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Welcome to the May 2025 edition of our Microsoft Credentials roundup, where we highlight the latest Microsoft Credentials portfolio news and updates to inspire and support your training and credential journey.
In this article
What’s new with Microsoft Applied Skills?
- Exciting updates to the Applied Skills user interface
- Explore Applied Skills portfolio updates
What’s new with Microsoft Certifications?
- Retiring Certifications
- Get the chance to win a free Certification exam voucher
- Have you taken a Microsoft Fundamentals Certification exam? Share your feedback!
What’s new with Microsoft Applied Skills?
Microsoft Applied Skills are credentials that you can earn by completing practical, interactive assessments which demonstrate real-world proficiency in specific tasks.
Exciting updates to the Applied Skills user interface
Based on your feedback, we’ve made some key updates to improve the lab experience, including:
- Full-screen lab view. Maximize the lab environment as a full-screen workspace so you have more space to work.
- Dark mode. Switch to dark mode to match your visual preferences.
- Improved time display. Check out your lab progress, with the remaining time more prominently displayed.
Explore Applied Skills portfolio updates
We keep Applied Skills aligned with the latest product updates and trends. Our commitment to helping you build relevant, in-demand skills means that we periodically update or retire older assessments as we introduce new ones.
Assessments now available
We’re pleased to announce that the scheduled maintenance for the following assessments has been successfully completed with refreshed labs:
- Secure Azure services and workloads with Microsoft Defender for Cloud regulatory compliance controls
We’ve scheduled more assessments for maintenance, and they’ll be available for you in the coming months. Browse Applied Skills.
Retiring Applied Skills
On April 30, 2025, we retired the following Applied Skills:
And on May 15, 2025, we’re retiring the following Applied Skill:
Watch for new credentials in these areas. To continue building your skills, explore other Applied Skills.
What’s new with Microsoft Certifications?
Retiring Certifications
As a reminder, the following Certifications are now retired or are being retired soon. To plan your learning journey, get more details at these links:
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate Certification (Exam DP-203) was retired on March 31, 2025. Get more information, including a Q&A, in Prove your in-demand data engineering skills and champion AI innovation.
- Microsoft Certified: Information Protection and Compliance Administrator Associate Certification (Exam SC-400) will be retired on May 31, 2025. Get more information, including a Q&A, in Validate critical information security skills with our new Certification.
Track updates to our Certifications portfolio on our Certifications poster.
Get the chance to win a free Certification exam voucher
Join us for Microsoft AI Skills Fest, a 50-day AI skill-building adventure, which runs through May 28, 2025! Technical professionals can win one of 50,000 free Certification exams as part of the Microsoft AI Skills Fest Challenge by entering the Microsoft AI Skills Fest Challenge Sweepstakes. Be sure to join an AI Skills Fest Challenge! For all the details, check out the Microsoft AI Skills Fest Challenge and sweepstakes official rules.
Have you taken a Microsoft Fundamentals Certification exam? Share your feedback!
Whether you passed the exam or didn’t quite make it, we want to hear from you. Your insights are incredibly valuable and can help shape the future of Microsoft credentialing experiences.
🕒 Just five minutes of your time!🕒
📅 Deadline: May 9, 2025📅
Share your feedback on the Microsoft Fundamentals Certification exam experience.
Previous editions of the Microsoft Credentials roundup