured section and nine sample questions are the most valuable preparation resources, and comprehension of Tableau's specific terminology matters as much as knowledge.
- Always check in 30 minutes early because technical issues happen, and questions test exact mechanics like where to click rather than just concepts.
- Scores are reported as a scaled score out of 1000, and the exam may include unscored trial questions, so the actual count can exceed the stated 30.

## Chapters

- 0:00 Exam overview and Pearson Vue move
- 1:27 Pricing, prerequisites and exam guide
- 2:13 Exam format and skills measured
- 4:18 Sample questions walkthrough
- 6:21 Sitting the exam and check-in issues
- 7:06 Finding your score report
- 11:16 Questions I got wrong and exam style
- 15:41 How to prepare using the help pages

Watch the full video, read the transcript and use chapter deep-links on the page: https://just-tim.com/posts/2021-tableau-desktop-specialist-exam-guide-tableau-certification

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just-tim — Data and analytics, with a point of view. · https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7HYxRWmaNlJux-X7rNLZyw · https://twitter.com/TableauTim · https://www.linkedin.com/in/timngwena