Training, exams and certification
Training, exams and certification
They are not alternatives. Practitioner contains Foundation, the order is fixed, and the only real decision is whether you sit the two exams separately or together — a choice that costs money one way and risk the other.
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Foundation is not a lesser version of Practitioner. It is the first half of it. You cannot hold Practitioner without having passed the Foundation material, and the certification that most job adverts mean when they say “TOGAF certified” is the Practitioner one.
So the question is rarely “which”. It is “how far, and how fast”.
| TOGAF EA Foundation | What the framework is. Terminology, the ADM, its phases, governance, content. Tested by recall. Exam OGEA-101 · 40 questions · 60 minutes · closed book |
|---|---|
| TOGAF EA Practitioner | What you would do with it. Scenarios, judgement, choosing the better of several defensible actions. Exam OGEA-102 · 8 scenarios · 90 minutes · open book · requires Foundation |
Retail voucher prices from The Open Group, effective 1 February 2026, before local taxes.
| Foundation only — OGEA-101 | USD 435 | |
| Bridge from TOGAF 9 Certified — OGEA-10B | USD 415 | |
| Combined, one sitting — OGEA-103 | USD 640 | |
| Part 1 then Part 2 separately | USD 870 |
Two exams, two vouchers, two sittings, whenever you like. You get the Foundation certification the moment you pass Part 1, which is worth something on its own if you need a credential on the CV this quarter. If you fail one, you only retake that one.
Both parts in a single sitting, and USD 230 cheaper than buying them separately. The saving is real, and so is the catch: it is one sitting, and the second half is the hard half. Sitting Part 2 having just spent an hour on Part 2’s prerequisite is not the same as sitting it fresh a month later.
The honest rule of thumb: take the combined exam if you would have booked both within a few weeks anyway and you are confident on scenarios. Take them separately if Part 2 is the part you are unsure about — the USD 230 buys you a month of preparation between the two and a much shorter retake if it goes wrong.
For people who already hold TOGAF 9 Certified. It recognises what you already know and tests the 10th Edition material, and it takes you straight to TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Practitioner. If you have TOGAF 9 Certified, this is almost always the right door, and it is the cheapest of the three.
Note the prerequisite carefully: the bridge is for TOGAF 9 Certified, the two-part qualification. TOGAF 9 Foundation on its own does not open it.
Foundation first, on its own. It is the vocabulary everything else is written in, and there is no advantage in rushing at scenario questions before the terms mean anything. Practitioner will still be there in two months.
Practitioner is the one that matches what you do, and the scenarios will feel familiar — that is the exam’s whole design. The combined route usually suits you, with one caveat: experience makes Part 2 easier and does nothing for Part 1, where the answer is whatever the Standard says, not whatever works.
It almost always means the two-part qualification — today that is TOGAF Enterprise Architecture Practitioner. Foundation alone is a real certification and worth listing, but it is not usually what is being asked for.
Take the bridge. It is cheaper, shorter, and lands you at Practitioner. And your TOGAF 9 certification does not expire in the meantime — The Open Group has said it will support that path indefinitely, and TOGAF 9 is still widely named in job adverts.
No. OGEA-102 requires the Foundation certification, or a Part 1 pass the same day. There is no route to Practitioner that does not go through the Foundation material.
Yes — it is a certification in its own right, awarded the moment you pass OGEA-101, and it is the honest answer for someone who needs to understand the framework rather than run a programme with it.
No. A Part 1 pass earns the Foundation certification regardless of how Part 2 goes. You would then retake Part 2 on its own — after the one-month wait, with its own voucher.
No. The Open Group is explicit that candidates may prepare by self-study or by attending an accredited course. The Learning Studies are a mandatory part of accredited courses, not of the certification itself.
There is no rule, and the useful measure is not weeks but readiness on scenarios. Part 1 rewards knowing the framework; Part 2 rewards having an opinion about it.
Sources. Every figure on this page comes from The Open Group’s own published material, checked in September 2026.
We build a simulator for each half: recall and speed for Foundation, graded scenarios and judgement for Practitioner. Both run the real format, the real clock and the real pass mark, so the exam is the second time you sit it rather than the first.
See both simulatorsStill undecided? Create a free account and try 10 free Foundation questions, or try 2 free Practitioner scenarios.
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