Microsoft study plan
MD-102 study plan
A step-by-step MD-102 study plan: the exact order to study in, how long to spend on each stage, and when to start practice questions. Follow it top to bottom.
The real MD-102 is Typically 40 to 60 questions questions in 100 minutes, pass mark 700 / 1000. For the full domain-by-domain breakdown behind each stage, read the MD-102 study guide.
Your step-by-step plan
Read the current study guide and map your gaps
Day 1Work through the published list of skills measured and mark every bullet as confident, shaky or new. The July 2026 refresh added a whole skill area on automation, monitoring and reporting and changed several groups, so material and courses written before it are incomplete by construction. Your marked list, not a generic syllabus, is the plan for the weeks that follow.
Get a tenant you can break
Week 1Nothing in this exam sticks from reading alone. Set up a trial tenant with Intune, enrol at least one Windows device and one mobile device, and do the loop end to end: enrol, assign a configuration profile, assign a compliance policy, watch it report, then retire the device. Doing that once teaches more than a week of video.
Work the two heaviest domains first
Weeks 2 to 3Managing and maintaining devices carries the most weight, and preparing infrastructure is close behind, so give them the front of your schedule while your attention is freshest. Build the platform-by-enrolment-method table yourself, walk the Autopilot decision tree until it is automatic, and get the retire and wipe distinction to the point where you never hesitate.
Take protection and applications together
Weeks 4 to 5Endpoint security, updates and application delivery share the same distractor style, where two real mechanisms both nearly satisfy the requirement. Study them as pairs: baseline against individual policy, App Control against attack surface reduction, deferral against deadline, app protection against app configuration. Practise saying the discriminator aloud in one sentence.
Close the automation and reporting gap
Week 6Spend focused time on the newest skill area rather than leaving it to the last night. Write and run a real remediation with its detection and remediation scripts, pull one report through Microsoft Graph, open Endpoint Analytics on your test device and read the scores, and learn what the Intune agents are described as doing without extrapolating beyond that.
Drill scenario questions and review every option
Weeks 7 to 8Move to timed practice on questions you have not seen, and review the options you eliminated as carefully as the one you chose. When you get an item wrong, write down which layer you confused: identity, configuration, compliance, access or application. A pattern in those notes is worth more than a percentage score.
Sit a full timed mock and fix what it exposes
Final weekOne full-length timed run under exam conditions, with no pausing to look things up, then a day spent only on what it exposed. Book when a mock on unseen questions clears every domain comfortably and your pacing leaves time to review the flagged items.
Ready to start stage one?
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Frequently asked questions
How long does this MD-102 study plan take?
It is 7 stages, paced by how much time you can give it each week - most candidates work through it in 2 to 6 weeks. Each stage below has a suggested duration; slow down on any stage where the recall checks in the study guide are not landing before moving on.
What order should I study MD-102 in?
Follow the stages in order below. They are sequenced deliberately: foundational material first, then the domains weighted heaviest on the exam, then timed practice, with review passes built in rather than left to the end.
Do I need practice questions as part of this plan?
Yes. Reading alone does not surface what you have not actually learned. This plan builds in graded practice, and the full 298-question bank is free to use as you work through each stage.
Is this plan enough on its own, or do I need the full study guide too?
This page is the plan: what to do and in what order. The study guide adds the domain-by-domain breakdown, easy-to-confuse traps, and worked examples behind each stage - read it alongside this plan, not instead of it.
Examworthy is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. This study plan is original material based on the public exam blueprint. We never reproduce live exam items. MD-102 and related marks belong to their respective owners.